RICHARD’S POV—THREE YEARS LATER I ran around the living room, chasing our twins in some endless game of tag. They were shrieking with laughter, little feet pounding on the floor, and honestly, it was the best sound in the world. But just as I made a playful grab for them, Amelia walked in with a tray of biscuits and gave me one of her classic mom-glares.“Really, Richard?” she said, exasperated but trying not to smile. “If you keep chasing them like that, they’re going to fall. And then who’s getting up at night with them when they’re crying? Not me, that’s for sure.”I stopped in my tracks and threw my hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright! You win. Kids, you heard your mother. Grab a biscuit and calm down, alright? Before we all get grounded.”The twins scrambled toward the tray, wide-eyed and hungry like they hadn’t just had breakfast an hour ago. Amelia rolled her eyes at me, handing the kids each a biscuit before turning her gaze on me.“No biscuit for you, mister,” she tease
RICHARD"Why? Dammit! Why?" I suddenly cried aloud, in a sudden burst of frustration as slammed my fists repeatedly on the steering wheel.A horn blared, and I turned to see a driver on the other lane give me a curious look. I stared at the road ahead, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as I drove home. My mind was in a whirl. I glanced at the passenger seat on which were two sheets of paper. The first sheet of was the result of the X-ray I had just done at the hospital. It showed the cancer was spreading really fast. I needed chemotherapy as a matter of urgency. But the cost...I shook my head. At the bottom of the second sheet of paper, the cost of the chemotherapy was written in bold font. It was a sum I could never afford, certainly not with the job I had. My wife refused to support me in footing the bill in any way. I was at a dead end, and would be a dead man if I could figure a way out.Finally, I got home. I walked into the cool, air conditioned comfort of the house
RICHARDThe first thing I was conscious of was the intense white light that still shone even behind my closed eyelids. Then there was silence, total silence, the kind that seemed heavy and oppressive.I gradually opened my eyes and immediately shielded it from the glare of the blinding fluorescent light above. Disoriented, I quickly sat up. The room spun a little and I closed my eyes briefly to fight off the dizzy spell. My heart beat fast as I took in my surroundings.I was in a room that looked like a hospital room, except that this room had grey, gleaming steel walls, even a formidable looking still door.The room was illuminated by blinding lights placed above the bed on which I had lain. There were no curtains, no windows. I swallowed and fought off an attack of claustrophobia.Where the hell was I? Had I died and gone to... wherever people went when they left the world. I clearly remembered feeling weird outside the gates of Amelia's house just before I passed out. As I swung my
RICHARDI left the hospital, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or heels. The astonished doctor, after telling me that he had run the test three times to be sure of the result, had kept on asking me what I had done, to make the cancer simply disappear, and how I had known to come for a confirmatory test. I simply told him that I had just had a hunch.An elderly woman walking into the hospital looked at me oddly and gave me a wide berth as she hobbled into the building. I then realized that I was grinning from ear to ear. I didn't care though. I could not recall ever being this happy. The sky seemed clearer, the colors brighter. I was so elated that I felt like singing.Chuckling, I went down the stairs. My smile faded a little as I thought of the money in my account. I decided to carry out the system's task to see if it was all true. Buying a house from Royal Homes, the real estate company that sold the best and most exclusive condos, was a surefire way to spend a million dollars
RICHARDJames turned and stared at the salesmen, and asked, "Did you hear what this twerp just said?""Yes, sir," Jake and his colleague said in unison.James shook his head sadly."Amelia must have hit you too hard on the head. Sad that you don't have a thick skull. That is the only reason I can think of for your delusions or..." He turned to Jake again. "Do you know if cancer damages the brain when it gets to a certain stage?""No, sir. Not that I know of."I smirked, briefly considered telling him that I was completely cancer free. I imagined triumphantly waving the doctor's report stuffed in my back pocket in his face like a flag. The look on his face would be priceless.But I had to attend to the first things first. I glanced at the large clock on the wall, noted the time. In my mind's eye, I saw the timer at the hospital I had woken up in. It had been roughly three hours since my life had taken a completely different turn. I still had about twenty more hours to complete the syste
RICHARD"The payment went through," Jake said half to himself in a tone of disbelief as he looked around the room.Gasps, and murmurs echoed around the room. Grinning from ear to ear, I reflected that I would gladly have given a million dollars more just to continue seeing the look on James's face as he stared at the screen."What?" he shouted. "How is this possible? Is this some kind of sick joke?" He dragged his gaze from the machine to me, and then to the salesman. I smiled, watched him wrestled with himself as he sought for an explanation to what just happened. "The machine. It is faulty. It has to be. Check, confirm if he actually paid that amount in. In fact, I want to check it myself," he ordered.Jake nodded, turned his computer so that it faced James before he refreshed the page for payment. There, right on top of the other deposits made that day, was my name in bold, right next to the amount I had paid- one million dollars. James stared and stared at the screen. Abruptly, he
RICHARDI read the text message again, scarcely believing my eyes. To tell the truth, at the bottom of my heart, I had had some misgivings about 'throwing' a million dollars away just like that on a fancy apartment, but I had tamped that feeling down because at that moment, seeing the look of consternation on the face of the jerk that had been messing around with my wife had swamped every other consideration. One Ultra point meant that I was again one million dollars richer. Boy, was I on a roll! And it just kept betting and better with no end in sight."...sir."I blinked, raised my head as I realized the manager had been talking to me."Pardon? What was that you said?" I said, scarcely able to conceal my face splitting grin."I was saying sir, that I am very sorry for any annoyance Mr James must have cost you. If I had known that he was being so rude to you, I would have come here and intervened earlier. I just wonder why my staff didn't intervene seeing I was not present." Hayes s
RICHARD"And what's with that stupid smile you have on your face!" Amelia snapped when she didn't get the response she had anticipated."Oh that. I discovered that I've begun smiling a lot lately. Maybe it's because I'm happy.""Happy," she sneered and haughtily tossed her long, black hair over her shoulder. "You have no money, no home to come back to, and don't think for a moment that I'm going to take you back after that stunt you pulled the last time you were here. Even if you beg-""Beg?" I infused the right amount of surprise in my voice. "Whatever gave you the impression that I'm here to beg you to take me in?"She looked completely nonplussed at the idea that I hadn't returned to grovel at her feet. The same look was mirrored on the faces of her family members."Well, isn't that why you're here?" she asked.I shook my head slowly. "No. I just came to take my things. That's all."Amelia sucked in a breath. Her mother slowly rose from her chair."That is the best news I have hear