I Had A Dream

That horrible dream kept coming back: there I was, a birthday girl at the local gas station purchasing the winning lottery ticket for the Mega Million jackpot.

As a devout Christian, I condemn gambling and other greedy activities. However, this dreadful nightmare made me feel shamefully happy and put my virtues in danger.

So, on my birthday, I resolved to resist Evil and locked myself home. The dream did not return.

The same night, some sleazy socialite from Miami stole the lucky numbers from my dream and won the Mega Million jackpot.

Some people have no decency, no decency at all.

From Guest Contributor Olga Klezovitch

Olga is a scientist who lives in Seattle. Her previous work has appeared in 50-Word Stories, A Story in 100 Words and Necon E-Books. Her "When It Dribbles, It Drabbles" Kindle book can be found at Amazon.com.

The Vigorish

Sal lurked in the hallways of the gambling den, all greasy hair and cigarette stench. No one acknowledged his presence, not even the proprietor who employed him. He was considered a necessary evil by some, the angel of reckoning by others.

They called him the Vigorish. His job was to calculate and collect the interest. He wasn't the muscle--he was too much of a worm to behave violently. He was just the one doing the math.

If he came to your table, you knew you'd been cut off. If he came to your home, you knew you were dead.

Winning Isn't Everything

Eddie looked at the shot clock. Ten seconds remained, trailing by one.

He would take the last shot himself. No one else could be trusted. His teammates had already come close to ruining everything.

With five seconds left, he crossed over to his left hand, and drove into the lane. Three players collapsed on him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan wide open.

Instead of passing, he forced the shot. It bounced violently off the rim. They lost the championship.

Eddie hid a smile. They may have lost the game, but he had just won 50,000 dollars.

Genre: Sports