Numbers

Josh always watched the lottery alone, his door locked to keep out his roommates. He’d been playing the same number for ten years, and after writing down Saturday’s numbers, he checked his ticket against them ten times. He had thought if the moment ever came he’d scream, maybe dance. Now he sat holding his winning ticket, terrified.$825,000,000.

What on earth would he do with that? And what about when his family and friends came for him? Could he trust anyone any more?

He quickly endorsed the back of the ticket and quietly checked the Internet for tickets to Australia.

From Guest Contributor Ran Walker

Ran is the author of 18 books. He teaches creative writing at Hampton University in Virginia. He can be reached via his website, www.ranwalker.com.

Whose Apartment?

I rent an apartment that's above a garage.

But there's a dog who has made a home for himself in the corner.

He's without a collar

and needs a bath.

I'm polite, so I don't say anything.

But he growls as if it's his apartment!

I explain; I'm paying the rent, so really it's my apartment, so he needs to accept reality.

He dismisses my argument.

I offer him food and he eats it.

I give him a bath and he goes along with it.

Finally, he licks my face in an apparent suggestion that we become roommates.

I accept.

From Guest Contributor Kent V Anderson

When Kent isn't writing stories, he is building robots.

Granular

Justin and Franklin had been roommates for six months. They disputed everything on a granular level.

If Justin wanted to use the kitchen, Franklin would argue that in the fundamental sense of the word, kitchen is simply a place to cook. Justin could just as easily cook something in his bedroom, say a package of ramen noodles, so it would be correct to say that his bedroom was also a kitchen. Justin would retort that since his name was on the lease, one could consider that the entire apartment technically belonged to him.

Justin and Franklin hated each other immensely.