Out of change, the cashier gave us a lottery ticket. We never won anything before but since the ticket, that was all we thought about. Thought about going back to school, paying debts, buying real furniture. At least that’s what I thought. One night, we sat with the TV, watching the wheel of fortune squirting numbers. We matched one number, then another. My father said he'd quit his job and buy that muscle car, even though the prize was not high. I wanted to protest. Then, as if the Universe too protested, the numbers stopped matching. So, we went on.
Dr. Vaishnavi Pusapati's work has appeared in The Drabble, 50-Word Stories, 50 Give or Take, Microfiction Monday, Moon Pie Press, and Dreich Magazine, among others.