Justin’s eyes grew four times their normal size as they stare at the scratch off in his hand. He couldn’t believe it. What would he do with a million dollars? He walks back to his apartment in a daze, not talking to anyone. He doesn’t even remember turning his key in the lock. After coming back to reality, he slowly took his gray coat off and tossed it onto the ugly green couch. He took a good look around. It wasn’t a very large apartment, but it was all he and his girlfriend could afford. His kitchen was an ugly green color with oak cabinets. It was so small that it could barely hold his antique oak table with two chairs, one for him and one for his girlfriend. There wasn’t even space for a dishwasher. The 1960s flowery wallpaper was peeling from the ancient walls. He plopped himself down on their Goodwill couch and stared at the white, popcorn water-stained ceiling. His couch was the only other piece of furniture in the room besides their twenty-nine inch T.V. He could hear the water running in their almost nonexistent bathroom. Karen must have heard him come in because she instantly turned the water off and came into the living room with soap still in her long, black hair and a towel wrapped around her tiny, porcelain body. Justin was still sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Her presence in the room doesn’t even faze him.
Karen stared at him for a moment longer and then shouted, “Justin! What is wrong?”
He couldn’t speak. The lottery ticket was still crumpled up in his hand. She began to study him and her eyes land on his left hand. She walked over to him and attempted to pry his hand open. After a few minutes of pulling back his fingers she becomes successful. Karen read the lottery ticket, dropped it, and jumped up and down while turning in a circle. She began rambling on about what they should do with the money.
“We can buy a house, get married, buy new cars, get married…” Her voice began to fade away since Justin’s demeanor hadn’t changed. Justin can’t get over the fact that he had just luckily won a million dollars. His mind was racing and his heart was beating so fast that he felt dizzy.
He broke out of his daze, whipped his head towards Karen, and said, “Slow down a minute.” He may not have much, but he was content with his life. His apartment may be run down and decaying by the second, but materialistic things don’t matter to him. He took a moment to contemplate what he was about to explain to his girlfriend. He turned his back to her, scratched his head, and slowly says, “We aren’t going to spend it, we are going to save it. I know you want to get married, Karen, but that will come in time. This is the decision that I’ve made, since it is after all my scratch off, and I’m sticking to it. Karen smiled, even though her eyes showed disappointment, and quickly threw some clothes on. Together, they hastily walked to their bank and opened themselves a personal savings account to house their newfound fortune.
I just recently finished "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I had no idea what this novel was going to be about going into it; all I knew was that our 10th grade English class study it. Right off the bat I noticed that our narrator was not your average Joe. The narrator is death. When I realized this I said to myself, "Oh this is going to be good." The novel is all about the Holocaust and it is shown from a German point of view. Leisel Meminger's mother gives her away to a foster German family. On the trip to this new family, Leisel's brother dies. So right from the start death is there. I'm not going to give you a synopsis of it, because I think you should read it for yourself. Just know that a German family hides a Jew in their basement for a while, and death is around every corner. That last line of the novel really got me though..."I am haunted by humans."
Comments
Post a Comment