Chance Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
Conner looked down while he was walking and found a dime. He
stopped to consider it. Conner had been down on his luck for quite some time.
He was not the brightest guy, but he had lots and lots of dreams and
motivation. He tried a lot of get rich quick schemes. He hadn’t been successful
yet, but he was always sure that the next one was going to pay off. He had a
sort of blind optimism that was endearing to friends and strangers alike, but
also made it very hard for anyone to take him too seriously. With every passing
scheme his credibility slipped away just a little bit further.
The dime on the ground was basically worthless. Conner knew that.
Spare change was the thing of beggars and bums. No one who could afford
anything needed to worry about change. Apparently someone had been careless or
clueless and the dime had been lost. Apparently they had been ignorant or
indifferent and couldn’t be bothered to expend the energy to pick it up. Conner
had no idea how long the dime had been sitting there. He had no idea how many
people had walked past it and ignored it. He assumed many many people had
walked right by it and failed to notice it, or thought it wasn’t worth their
time to lean over.
The dime probably wasn’t worth anyone’s time. A dime alone paid
for nothing. The dime wasn’t going to change Conner’s life. That he knew. And
yet he couldn’t help but wonder. He couldn’t help but dream.
Years earlier he had been a gambler. He had wasted countless
amounts of money on ill-advised and ludicrous bets. He loved sports and he
loved chance, but sports and chance didn’t love him. He had lost a fortune.
Around that time he had met a woman that was too good for him. He
had been embarrassed by the financial mess he had made of his world and never
told her of it. Everyday he was with her he fought the urge to go and take a
chance on something stupid. Everyday he was with her he was rewarded because he
got to be with her and got to keep her in his life.
Conner looked at that dime. He wanted to pick it up. He wanted to
spend it. He wanted to bet it and double it and turn it into an empire of
wealth. He knew he could. All he had to do was try. He knew he couldn’t always
have bad luck. He knew that chance had to side with him eventually.
It had been years since he had heard from her. He often wondered
how she was. He was too embarrassed to ever try to find out. He would never be
able to repay her. He owed her so much, the least he could do now was to leave
her alone.
Conner wandered off into the night, the bright lights of Las Vegas
reflected in his mind’s eye. The dime remained where it had been.
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