What if it were different?

Angel is sitting on the bench in her favorite park again with her shopping cart full of her treasures found from others garbage.  She’s watching all the different people that walk past her.  They are judging her, smirking at her, making rude comments or just walking around her as if she had a plague.  Angel does this at the beginning of every morning. 1

Always fantasying about what her life would be, if things were different. Angel knows deep in her heart that things will not change. Why should they? She is a society reject. She’s fat, ugly, unloved and never finished her schooling. Angel ponders this thought for a moment but then, as usual, Angel lets it go and continues on her way. 2

She has a lot of garbage to go through today, as it is Friday. The day all the garbage goes out. She needs to get there before anyone else, or she will miss many treasures people throw out.  She spends every day doing the same old routine. Once, Angel found a fur coat someone threw out in the trash. Lucky for Angel, it was -32 outside, and she didn’t have a winter coat. It was now getting late. Angel started to head back to her cardboard box, with the extra newspapers. When over by the garbage can, she spots something. She walks over, picks it up and looks at it. It is a lottery ticket. Angel wonders if it is a winner, that maybe someone lost it. Angel decides that it is late and the store would be closed now.  She will take it to the store in the morning to get it checked.  However, for now, she is cold and tired and just wants to return home. 3

In the morning, Angel wakes up, crawls out of her cardboard box that she calls home, straightens everything up, and then leaves on her daily routine. Angel goes to the park, as she does every morning. Sits on the same bench and watches the same people doing the same routines. When Angel remembers, she has the lottery ticket and has to go get it checked out. As she walks up to the store, she remembers the last time she was in this store. The storeowner, told her to leave, as Angel was a menace and would scare all of his customers away.  Even though she had money, he would not serve her. But this time, Angel made sure she looked clean and presentable to go inside the store. As Angel walked into the store, again the storeowner told her to leave and never come back. Angel almost left but then stood up to him and said that she wants to get her ticket checked. Angel told the storeowner that if it was not a winner, then she would promise never to come back into his store again. The storeowner thought about this for a moment then asked Angel if she promised never to come back if the ticket was not a winner. Angel told him that she promised. The storeowner agreed to check the ticket.4

After a moment, the storeowner looked at Angel with a shocked look on his face and went to say something to Angel, but before he could say anything Angel said, “Yes I know I didn’t win, and as promised, I will leave and never come back.” As Angel started to turn away from the storeowner, he grabbed her arm and yelled, “You have won!” “You have won $87 million dollars!” Angel looked at him in shock then said, “Are you serious? Did I really win?”  He looked at her and said “yes”.  Angel took the ticket so that she could take it to the lottery center to collect her money. She looked at the storeowner and asked him “As I am now rich, are you going to refuse me back in your store?” The storeowner looked at Angel with embarrassment in his face and said, “Madam, you are always welcome back in my store, and I am sorry that I was so mean to you before. Will you accept my apologize?”  Angel looked at him, and thought of a mean come back, but because this was not her style, she just looked at him and said, “I accept.” Angel left the store with her ticket close in hand.5

After cashing in her ticket, Angel was uncertain as to what she should do first. She thought for a moment, and then decided that she was going to get her hair and nails done. Once she was finished with that. Angel proceeded to get a new wardrobe. She didn’t look even look at the prices. Once she was done shopping, Angel decided that she was going to check out the bar down the street. Angel had always wanted to go into the bar, but new that they would kick her out right away, due to her not being of class. Well now she thought, “I can go anywhere I want and not be turned away ever again.” 6

While in the bar, Angel was realizing very fast that she was fitting in with everyone. No one was laughing at her, making fun of her looks or even judging her on her love life. Everyone was accepting her for who she was. While sitting at a table waiting for her drink to be delivered, a gentleman with desirable looks asked her to dance. At first, Angel almost said no, thinking that this must be a joke, then decided that “Yes” she would love to dance. Angel and this gentleman danced the whole night. Talked the whole night, and even kissed throughout the night.   When the night was over, Angel went to leave. The gentleman that she had been dancing with all night came over and asked her if she wanted to go for coffee some time. Angel was very excited about this and said yes. They had agreed on the next night going to the bistro for coffee and maybe dinner afterwards. The gentleman asked for her name and then she asked for his. He replied with “Alex”. She felt sexualy aroused by his name. They separated with a passionate kiss. 7

Angel was walking away, and thought to herself “where am I going to stay tonight? I can’t go back to my box. They will know the truth about me then. I know, I will stay at the most expensive hotel in the city.” Once Angel arrived in her hotel suite, she sat on the bed wondering what she is supposed to do here. As Angel had not stayed in anything other than a box for the last 10 years, she was unsure as to what she was supposed to do. She thought for a moment, then decided on a hot bath. When she walked into the bathroom, Angel started to cry thinking “They have everything in here. I could only dream of these luxuries before, now I can have anything I want.”  Angel enjoyed her bath, then afterwards crawled into her cozy bed for the night with a smile on her face.8

The next evening, Angel met with Alex, and they had a wonderful time. Angel was starting to feel something that she had never felt before in her life. She was feeling love and she new it. She didn’t want to say anything as she didn’t want to scare Alex away. However, at the end of the evening, Alex asked Angel to marry him. Alex explained that from the moment he met her, he knew she was the one he had been waiting for all his life. Angel was thrilled and almost said yes, but then thought about her life before yesterday. Angel decided that she would tell Alex the truth, and thought that once he knew the truth, he would leave. Well, it did not work that way. Angel told him everything about her life, including her being a prostitute to live. Alex told Angel that he loved her unconditionally and he didn’t care about her past, only “their” future together. Angel said “yes”. They got married, bought a mansion, had 2 children together, and Angel even went back to school to get her Diploma in Social Work. 9

Life was moving along wonderfully for Angel. Her children were grown up and very happy with their new spouses. Her children often visited as they were a very close family. They always went of vacations together, had Sunday dinners together, and even went to church together. Angel was enjoying her new life and had totally forgotten about her old life. Her daughter calls on Saturday morning to tell Angel “your going to be a grandmother. I’m having twins!.”. Angel is overjoyed and starts to cry. Her daughter is frightened by Angel’s tears and asks her if she is okay. Angel tells her that she is very happy and they were tears of joy. Her daughter then starts to cry with happiness. Angel was ending the call with “I love you forever and a day.” As she always had, when her daughter replied “I love you forever and an eternity.” Angel begins to cry again, telling her daughter that she is the luckiest woman alive to have such a wonderful family. She says bye then hangs up. 10

As Angel hangs up the phone, she feels someone come behind her and wrap his arms around her. Angel turns to him with tears in her eyes. Alex looks at her, and asks her what is wrong. Angel tells him that she is just so happy to have such a wonderful, loving family, and they were going to be grandparents to twins. Alex has tears in his eyes and tells Angel that he too feels like the luckiest person on the face of the earth. Angel then proceeds to tell him, even with her past, she’s loved unconditionally. Alex tells her that she “is” loved unconditionally because that is how she is with everyone else. Alex tell her “you are not judgmental, not rude, not mean, and you are even selfless when it comes to others and your needs”. Angel hugs Alex and tells him “I love you forever and a day.” He replies, “I love you too forever and an eternity.”  They start to kiss, and then Alex takes Angel by the hand as says, “I love you with all my heart, and right now, I want to make mad passionate love to my wife”. Angel kisses him back and follows him to the bedroom where they enjoy each other to the fullest making love. When they are finished and exhausted, they kiss each other again and say their “I love you forever and a day”, then fall asleep in each other’s arms.    11

The next morning Angel awakes, does her morning routines, and then heads off to the grocery store. Angel walks inside and the storeowner tells her to leave. Angel tells him “I only want to have this checked”. The storeowner checks it and then turns to Angel and says,  12

“This IS a winning ticket lady, but it has already been claimed. Now leave my store before I call the police!”13