Reggie wakes up to his alarm blaring. He had another weird dream. Third night in a row. He could never remember many of the details except some numbers that seem to keep showing up. Chalking it up to his overactive imagination, Reggie gets out of bed and starts to get ready for the day. He isn't exactly happy about it, but knows that's just how life is. Reggie Carlyle is your average 22 year old adult male of average build and slightly above average height. He works a dead-end office job that barely pays the bills and has no real plans for the future other than to keep working. Not that he wants to. He hates his job. Its boring, tedious work and his boss is a real piece of work. Seems like he is always angry and yelling at someone.

Reggie quickly gets ready, grab his keys, and heads out the door. His commute to work is a short walk down the street a couple blocks then a quick right onto the main road. As soon as he walks in the building, Reggie can feel the change in the air. Its a stifling environment that almost seems to drain your very soul. The day passes uneventfully as usual. After work, Reggie drops by his favorite convenience store for a snack. In the front window is a brightly lit sign advertising the national lottery and displaying the current jackpot value of almost half a billion dollars. Reggie can't help but think about what he might do with that kind of money as he picks out a couple snacks and a drink. As he brings his selection up to the counter, a semi-bored looking clerk sees him coming and walks up to ring up his purchases. On a whim, Reggie decides to dream a little more. I will never win but I should play the lottery just because its fun to dream. I could use those numbers I keep dreaming about. 

"One lottery ticket, too, please," Reggie says to the clerk. Without a word, the bored clerk types a few keys. "You want to pick your own numbers or just get a random pick?" the clerk finally asks with the least amount of emotion humanly possible. "I would like to use my own. Seven, thirteen, twenty three, forty three, sixty seven." The clerk enters the numbers as he says them then prints out a ticket and hands it to Reggie. Reggie pays the lethargic clerk, puts the ticket in his pocket, grabs his snacks, and heads back out the way he came in. Despite knowing the odds were against him, Reggie walked with an extra pep in his step. I could quit that boring job and tell my boss off. I could move out of my tiny apartment. I could buy a car, though I don't have a license. I could get a driver's license! The entire walk home, Reggie was dreaming of winning the big jackpot. The drawing was in a few hours. Reggie got home, pulled out his snacks and sat on the couch to watch TV. Thirty minutes later, he is asleep with his snack half eaten in his hand.

The morning alarm goes off as usual, waking Reggie from his snack induced coma. He goes about his routine as normal and heads off to work. On his way, he remembers the lottery ticket in his pocket and wonders if anyone won the jackpot. AS he heads into the office building, the lottery moves to the back of Reggie's mind once again as the oppressive atmosphere sinks in. It takes a few minutes for him to notice a lot of his coworkers are talking excitedly off in a corner. "What's going on?" he asks one of the other guys standing nearby. "Someone won the lottery jackpot and they live in our town but no one knows who it is," the coworker responds before quickly walking to their desk. The boss had just come around the corner, making the room suddenly turn completely silent. All the other office works return to their workspaces while looking anywhere but towards their boss. The TV mounted on the wall catches Reggie's attention as it talks about the lottery and the winning numbers. 

Reggie suddenly stands bolt upright as he stares at the screen. 7 - 13 - 23 - 43 - 67 are displayed along the bottom with the headline. Pinching himself, he notices he had been holding his breath and exhales deeply. Did I win? Those are the numbers I played. Unless it was dream, but I am pretty sure I did buy a ticket. Suddenly remembering it was in his pocket, Reggie pulls it out slowly and reads it as his eyes get open as wide as possible. Mouth agape, Reggie stares at the numbers, glances back at the TV, then back to the ticket. His brain was having a hard time comprehending the reality in front of him. "Hey, I don't pay you to stand around staring! Get to work, slacker!" The sudden noise snaps Reggie out of his trance. Turning towards the voice, Reggie's boss is standing right next to him with an annoyed look on his face. "Come on, are you deaf? Get to work!" 

Reggie blinks a couple times as his brain slowly reengages. "No."

"No? Whadya mean no? How dare you talk back to me!" His boss's face was turning red as he grew angrier with Reggie. No one has ever talked back to the boss in the two years Reggie has worked there. 

"I said no," Reggie calmly stated. His face was one of determination as he stared back at his horrible boss. "I am done with this place and definitely done with you! I quit!" Still stunned and angry but unable to respond, his boss continued standing there as Reggie grabbed a couple things from his desk, placed his work ID on the keyboard, and walked away without looking back. The oppressive air suddenly seemed normal. Reggie walked out of the building and ran all the way back home with a huge smile on his face. He was free. He could do anything. Once he got back home, the truth suddenly hit him like a truck. He won almost half a billion dollars. What now?

A knock on the front door snapped Reggie from his spiraling thoughts. He opens the door to find a woman he has never met before standing there smiling. She seemed almost familiar, like he had once passed her on the street or something. "Hello, may I help you?" The girl's smile never wavered as she stared at him. She was extremely attractive. Her light purple hair was tied back with a purple ribbon. Her clothes looked like some sort of robe or cloak and she carried a staff in one hand. 

"Hi, Reggie? My name is Hyacinth, do you remember me?" the girl replied. How does she know me? Did she work at the office? I feel like I would remember someone dressed like a wizard around the office. Recognition slowly dawned on him as he finally remembered where he had seen her. 

"You were in those weird dreams I had?!?!"