The Winner
John Healy worked at a restaurant called “Jackson Hole”, located on the corner of 92nd street
and Madison avenue, this the kind of establishment which is generally referred to as a “hamburger joint”. It was there where he would spend most of his evenings “flipping burgers” and filling out orders, while his mornings and afternoons were spent in the pursuit of the education that would hopefully someday see him become a professor of English. As for his physical appearance, it would be hard to say he was not attractive, as that is how most of the female customers found him to be or at least; those that went to the trouble of looking at those who worked behind the counter. John Healy was tall though not overly, him standing at 5 foot 10 inches (177cm) with features that made him pleasant to look at. His eyes were green with a nose that was straight and well proportioned to the rest of his face, which included a mouth that many considered to be his finest attribute, with lips that were in the opinion of many a lady as sensual as any other. Body wise apart from being slightly on the tall side he was also well built; this not meaning his was a muscular form but one that had very little in the way of body fat. As he jogged around Central Park, usually on weekends and when ever his busy schedule allowed it.
John Healy like many a person who now called New York home had come from a place far
away though in John’s case he had not come from another country but from a small town in
the state of Indiana; where he was born and lived till he graduated from high school. It was
after graduation, going against the advise of his parents that he enrolled in New York’s
Hunter college, where he had been studying English Literature for the last 5 years with the aim of becoming both a professor and an author.
John had been working in this particular Jackson Hole for the last year, during which he had
become very well known to the customers as a man who worked hard and did his job well
while managing to keep a sense of humor that was appreciated, or at least by most. Naturally John was kept busy by having to hold down a job while studying full time but this he did not mind; him knowing that someday he would be a successful author, whose books would sell millions of copies as well as get made in to films but for the time being he was a short order cook. The time is about 7 pm when we see John going about the business of putting and turning over not only burgers but omelets in a restaurant which is a bit empty. This not strange given that the day of the week is a Tuesday. In the month of April, one week before Easter.
Nothing was out of the ordinary, as customers were going in, eating and making their way out
after having left a tip but on this occasion John noticed how a client had left his jacket on his
stool. It normally was not required of John to take care of such details but seeing how he was
not overly occupied he picked up the item which had been left behind and took it to the room
which served as the “lost and found”. In a way it was strange how he had been working there
for a little over a year and this was the first time he was taking something to the backroom, as
it was referred to.
Perhaps the man who had left the jacket was generous tipper but he just had a curiosity more than anything to see if the man had left his wallet, containing his name and address. He could even call up the man who had left it and deliver the jacket after work; telling him he was returning it with his wallet, cash and credit cards. All of which would provide the man with relief; which would see him become generous to the point of offering a 20$ reward for the return of his jacket. Even the jacket looked expensive; made of brown leather, the kind that are worn by men who drive Italian sports cars or so it was in his mind.
Seeing there was no wallet in any of the pockets made John slightly disappointed, not that he
was intending to keep the money or use the credit cards but simply get the man’s name and
hopefully address to where he could return it; along with the jacket for a reward. John looked
carefully through the pockets, fearing that somebody might see him and get the wrong idea
that he was trying to steal the contents, of course this was not so much what worried John for
he could always say he was looking for a wallet to get a phone number to call the person up to
have him come down to claim his jacket. The owner had gone home for the evening, so the
only ones still present where 2 waitresses and the cashier.
John looked over the pockets and in one; he found a piece of paper, which at first he did not
know what it was but took more due to a sense of idle curiosity than anything else. It was a
lotto ticket, the kind that only cost a dollar and give somebody a chance to pick a few numbers in the hope of hitting the wining combination. John for his part had never played the
lottery, he being aware that the chances of winning were so remote that it was almost not even
worth spending a dollar on but this was different. He had found a ticket in somebody’s pocket and what should it be if this was the lucky number. Now, he had literally nothing to loose by simply checking if this number had won and if worse came to worse he would have lost nothing and who knew; maybe this ticket had some sort of price attached to it. It might turn out not to be the grand one but even thirty five dollars would not come unwelcome for the trip he was planning to take to his hometown for Easter to visit his parents.
John took out the ticket and as he did so started to worry because after all it was not his but
one he had found in somebody’s jacket at work. Was he stealing it? This in and of itself did
not trouble him so much at the time but how would he know if the number were a winner? It
was then that he remembered that there was a number which he could call and find out what
the winning number for the week was. He of course did not know this number but this was not
a problem as he could always call information which is precisely what he did.
As he waited to be told the winning number, he suddenly got that sensation which he had seen
in others as they waited to find out weather or not they would be millionaires. He could just
imagine how it was for these people as they listened to their TVs or radios, all around the
world in the hope that they had chosen the winning number.
Suddenly John got a sense of urgency, as he felt he had taken too much time from his position at the kitchen and though nobody had come in to the restaurant he knew he needed to get back to his post. John being in an office took a pen and a piece of paper and called Lotto and as expected he got a recorded message that gave out the winning number for the week. John wanting to check the number carefully jotted it down and went back to his post behind the counter.
About the Author
My name is Gianni Truvianni, author of many an article to be found on the internet along with the book “New York’s Opera Society”. My works also include the books “What Should Not Matter”, “Love Your Sister” and several others which still remain unpublished though I am presently looking to change this.
2 of 2. Quantum Sound Healing
