“AHHHHHH!” I screamed into the phone.

“Ahhhhhh!” she replied on the other side, “Oh my gosh! Really?”

“Yes, really,” I confirmed. I jumped up and down with my cell phone still in my hand and I could feel that she was doing the same thing on the other side.

Hi, my name is Emily. You probably know me. I sit in the back of the classroom and when the teacher calls on Emily, I would look around to make sure that it was me who was called and not the other three Emily’s in the room. Not only is my name extremely ordinary, my lifestyle is too. I’m not very talented or am I inspiring. I go to school everyday and home afterwards to do my homework. I work once a week and hang out with my friends from time to time. But the one thing that makes me different, special even, is that I just won twenty millions dollar!

“Make sure you come home this weekend! We can go on a shopping spree,” she replied, exhausted from jumping up and down. This is my sister Amy. I have a very strong connection with her. When she was born, I helped name her. My parent’s criteria for the name was that it had to be short and easy to pronounce since they weren’t very good with English. Being only seven years old, the only name I knew that fit those criteria was Amy. It was a snowy day and I remembered praying for a snow day at school so that I could spend more time with my new baby sister. So naturally, she would be the first person I called.

So that weekend I came home from college on the train. I decided to tell my whole family about the good news in person. Hoping that the bag didn’t rip and let the ticket fly away, I had to double check the ticket every five minutes. After announcing the news to my family, my mom ran over to cover the windows. She told me to make sure not to tell anyone, even my best friends. She feared that they would murder the family for the money, or worse. My dad told her that she had been watching too many Korean dramas. He said that since I was the winner, I could do anything I want. So after claiming the prize and taking the “lump sum“ as advised by my mom, I took the family out on a shopping spree. My dad went to buy a nice tie or watch or whatever he wanted. My mom was at the jewelry store looking and trying on the same ring five times before she bought it. My sisters and brother immediately head for the toys store. They rushed through the aisles and quickly picked out any toys they liked. And I went by myself to the teen’s section. Looking through the clothes, I wondered, why do I feel so empty. I picked up a shirt, turned around as if to get my sisters or mom’s opinion, but they weren’t there. I was by myself.

That is such sad ending! How did a wonderful daydream turn into a disappointing nightmare? If I was to lose my family over twenty-minus-whatever-percent-due-to-taxes million dollars, I would rather not win any at all. Although this was just my fantasy, something that I think about when my parents complain about not making enough money or when my sisters can’t have a big birthday party like her friends, I definitely do not want this dream to come true.

It’s true that I’m ordinary. There is absolutely nothing special about me. My heart isn’t big enough to offer the last piece of cookie to my sister or can I genuinely feel happy for my friend when she does better than me on a test. I’m not a child genius and I haven’t been through any real tragedies in life. But I am very hard working. That is why I rather work hard to earn money and buy a fancy bag that I like than winning the lottery and having to reread the ticket over and over again to make sure I have really won. I don’t want to feel that kind of insecurity, always afraid of losing that money or suspecting people’s motive for friending me. I want to continue living my uninspiring life, but be happy and carefree.