Upper Limits
Originally published on Substack September 20, 2025 As Saturday Shorts 02.
The biggest jackpot yet manifests as easily as the smaller ones.
I touch the ticket and think about the jackpot. Forty-three million this week. The numbers shimmer into existence under silver film like they're eager to please. Same humming sensation as when I won Lucky Day Lotto here for two million, or the ten thousand dollar winners at other stores while I was learning.
I pocket the winning ticket. "Ring up five more."
Jerome's hand freezes halfway to the register. "Maya. You won two million last month and you're still here buying tickets. Most people who hit it big..." He trails off, unsure how to finish.
"Most people what?"
He can't finish the sentence. Can't say what we both know. That winners don't return to the same store. That lightning doesn't strike twice.
"Maya, most people who win that kind of money... they don't keep playing. They celebrate, you know? Take a vacation. Why are you still here?"
"Because I'm not done yet."
The new tickets are blank until I decide what they should become. I could try thinking about different games, bigger jackpots maybe. I don't know how much longer this will last, just that I'm testing how far this goes while I can.
Last month's win taught me money changes nothing important. Same apartment, same routine, same Jerome selling me tickets. The only difference is my bank account and my curiosity about how much I can get before this ability fades.
I scan the available scratch-offs and think fifty dollars when I touch the first one. Winner. A hundred on the second. Winner. Five hundred on the third. Winner. Just to see. Just to map the territory.
Jerome watches me scratch ticket after ticket, each one paying out. "You're on quite a streak today."
Because I'm calibrating. Because I want to understand the rules before I break them. Because I need to find the highest number I can reach while this still works.
I cash the fifty and hundred dollar winners with Jerome, pocket the five hundred dollar ticket for the lottery office later.
Jerome counts out my cash slowly, like the bills might disappear.
Tomorrow I'll try the Powerball. Next week, Mega Millions. Eventually I'll find the highest number I can hit before this stops working.
END.