I dropped the cart off at home base and then went to the market with Newmill and Penrin. My eyes were scanning for lottery tickets with a hungry desire.
Newmill said, “I only know little about the lottery. What is it like?”
“It’s the most wondrous thing you can imagine,” I explained. “There are so many different types, but my favourite are scratchcards. You buy one and then use a fingernail or coin to scratch away at the surface. Through your efforts you uncover certain winnings. When the winnings match, you get a tonne of money. It’s truly amazing!”
I could see the prince was excited by my explanation.
“What he’s not telling you is that you lose far more money than you gain,” said Penrin.
“Only if you’re unlucky,” I said. “Don’t be such a spoilsport.” Then my eyes spotted it. I pointed down the street. “There it is. That’s the lottery shop.”
Newmill and Penrin both followed my finger but saw nothing. “Where? I can’t see it?” said Newmill.
“It’s on the left, about 30 stores down.”
“Your eyesight is tremendous,” said Penrin. “How are you able to see that far?”
“My eyes can spot lottery tickets from miles away.”
“What kind of selective superpower is that?”
The three of us walked down the long street and entered the establishment that I pointed out. The inside was full of different types of lotteries. There were papers for a limited-edition lotto at the front, while further in there were more classic types. I felt like a kid in a candystore. I wanted to try out everything here, but my eye was caught by something next to the cashier. There was a large pile of scratchcards at the till. I immediately walked over to the clerk. “Are these your only scratchcards?” I asked excitedly.
The staff member was surprised to see a child like me in the store. “Yes. We’ll be restocking tomorrow but these are the only ones left.”
“How much for one?”
“Just 5 GP.”
“Give me ten!” I dropped 50 GP on the counter.
Penrin gripped my shoulder. “Yarm, I can’t tell you how to spend your money, but I don’t think this is a good idea. Won’t you reconsider?”
“Relax Penrin.” I bought my scratchers and began to scrape away at one with my Soundless Pick. At the top of the lottery card, it said that the grand prize was one million GP. That was enough to completely pay off my debt. The first part I scratched away had ’50 GP’ printed on it, the second had ‘2000 GP’, and the third had ‘10,000 GP’. I sighed.
“You won so much!” said Newmill.
“He didn’t,” said Penrin. “All three numbers have to match for you to win something.”
I got started on my second scratcher. As I chipped away at it, Newmill watched with great interest. He seemed to like this almost as much as I did. The second one was a miss as well. And so was the third. “Newmill, do you wanna try too?”
“May I?” he asked.
“Of course.” I handed half of my cards to the prince, and we scratched them all together. He had the same sparkle in his eye that I did. I had found a fellow scratchcard enthusiast. After a short while, we had burned through all the cards without so much as a penny in winnings.
“Twenty more scratchers, please,” I said to the cashier. He seemed reluctant to sell so many cards to a group of children, but his job didn’t allow him to refuse payment from anyone.
Penrin watched as the two of us devoured card after card. Normally one would be dejected after so many dead tickets, however it only egged us on more. As soon as one scratcher was a dud, we moved onto another.
“Twenty more!” I said. We moved onto another batch while Penrin became increasingly worried. After many minutes, I was down to only 5 GP to my name. “One more, please,” I said.
“Just stop it!” Penrin cried out. “This is horrible to watch. You’re losing all your money on this. Think of all the good that you could have done with the money you wasted.”
“Think of all the good we could do once we win big,” I retorted.
“Yeah, exactly!” Newmill added. “And we have gotten close to winning several times. On my last scratchcard I had two prints of 10,000 GP. I was so close to the prize.”
“You’re not going to win,” said Penrin. “That’s the whole point of the lottery. By design, the only people who make money in a lottery are the ones who sell the tickets.”
“Oh shush. I have a good feeling about this last one.” I tried to buy it, but Penrin grabbed my wrist.
“Did you have a good feeling about all the other ones too?” she chided.
It was a good point, but I really wanted to buy the scratchcard. “It’s only 5 GP. What’s the harm in me buying it?”
“You’ve bought almost a hundred tickets. Each time was a singular instance of losing 5 GP. I would expect someone like you to understand the error in your reasoning.”
Newmill said, “But what if this one is the winner? Then all the money we’ve spent so far will have gone to waste.”
I stated, “Newmill, that is a classic case of the sunk cost fallacy, but I totally agree with you! It would be a waste to not buy this last one.”
Penrin stood between me and the till. “I’m not letting you buy it. The two of you are going to become gambling addicts at this rate.”
“The lottery isn’t gambling!” I said.
“Yeah, this is way better,” Newmill added.
“I agree with the girl,” a new voice said. It was the cashier.
“Who asked you?” I responded.
The staff member was troubled by the scene he was witnessing. In his eyes he saw a group of children spending all their savings on the lottery. When looking at the man’s expression, I realised I was becoming quite obsessed.
“I guarantee you that the next ticket will be a dud like all the others. Please don’t buy it,” Penrin pleaded.
What kind of example was I setting for these youngsters by doing this? Why was I allowing myself to revert to my old ways? “Maybe you’re right,” I said.
“Not ‘maybe’. I am definitely right. If you buy this last scratchcard, it will only be another loss.”
“Ok, ok, you’re right. I won’t buy it.” I stepped away from the counter. Newmill was obviously disappointed by my surrender. He clearly wanted to go further.
A new customer walked into the shop and bought the scratchcard we were fighting over. “Hey, I won 10,000 GP!” he said as he finished scratching the surface away.
Newmill, the cashier, and I turned our heads toward Penrin.
Penrin shrugged her shoulders and raised her palms upward. “Don’t look at me! How was I supposed to know?”
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