I wake up this morning and open my eyes. I’m in the same, boring, small bedroom again.  I always thought a master bedroom should be bigger, like fancier.  This is just so normal.  I really wish it was more elaborate.  At least it has two closets, one for me, one for my wife. I’ve been married to Shelly for eight years now.  This is our first house. It’s way too small, but it will do for now.  At least the bed is big enough for my six year old daughter, Kinley, to stay with us if she wants to.
“Dan! Come and eat your cereal! You still have to shower before work and you don’t need to be late again,” screamed Shelly. She’s calling me from the kitchen.  I sit at the table and she pours my cereal and milk. 
“Shelly, enough milk. Are you trying to drown me,” I ask?
“Sorry, dear. Kinley, come and get your oatmeal.”
Kinley sits down and starts eating.
“Dad,  are you going to come watch me in the ballet recital tonight,?” She asked.
“Oh. I may have to work late,  Kinley.”
“But Dad, we have practiced so much and I even get to wear a pink tutu! PLEASE,” she pleads.
“Dan, you can’t miss this.  She’s worked so hard,” says Shelly.
“Oh well, all right. I’ll be home by six,” I answer.
“YAY,” screams Kinley as she jumps up and runs outside to catch the bus.  Shelly walks up to the table. 
“Now Dan, don’t buy any lottery tickets on your way to work. You’ve never won before and you’re not going to win now. You’re wasting money and we can’t afford all this,” she insists.
“Whatever you say, honey. You’re the boss.” I said back.
She rolls her eyes and walks off. 
I take a quick shower and jump in the van.  There’s the convenient store. I have to stop. I run in and buy five quick pick tickets and take back off for work.  Maybe this will be the day my life will change.  Maybe all my dreams will come true.  I can move out of my small white house into a mansion.  I can dump this old beat up van for a sports car.  I can quit fishing in a creek and start deep sea fishing in Mexico.  Maybe I can have enough money to become a WINNER!”  I make it to my lousy bread delivery job, a few minutes late, and hear another lecture.
“Dan, I told you that if you were late again, I would fire you.  Luckily, I’m not quite ready to let you go yet,” yelled my boss.
“Oh, Mike. I had a family emergency,” I reply.
“Right, just deliver over on Johnson first, then go on to Hanover next.”
“Fine,” I reply and I drive a few hours, eat a light lunch, and drive a few more hours.  I deliver bread for a living. It’s so boring.  I need a different job, or better yet, no job.  I don’t want to work.  It’s such a waste of time.  Finally, I pull up right before six and put up the truck. As usual, I’m the last person to leave. I’m always Mr. Dependable and Mr. Reliable. It’s getting on my freaking nerves.  I get home, grab a sandwich, and it’s off to the recital.  Great, I’m sitting right beside Charles Walker, one of the richest men in town.  His daughter and Kinley are in the same dance class.  I wish I had his money.  Then I’d have his respect.  I’d do anything to have his lifestyle.  Lobster, cavier, non stop vacations, what a life. 
“BRAVO,  BRAVO,” yelled Shelly after Kinley took her final bow.  “Now Dan, aren’t you glad you came?  I know you are.”
“Oh, sure I am.  I’m so……….. glad,” I answer.
We run and get ice cream and arrive back at the house just in time for the 10 o’clock  news.  I grab my tickets and sit on the couch.  “DAN! What are you doing? Are those lottery tickets? I told you this morning that you need to put a stop to this nonsense.”
“All I need to do is win one time,  Shelly. What don’t you get? I could be rich forever,” “Whatever Dan!!!” and she storms back into the kitchen.  Just then, Kinley comes running in.
“ Dad, did you like my dance recital?”
“Hush Kinley! Daddy is doing something very important right now. Go and talk to your mother or go to bed or something.” 
“But Dad, I just……..”
“Now, Kinley. I’ve already wasted enough time tonight,  go.”
“ Oh, well………all right,” and she walks back to the kitchen.
“Now it’s time for tonights drawing. Here are the lucky numbers:  2, 3, 16, 24, 38 and the power ball is 7. I stare at the tickets. 2, 5, not that one.  What about this one?  2, 3, 16, wait……… what is…….. it really happening.  24, 38 and what is the powerball?  Could it be?  It is!  It’s 7. “I can’t believe it. It’s happening. I’m rich. I’m rich. I’ve been waiting all my freaking life for this. I’m rich!!!” I yell.  Shelly comes back in the room.  “Dan what are you yelling about?”
“Shelly I won! I’m rich!”  She grabs the tickets and looks up. 
“I can’t believe it, Dan.  You won. You won.
“Give me back my ticket!! Its mine! I’m rich. I won 300 million dollars.  If I would have listened to you, I would have never won!!”  
The next day , I collect my 300 million., and quit my job. I sell the house within a week and buy  a mansion on six acres in Greenvalley Hills. It just happens to be the same subdivision that Charles Walker lives in.  I bet he’ll be surprised to see me living here.  As the movers arrive to take what little, descent furniture we do have, Shelly starts crying.
“Dan, I don’t want to move. I’ll miss the neighbors. I’ll miss my garden.”
“Your garden?  Are you serious?  Don’t be ridiculous.  You don’t need a garden.  We can buy any food we want now.  Don’t keep wasting your time out in the yard.  We will have yard keepers, house keepers, personal shoppers and whatever else I want”.
“Dan, I like to garden.”
“For Pete’s sakes, Shelly, just stop it.  Find another hobby,” I state.
“Go find some new interest, make some better friends, go shop or whatever.  You need new clothes anyway.  We have a membership at the country club now.  Go and mingle with those women, like Charles Walker’s wife.  Maybe she can give you a clue about how to life this new lifestyle.
” Dan. I don’t even know if I know who are you anymore.”
“Well, I’ll tell you who I am. I’m the man you married who is now one of the richest men in America. You need to learn to keep up. “
With the help of an interior designer, and quite a bit or cash, we settle in quite nicely.  I sell the van and buy a Lamborghini. I get Shelly a Mercedes convertible and Kinley  a  white tea cup poodle.  The next day, Kinley walks up to me while I am  watching television.  “Dad, where’s the leash?  I want to walk the dog,” she ask?  “Kinley, we have helpers who can walk the dog. You don’t need to do that. Now, go find something else to do,” I say.   Kinley looks disappointed as she goes upstairs.  Oh well, she’ll be fine.  Days go by and everything seems to be going smoothly until I got an itch one day. “Shelly, I’ve made arrangement to take a long fishing trip with a few of my buddies in Mexico. We all deserve it.  I’ve chartered a boat and I’ll be gone for three months.”
“What? Are you serious? You can’t leave us for three months. Are we not invited,” she ask?
“Shelly, of course not.  This is my dream.  This is a bro trip. You stay here with Kinley and do girl things.”
“This money has changed you. I don’t know you, Dan. I don’t understand why you have become so selfish.”
“ Of course I’m selfish. It’s fine to be selfish.  I’ve changed for the better.  I have everything I’ve ever wanted and now I’m taking the trip of a lifetime.”
I leave the next day and head straight to the boat.   My friends from the club meet me there, along with the Captain and a few other sailors. For three months, we eat, drink, fish, sing, and entertain ourselves all day and all night long.  When I finally get home and pull up in the drive way, I notice that Shelly’s car is not there. Maybe she parked it in the garage,” I thought.  I look in the garage, but it’s not there either.  I open the door and notice that the giant house is completely quiet. There is a note on the fireplace”

Dear Dan,
     You are not the person I married. I am filing for a divorce.  Kinley and I are moving to Texas to start a new life.  I hope you had fun on your trip.  -Shelly

I stare at the letter and then throw it in the trash.  This is totally her loss.  I guess I’ll have to give her half of my fortune, but there’s nothing I can do about that.  I don’t want to have a wife anyway. I want to live alone in my dream house.  I’ll go to bed in my giant master bedroom that I deserve and wake up with people serving me breakfast in bed.  I’ve waited for this moment for my whole life.  I don’t need a family. I don’t need to be around my daughter. I have plenty of people who work for me if I want to be around someone.  I certainly don’t need a wife.  I have all the company in the world now.  I have the finest that money can buy.  This is the life.  I have everything I need.  I don’t need anything else, especially………….love.