Raffle

Foam swirled in circles around the stainless steel jug, the steam wand placed at just the right angle to get the perfect mix of hot milk and froth for a latte. Slender fingers waited for the temperature to rise then gently lifted to turn off the steam. The rich aroma of Arabica blend coffee filled the air as a shot poured from the machine, a dark golden brown colour. Which became a more subtle, deep beige as it blended with the milk. Finally, the thin stream of milk was swilled expertly to make a fine rossetta pattern.

Abigael placed the cup onto a saucer and added a teaspoon and two sugar packets before taking the coffee over to one of her regulars, grouchy Mr Flanders.

'Your coffee sir.'

'About time too. Anybody'd think the machine had broke with how long it took.' Mr Flanders, despite his protests, waited patiently for the coffee to be put on the table before slowly emptying the two sugers and stirring exactly three times to the left and once to the right.

'Would you like anything else sir?'

'No, that'll be all thanks. Here you go.' He quickly shoved a wad of notes into her hand and turned his back to look out onto the street, seemingly transfixed by the mundane traffic as he sipped his latte.

Abigael smiled as she counted out her tip and walked back to put the remainder in the till. For all the eccentricities of her customers they sure were a generous bunch and despite his rough exterior, even Mr Flanders was no exception.

'Hello? Can I order?'

'Yes ma'am, what can I get you?'

It was just past 2pm, after rush hour but still pretty busy. The little coffee shop only sat about 20 people and that was including the two tables on the footpath. But it was a rare day that all seats would be full, Abigael felt quite melancholy as she reflected on her lot in life.

Work was tough, people don't go out as much as they once did and more people than ever were deciding that they couldn't afford luxuries like a coffee every day. But she was eternally grateful that she was a barista, the addictive nature of coffee meant that for some of her customers, they had no choice but to keep coming back. Sometimes she felt a little guilty, but only sometimes, a girl has to live.

Time flew by as the day wore on. Abigael continued persistently in her efforts to create the best coffee she could, grinding, blending, steaming, stirring, cleaning and selling. While she would like to say that she loved her work, and she did in her own way, she was more glad when the clock finally hit 5pm and she could start the final clean up, finance check and close the roller door.

It was heavy and always squeaked loudly in protest as it slid, with much effort, to the ground. Abigale fumbled for her keys in her apron pocket, spilling a pile of napkins, coffee beans, and notes onto the pavement before finally grabbing hold of the illusive piece of metal.

As she was fastening the roller door a gust of wind blew suddenly, sending napkins and her hard earned tips flying all over the sidewalk.

'Ah!' Startled, she quickly scrambled after them, and managed to recover most before they flew onto the road or were taken by others. After a frantic two minutes collecting her earnings she bent to reach for the final ten, which had blown under a discarded leaflet.

She was about to throw the leaflet when something caught her eye.

'Supermarket A, giant raffle, only today. Win big prizes!' The leaflet had small print as well, stating how much you had to spend at the store before you were eligible to enter. But that wasn't what caught her eye. One of the winning draws included a brand new industrial coffee machine. Her old machine had been handed down to her from her parent's time, while there was nothing wrong with it really, it did need some maintenance. This was her chance to upgrade. For free! Well, almost free, she still had to buy the groceries first.

A new light shone in her eyes as she made haste in returning to her apartment, scheming at ways to increase her luck.

When she had a plan it didn't take Abigael long to get stuff done. Within half an hour she had jumped off the bus, successfully avoided the gossipy grandma next door, got changed out of her work clothes and was on her way to Supermarket A, which was only a convenient 10 minutes bike ride away.

She wasn't stingy, really, and she wasn't that poor. She was just... frugal, yes that's a good word, frugal with her money.

Unfortunately there was a minimum spending limit before she could register for the raffle, otherwise she probably wouldn't have spent so much on food and household goods or bought that chocolate bar.

Yes, it was definitely because of the minimum spending limit.

Abigael chewed her chocolate thoughtfully as she waited in line to register for the raffle. When it was her turn she wiped her hands on her trousers, careful not to get any chocolate marks on the raffle tickets least it make them unlucky. You never know with luck after all.

'The raffle will be drawn in 15 minutes, you need to be present at the time of the raffle drawing in order to claim your prize if you win. Put your tickets in the barrel over there please.' The lady selling the raffle tickets looked and spoke in monotone, seeming like she wanted nothing more than for this ordeal to be over.

[She could do with a Long Black] The thought came on reflex. According to Abigael's professional judgement it seemed a coffee could fix any situation.

Abigael took her tickets to the barrel, blew on them, rubbed them between her hands and prayed to whatever god of fortune that was out there to bless her with the coffee machine prize. Then stretched her arm out over the barrel opening and released the tickets to the void, watching them flutter down into the depths of the barrel to join countless other paper tickets that looked exactly the same.

'Come on already,' said a gruff voice behind her, another person hoping to add his ticket to the batch.

Abigael reluctantly moved away and found a relatively empty area nearby to stand.

Fifteen minutes went by quickly and before she knew it the monotone lady was up by the raffle barrel turning the gear to spin it around while an overly happy looking man in a black suit picked up a microphone.

The preliminary advertising and speeches took another fifteen minutes and then it was time to draw the first round.

'The four in one wooden spoon set goes to... D12!'

Thank god it wasn't her ticket. That would have been a waste, judging by the look on the face of the man who won that wooden spoon kit he wasn't too thrilled either.

The man in the suit ran through a bunch of other miscellaneous prizes before finally he came to the one she had been waiting for.

'And for our second place raffle prize today, a brand new, hot off the line, just been released Industrial Coffee Machine by Company B. This beauty retails for over $2000, a must for any new or established cafe. Trudy, please draw the ticket!'

There was silence as the monotone lady drew a ticket and handed it to the suit guy.

'And the winner of the Industrial Coffee Machine by Company B is... M47!'

Abigael's heart sank as she looked at her ticket, glaring at the hateful D5 that was written there so innocently. She couldn't believe it, almost an hour of her life, wasted on false hope. Stupid D5. Unlucky D5. Waste of a good piece of paper-

'D5!' came the suit guy's overly happy voice almost squeeling through the microphone.

'Huh?'

Abigael raised her head, coming out of her musings suddenly and feeling a bit shocked and very confused.

'Is D5 here?' continued the suit guy, looking around.

'H-here!' called out Abigael weakly. Not really understanding what he wanted. Wasn't the raffle over already?

'Congratulations!' He called out, beckoning her forward. 'Let's give a round of applause to the winner of the PLOT-A smart watch!' A half-hearted and mostly envious smattering of applause came from the already dispersing audience as Abigael moved towards the front.

'Here you are young lady. You can get your statement of winnings from the counter, don't forget that there is no refund or warranty and Supermarket A and all subsidiaries are not liable for any and all hazards that come with the use of this technology. Good day.' Suit guy spoke at the speed of a bullet train and before Abigael could even register what was going on a box was shoved into her hands and suit guy had disappeared.