Peter James

A month or so ago, I went into my local Oxfam bookshop and bought a Peter James Book. This was the first time I’d read him and as I settled down all comfy with coffee and biscuits full of anticipation of a good read, something fell out of the book.

It was a Euro Millions lottery ticket!  

All sorts of things went through my mind:

Is this a lost jackpot winner?
If it is, do I go against a lifetime of honesty and claim it?
Or do I try and find the owner?
Who is the legal owner? Me or the person who bought it and carelessly lost it?

I checked the date of the ticket. February 14th 2015 and ran upstairs to my computer to check it, my heart beating fast.

Then my heart rate plummeted as I read the ticket was two weeks out of date and no information was available about it.

Now I was left wondering whether the first ticket owner had put it in there on purpose?

Well, it got me going.

And it proves one thing. Strange things like this do happen, so if you are writing your novel or short story, don’t overlook the unlikely.