For Fred Kenney today did not seem to be anything to special. He had gotten up and gone to work as he had done for the past ten years. he was married to a wonderful named Martha. They had never had any children and sometimes he wished that they had. But all in all he had a good life and was happy with the way things had been gone lately.

As Fred arrived at work that day the talk was about nothing but the big lottery jackpot that was going to be drawn that night. The jackpot was said to be over one hundred million dollars. Fred had made a mental note to himself to stop at the store on his way home. He wanted to buy a chance at the big jackpot.

In the break room Giles Allen was taking dollar bills from anyone that might be interested in buying in on a chance at the lottery drawing. They would split the winnings if they won between all of the participants. Fred thought that what the heck it sounded good to him and he bought a chance that afternoon.

But when Fred had left work that afternoon he had stopped at the local convenience store and bought his own ticket. This ticket he put into his pocket and left it there. He would check the numbers in the morning.

But while Fred was in the store he ran into Giles who was waiting to buy the tickets for the office. They both joked about what they were going to do with the money if they won. It had been a pleasant experience. But, just as Giles reached the lady at the lottery machine the machine shut down. he was too late for the drawing and would have to wait until the next drawing in two days. As Giles looked at the date on his lottery tickets he cringed. He had known that the lottery machine was going to stop the lottery sales. The line had been so long and he had been late.

Giles went out the front door of the store and told Fred what had happened. But Fred didn't think that he was going to win the jackpot anyways. He told him that the lottery probably would still have a large jackpot the next week. But Giles had insisted that he needed to do something. he hinted around, actually just about begged Fred to let him and the other people at the office a chance with the tickets that he had bought.

But something had told Fred that was not a good idea and he had thanked Giles but kept the tickets. Fred went home that day and did not put much thought into the drawing that was held late that night.

When Fred got up in the morning he got the surprise of a lifetime. He must have checked the winning numbers that the television was showing one hundred times. But yes he was the winner that the lady on the television was saying had won over one hundred and fifty million dollars. "After taxes our lucky winner will make over one hundred and ten million dollars for he and his family.

Fred just stood there and shook. He needed to go to the store and have the clerk check the ticket . Fred was a nervous wreck and as he rounded the corner to the little store he saw a sign on the door. It said 'this store sold the winning ticket to one of the largest jackpots in the history of the lottery.'

This was a sign telling Fred that he had indeed won the lottery. So with a smile on his face he walked into the store. But there was Giles standing there. As Fred went to tell the clerk that he was the winner of the lottery Giles came over.

Giles looked over at the ticket that Fred was holding and knew immediately that Fred had won the lottery. For just a second Giles lost his mind. But what he said to the clerk nearly floored Fred "Yes my friend and I were in here last night buying tickets for the jackpot for the people that we work with. There are twelve of us who will be sharing this large pot." and with that he put his arm on Fred's shoulder.

Fred was about to say something to the clerk when without warning there were photographers in the store along with newspaper reporters. Fred watched in horror as Giles made a big deal of the other people who were going to be sharing the winnings.

But before everything got out of control Fred yelled. "I am not sharing this money with anyone. I bought this ticket and Giles arrived too late. He wanted to have the ticket part of the company sharing, but I told him no. He was too late and had missed the cut off time."

"So are you telling us that you claim this ticket for yourself and yourself only?" one reporter asked him.

"Yes this is my ticket. If the store manager watches the tape from last night he will see that I was alone and that Giles missed the cut off point for purchase. This ticket was my own ticket."

Giles did his best to put on the face of a man who was in shock. He wanted to play this up for the media. "Fred, you know that ticket belongs to you and your coworkers. We were supposed to share the winnings. Don't be like that" he told Fred and the crowd.

By this time the crowd was getting very large and some of the people who were going to split the prize had shown up also. Each one of them agreed with Giles that Fred had been in on the group purchase.

By this time Fred was furious. Giles had lied to everyone about what had happened with the lottery ticket. But when Fred went to the lottery office he found out something even more shocking. He was not going to be able to get his money until there was a formal hearing. Giles and his coworkers had filed a lawsuit saying that they owned the ticket.