'LUCKY' LOTTERY--

Sue handed me a lottery ticket she had just scratched clean after finding it in a geocache.  "I can't read this without my glasses," she groaned.

I chuckled, then read it.  ...and read it again.

"Is this a 'match three and win' sort of card," I asked.  "I think so," she responded.

"Looks like you just won $5,000," I said matter-of-factly, not wanting to reveal my shiver of excitement to our other 4 caching friends--who all promptly verified the apparent win, although Greg Cornett thought it to be a huge coincidence since some other cacher had earlier logged similar luck.

I enjoyed watching the curious dialog about the legitimacy of Sue's find while doing the appropriate math;  $5,000 divided by 6 teammates equals, let's see, about 800 bucks or so each.  I pondered a silent "Wow" myself, less taxes, of course.

"Could be that new GPS I've been wanting," Greg mused aloud.  "My thoughts exactly," I murmured.

Sue tucked her lucky ticket away and we went about the more serious business of finding the balance of our targeted caches in this huge nature preserve just northwest of the town hall in Sebastian, FL.

We had agreed to stop by a lottery agency on the way home to see about the authenticity of the lucky ticket, each of us harboring some secret hope--and a boatload of skepticism.

Awhile later we rolled into a Publix grocery store and the ladies went inside to learn our fiscal fate.  "We want to see a mighty grin when you come back out," I smiled.

They returned shortly with indiscernible smiles which forced our questionable "Well?"

After a dramatic pause, they confessed, "No such luck," while sharing the instructions from the back of our "winning" ticket;

"Winning tickets must be sent to the 'Money Fairy, 123 Nowhere Drive, in Make-Believe Land'."

The instructions continued; This ticket for entertainment purposes only.  Thanks for being a good sport."

Yeah, right!