Closed Unlucky Winners

[Rion Pendleton]

At last, Rion had escaped the clutch of her grandpa's hand. She was free! Well, sort of. She threw her arms in the air to acknowledge his warning to stay within sight, and then promptly plunged into a deep crowd that had enclosed the raffle table. When she emerged at the front and stood up straight, she gasped. There on the table, amongst the teddies and toy brooms and sewing kits, was the most beautiful flower press she had ever seen. It was a little smaller than her mum's - perfect for little hands - and the top was engraved with an intricate rose. It had to be fate. If she had her own press, she wouldn't have to wait for her mum to finish using hers, or hope there was enough space to squeeze in a few flowers of her own. Her scrapbook would be beautiful.

Rion turned to look for her granddad just as he appeared behind her. She grabbed his hand, bouncing with excitement. "Please can I have a ticket? Please?" she said. "Yes, go on then," came the reply, at which Rion threw her arms around his middle. In fact, he gave her enough money for five tickets. She quickly paid and read the numbers out loud. Her excitement stalled a little when the vendor explained she had to wait until the draw to see if she'd won anything, but nothing could dampen her spirits entirely; with five tickets, she was bound to be a winner.

The next hour passed agonisingly slowly. Then, finally, the time of the draw arrived. A nice paved area of the gardens had been appropriated for the crowd to mingle while they waited. Rion couldn't stand still; twice she knocked into a girl standing next to her and was made to apologise. She didn't understand why it was taking so long to announce the winners. She just wanted to know if she'd won her press!

 

[Cressida Holland]

It was the day of the craft fair. Krissy was beyond the roof upon hearing that her mother would be taking them to the event. Irene Holland took a day off to bring the girls as her father was away on a training camp with the team. They looked around to see what they could and after a few minutes, the girls were already having a cotton candy each. They were walking past a booth and there was this one thing that caught Krissy's eyes. On the table was a sealed set of beautiful hair clips and ribbons. She just stopped short, pulling her mother to a stop as well. Her eyes were just fixed on the set. She looked around and realized it was a raffle and the pretty things laid on the table were the prizes they could win.

The librarian squeezed the girl's hand to catch her attention. "Want something, sweetie?", the woman asked. "Can I have a ticket, Mum? I'd want to win that.", she said, pointing to the set. "Alright, just one then.", the woman replied, giving her money for the ticket. She quickly skipped to the booth and purchased one. She looked at the number on the small paper as she made her way back to her mom and twin. They would still have to wait for about twenty minutes though so they walked to the corn dog stand as Ophelia wanted to buy one. There was a line and by the time they got theirs, it was almost time. Krissy just held on to hers as they made their way back to the crowd. She was getting fidgety as the announcer took his time in announcing the winners.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

121.... 075... 244... Rion read the numbers on her tickets over and over again, just in case she had read them wrong. 105... Wait - that was her! "That's me! That's me, Granddad, a hundred and five," she said, waving it at him so he could see for himself. She cut a path through the crowd to the prize table, scanning frantically for her flower press.

"Congratulations!" the lady at the table said, smiling warmly. "What a lovely set of hair ribbons." And with that she dropped the case into Rion's hands. Hair ribbons? But she didn't want the hair ribbons - she wanted the flower press. It was still there, with a little scrap of paper on it: 016. That wasn't fair! She'd never stood a chance! And she'd never worn hair ribbons in her life. Her forced smile of gratitude lasted only until she met Grandpa Monty in the crowd; then fat tears began to roll quietly down her cheeks. She should have been pleased that she'd won something, but when it was the only prize on the entire table she would never use, it was impossible to keep her disappointment from overflowing. More tears came, accompanied by bleating. She was being a baby, but she couldn't stop it. It was all just too much.

 

[Cressida Holland]

Krissy was amazed at how many prizes were prepared in that raffle. It seemed that all people who bought a ticket won something. One got a pack of candies, others a pack of pencils. This gave the girl more hope in winning her ribbon set. Nevertheless, everybody was happy. That was when 015 was called and a girl skipped to the front. Krissy watched, eager because her number was after the one being called, and imagine her disappointment when the ribbon set was handed to the winner. Krissy's eyes were fixed on the set being carried away. All hope was lost and she almost turned away, not caring about her prize, when her mother stopped her. She was called to the front.

Krissy forced a smile as the woman handed the flower press. "Congratulations on this pretty flower press!", she said chirpily. Krissy mustered all the courage to keep her smile in place as she walked back to her mother and Ophelia, giving them one glance before walking past them. Her shoulders slumped at the disappointment. "Sweetie, what's wrong?", Irene asked the moment the woman reached her. She turned to look at her. Thankfully, they were quite separated from the crowd now. "This is not what I want,mum. I don't even know how to use this.", she could not stop the tears now from falling.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty should have expected this. In truth, he hadn't expected Rion to win anything at all, which he had imagined was far less disappointing than winning something she didn't like. He made reassuring comments, such as, "Those are lovely clips!" and, "Perhaps you can put them in Ainmere's hair," but she was inconsolable. She was so upset that she didn't even seem to notice that another girl had just won the press - thank goodness. Gently he steered her out of the crowd. Just keep looking down, he thought, as they walked over some chalk pictures that had been drawn on the ground. Don't look left...

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion trotted along next to her granddad, the box of hair accessories clutched under under her arm, tears still flowing from her big blue eyes. They had made it some distance from the crowd when a strange noise made her look up and to the left. Another girl was crying. Rion couldn't immediately tell why, but then she saw it - the flower press. The girl had won her flower press! Thinking of all the fun she would get to have it made Rion cry even harder - so hard she couldn't even bring herself to walk. She stopped abruptly, her hand falling out of Grandpa Monty's, and sat down on the chalky ground. She wanted Ainmere. Ainmere would have known how to make her feel better. It was only a flower press, Rion knew that, but it was unique, and it had been so close within her reach, and now she would never see it again. She just wanted to be within sight of it for a few more minutes, so she could remember what it looked like.

 

[Angel Gates]

It was the craft fair and the advantage of living a few kilometers away was to be there and claim a spot for chalk art. Angel already looked around with the adults and while Airen wanted to try some stuff, she just wanted to draw on the ground. She did not even show any slight interest in the raffle happening. She already had a look and nothing caught her eye. After all, she knew her parents would give them what they would ask. She was all on her hands and knees as she chalked in the details on her drawing. She was drawing the craft fair view in front of her. She got her new set from her dad when @Damien Gates came back from a fashion show in Italy. Now, she was currently chalking in the small hanging banners when a pair of feet stepped over the Ferris wheel. The girl stopped short, a bit upset at what happened. She could already the smudge the shoes created. It even got worse when the girl sat down. "Noooo!", Angel burst out. She quickly looked around for her parents but they were still out of reach as they were on the other side of the park.