Old Lady Gifts Expired Lottery Ticket to Teenage Girl Who Notices Circled Letters on It — Story of the Day

A young girl got ridiculed at her birthday party after she was gifted an expired lottery ticket by the same old lady she had been fighting for; however, nothing was as it seemed.

Laura Chaney was popular … but not for reasons she liked.

Everyone in her district knew her; the lady always fed the doves in the local park. Come rain, come shine, the older woman can be found there, surrounded by her doves.

She had no kids of her own, and since the man whom she had once called soulmate died in a motor accident when she was 25, she refused to put herself out there again. When she made that decision, she became truly alone, but rather than loathe it, she embraced the change and chose to move forward with life.

It quickly became a part of her so that when she grew older and moved to where she resides now, loneliness was a state of being for her. As such, she did not see the need to involve other people in her business.

This woman refused to utter any word unless it was absolutely necessary, and her new neighbors did not like all the secrets.

"I tried to extend an olive branch to that old crone today again, but she rebuffed me. Who does she think she is being all standoffish like that?" one of her neighbors complained one day at the local sauna.

"That woman is as rude as they come, and that's probably why she is so ragged. Only doves like her," Thelma, the garbage collector's wife, piped in.

But Laura did not care; she just kept doing her thing, mainly feeding the doves and talking to them.

One day, a young teen named Stacy made arrangements to go for a walk with her friend Alice in the park. If Laura was the epitome of loneliness, Stacy was the opposite.

The girl loved having friends and had always been liked by many until she made a social blunder one day at the cafeteria. It had been a simple mistake — her fork had fallen off her tray, and she had bent over to pick it up when an especially loud fart escaped her rear end.

Somehow the normally noisy cafe had been silent, and everyone's eyes had fallen on her instantly, then the laughter started rolling. She had escaped quickly, but word spread fast, and soon people were sneaking snide glances at her.

When Stacy invited Alice for a walk, she had merely been testing her to see if she would risk hanging out with her. However, she called Stacy and said she decided to hang out with other girls, proving that nobody wanted to be associated with Stacy any longer.

It hurt Stacy, but she went on the walk anyway. The young girl cried quietly as she walked alone, and when her sights started to blur, she found a bench to sit on.

It was directly opposite the one Laura the dove feeder was seated, surrounded as usual by her doves. The woman seemed oblivious of Stacy, but the girl felt like she was being watched anyway.

"Look at me," she said in despair. "I'm just as lonely as Laura."

A few minutes after she whispered the words, Stacy saw Laura stand up and walk towards her.

"Wanna feed the birds together?" she asked in a voice that stank of disuse.

Stacy almost turned her down, then thought, "What harm could come of it?"

"I don't mind," she replied, and that was the beginning of their friendship.

As time went on, Stacy spent more time with Laura, and it started to attract negative attention to her because all her schoolmates thought she was lame for doing so.

It further raised the ire of her mates against her, and the social gap widened even more until they started bullying her.

Of course, this did not sway the determined young girl who had come to love her sessions with Laura, the quiet but wise woman. Sometimes they would play games together after school or feed the doves while talking about her trials at school.

On Stacy's birthday, she didn't want to organize a party because she didn't have friends who would show up. Nevertheless, her parents organized one secretly and invited her classmates.

To her surprise, they all agreed to come, and when Stacy found out, she decided she wanted Laura there as well.

"I can't say I've got all my friends there if Laura isn't present," she told her mother.

"Okay sweetheart, reach out to her," the woman replied.

Stacy called her and invited her to her birthday party, but when Laura arrived, the guests made fun of her and Stacy.

Laura saw that she was about to ruin things for her young friend, so she graciously decided to leave. But before that, she gave Stacy an old lottery ticket.

Everyone had eyes on them, so they saw the exchange — one bully even stepped forward and snatched the paper to see what was on it.

"It's an expired lottery ticket," the boy laughed, and others joined in. "This ticket expired one year ago madam."

"Give it back," Stacy said, taking it from him and stuffing it in her pocket.

By the time she looked up, Laura was gone, and her parents were waiting to tell her she couldn't leave her own party.

A few days later, Stacy noticed that some letters on the fine print at the back of the ticket were circled — it was encryption. Something she and Laura loved to work on.

She got out her pen and quickly connected all the circled letters, which formed a message that read, "I am so old, and I want to leave my savings to someone. You can find it in the luggage storage box at the railway station."

On the main side of the ticket, she noticed other numbers circled and figured it was the combination to the storage box at the station.

The next day, Stacy went to the railway station and found the money inside the box. She couldn't believe Laura gifted her her savings. It was quite considerable, so her parents helped her secure it by opening her own account for her.

Stacy bought two puppies out of that money, one for herself and one for Laura, so she no longer felt alone while at home. And every weekend, the two would walk their dogs together in the lovely park.

What can we learn from this story?

• There's always a silver lining. Stacy was embarrassed at her school for what happened at the cafeteria, and her friends shunned her. It hurt her, but amidst all that chaos, she met a true friend who helped her feel better about herself.
• Never be ashamed of your friends. Nobody in town liked Laura except Stacy, but despite that, she did not think twice about inviting her to her birthday party even when she knew everyone else would be there. Laura saw this and saw it fit to reward her young friend for her bravery.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a bride who received an emotional note from a homeless man. The contents of the note made the bride tear up but she ended up doing something which surprised everyone.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.