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pring seemed to have skipped CedarParkthis year. It was hot way too hot for this time of year. It was also way too early for the air conditioning to run and even though Language Arts was generally reasonably interesting it was way too hot for the 11^th graders to sit through ten periods of class and still be actively engaged during the last minutes of the last period of the day.

“We have an exciting assignment for homework this week” Mrs. Weinstock announced as she wrapped up the lesson.

No one reacted.

Mrs. Weinstock was not fazed. “Chevy Fried come up here please.” She handed Chevy an envelope. “Give one of these to each girl.” She watched as Chevy looked inside the envelope and then back at Mrs. Weinstock. Shock was written all over Chevy’s face.

The class stirred.

“Go on.”

Sheva restrained herself from leaning forward. Soon Chevy would reach her desk. She’d see what it was then.

When Chevy reached Sheva she dropped the small paper on Sheva’s desk without looking at her.

Sheva picked it up. It was a lottery ticket.

The languid silence in the class was slowly surpassing a low murmur and morphing into a full-fledged roar. Mrs. Weinstock clapped her hands twice. “Quiet!”

The roar subsided.

“This is your assignment.” The room was completely silent. “Using the grammar and language skills we have been working on this unit including five vocabulary words write an essay describing what you would do if you won the lottery.” The girls stared at their teacher. “What would you do if you had a million dollars? Good luck” she said with emphasis and dismissed the class.

What would you do if you had a million dollars? Sheva picked up her pen. She smoothed the page hunched over it and put her pen to the paper poised to write.

What would she do if she had a million dollars?

Her mind was blank.

How could that be? Was she missing nothing that she couldn’t think of how to spend a million dollars?

Sheva laughed bitterly fiddling with the desk drawer as she tried to concentrate. Ironic what was in that drawer. An envelope with money although not a million dollars. Exactly $250 dollars to be precise. When Mrs. Winter had paid her yesterday she had reached that milestone amount the amount she had set out to earn to pay for Adina to attend Shabbaton.

It should have been a moment of satisfaction and exhilaration and pride. But Sheva had just accepted the money woodenly and said thank you in an expressionless voice.

For the first time Sheva understood what the expression “money burned a hole in his pocket” meant. The envelope in her drawer consumed her thoughts completely.