The Grand Prize
“Don’t be an idiot Mikey, nobody ever wins that stuff.” Joey said, unwrapping his burrito. “It’s probably not even real.”
Mikey held up the game sheet from his tray, “They can’t put it on the flyer if it’s not real.”
Joey emptied an entire pouch of sauce into his tortilla. “Yeah, but it always goes to some corporate guy’s kids. Like that McDonalds Monopoly game. All the big prizes got stolen by the suits at corporate who knew what boxes of cups had the winning labels. Real people don’t win this stuff.”
Mikey looked down at the flyer. It was for the latest Star Wars movie. Their cups had come with a peel off tab on top of the lid, underneath were collectible pogs with characters from the film. You could collect sets of characters to win cash and prizes, but there was a chance for one to be an instant winner. The grand prize: A Star Wars speeder hovercraft was printed alongside stereo systems, video games, and a new car.
“Hurry up and eat dude, we have to pick up my little sister after this.” Joey barked, taking a drink from his cup. In his rush to eat he had not put the lid on, leaving the unopened game pieces sitting on his tray.
“Aren’t you gonna open yours?” Mikey asked, separating the sections of his Mexican pizza with a fork.
Joey huffed, crumpling up his burrito wrapper. “Dude, it’s just stupid pogs. Watch this.” he said, grabbing the tab from his lid and ripping it free. Four little round pieces of brightly colored cardboard spilled onto the table. Red, Orange, Green. “Who are these guys? This doesn’t even look like Star Wars.”
Mikey reached for his own lid, and pulled the paper tab. The first pog on top was red, an R2-D2. Joey laughed at him, “At least you got one of the actual characters. I got this frog looking dude.” Mikey pulled the others from the inside of the lid and stacked them on the palm of his hand.
“What happens if I win the speeder?”
“Dude.”
“What happens?”
Joey took the last sip of his Dr. Pepper. “Dude, if you pull that stupid speeder thing I will give you my Scrubland.”
“No, I don’t play white anymore, I want your Badlands.”
Joey laughed, “Ok Mikey, fine, just show me the stupid pogs.”
Mikey lifted the red one up, revealing a green Darth Maul pog. As he picked it up he knocked the game pieces around revealing the outline of a bright blue pog beneath it - the same kind shown on the flyer for the instant winner.
Joey jumped up from his chair. “Dude, what?”
Mikey slowly stood up, causing the teal and pink chair to make a loud scraping sound against the floor. He stared at the blue “instant winner” in the palm of his hand. In his mind he had already won. The front only had an image of the Taco Bell dog, the hot chick from the Pizza Hut commercials, and Colonel Sanders. Bold white letters exclaimed “You’ve Defeated the Dark Side!”
“Dude what did you win!?” Joey shouted.
Mikey ran a finger along the edge of the little blue pog. Part of him didn’t want to know. He took a deep breath and slammed it face down on the table. He closed his eyes and mumbled something to himself that Joey couldn’t hear.
Joey grabbed his hand, “Dude, what if it’s not the hovercraft, what if it’s money.”
Mikey smiled, “Then I’ll buy my own dual lands, and the Power Nine.” His mind raced with all the possibilities that awaited him under his fingertips. He exhaled and lifted his hand away.
“INSTANT WINNER - CRUNCHY TACO”
Both boys slumped back into their chairs in exhaustion. Joey sighed, “I told you man, real people don’t win this stuff.”