On the TV, some fuckface--not me--had won the goddamn, motherfucking lottery. I watched his young, uncalloused hands holding that little paper stub that was his ticket to never working another day in his life. No way did he deserve even a penny of it.

I curled my fist and my lips spit the words out, like venom from a cobra's mouth. "I'd kill to have that kind of money. I swear, I'd fucking kill someone."

"Now, hold on there, friend," came a softly amused voice, just out of sight. "You sound like you might really mean that."

I turned my head to the side, unsure of what I'd see when my eyes got there. A strange man sat there in the armchair to my left. He was all in shadow, except for a band across his bright, rust colored eyes.

I turned back to the TV, feeling a thrill of fear--and excitement. "...Maybe I do. I'm just so tired of seeing assholes luck into ten times more money than I've ever made in my whole life. When's my turn?" I turned back to the man.

"Right now, if you'd like." His tone was light, but he was watching me closely.

"Get the fuck out of here. I'm no murderer."

"No. But I am. And it's easier than you think."

I looked away and caught the stupid rich kid shaking someone's hand on TV, flushed with unearned happiness. I hesitated only a moment before speaking again.

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"How easy?"

"Instantaneous. No pain. And it's no one you've even met."

One thought gave me pause. "It wouldn't be a girl, right? I couldn't let a girl--"

"No. It's not a girl."

I found myself nodding. "I could see myself agreeing to that... Okay. But I want double what this fucker got, okay?" I could have sworn I'd heard a laugh of agreement. But when I turned back, he was gone.

The envelope came two days later, and I opened it in the same chair the man had sat in that night. My own little ticket was inside. The lottery in my state boasted a record breaking jackpot right now--more than I'd asked for--and soon it would be mine.

Then the door slammed. I looked up to see my wife stumble in, holding her stomach. Her face was stoic, but when she saw me, it crumpled. She slid to the floor, weeping as if her heart would break.

I was there in a flash. "Oh God, what's wrong? Is the baby--"

She shook her head. "He's gone. No heartbeat. I don't know what happened, he was so healthy every other time, but--" Her voice was lost in sobs.

I hugged her numbly, feeling my world come crashing down, one thought leaping to the front of my mind. "He?" I said. "He? I thought they told us last time it was a girl?"

"No," she said. "It wasn't a girl."