I took my change from her hand and slid a cardboard sleeve over my coffee cup.

“You look like you could use some of that good luck yourself today, Claire,” the cashier said with a short laugh.

“You looked completely worn out when you bought that two-dollar ticket yesterday.”

“Maybe my luck will turn around,” I said.

“Keep that coffee warm,” she said with a warm grin.

“You never know when things will change.”

I walked out the glass doors before the cameraman turned his equipment toward the counter.

By five thirty the next morning, I was sitting on my kitchen floor in the dark, using a small flashlight to read the document tabs in my desk drawers.