I've never known anyone who won the lottery. So when Stephanie told me that she had, I know how to act.
“That's wonderful,” I said.
“I know,” she said.
But she told me she wanted me to know, because she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to do what needed to be done alone, which was to pay off and renovate her Dad’s house. I understood then.
The next eighteen months were great. We worked every day, having the papers drawn up and picking out landscaping we wanted to add. Stephanie worked hard. Together, we put in many late nights over lukewarm coffee, because that’s what friends do.
When we finally got the papers signed and the house was complete, she told me it felt like a fairy tale. And I think the reason fairy tales with heroes and dragons are so popular is because they know something that deep down we all believe.
Which is that dragons can be slayed, together.
