Unexpected Fortune

• Taylah Lane, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

My family and I had lived in poverty all our life. All we could eat were some berries that my father went and picked of a big tree in the bushes near by, which would probably explain why we were always getting sick, none of us had a clue about what berries were safe and which ones weren't seeing we never had enough money to get an education of any sort. We all lived under a little brick shelter that a man kindly made us a few years ago, which was awesome because before that we lived under a tree. My twin brother Harry and I were only 3 when we ended up on the streets, 8 years had then passed and Father still hadn't told us why we ended up without even a penny. All he ever says that if Harry and I try, we could bring us all fortune. I didn't really know what he meant by that until one day a group of at least 10 camera crew came over to our little shelter and lead me and my brother into some type of studio.

I have to admit, I was pretty scared because I had no idea who any of those people were and why they had taken us there. They told us how they thought we would be perfect for the twins modelling competition. "You's have got the look, you have got the slim bodies and you have a good story " the manager said. The part were he said "you have got the slim bodies" was quite offensive honestly because that was something we couldn't of helped at the time. I wasn't really down for the whole modelling thing and I'm pretty sure by the look on Harry's face that he wasn't either, that was until they mentioned that there would be a cash prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. "so, are you down?" a tall bulky man said. Harry and I both nodded our heads looking at each other with a large grin. "this could be our chance to make father proud and bring us all fortune" Harry whispered to me.

A week or two passed and we had made it into the semi finals, which was awesome because we it was guaranteed that we would be getting some money.

Another week passed and we surprisingly had made it into the grand finals - if you ask me that was not bad at all for some homeless twins.

Later that month, the time had come. The day we found out if we could make our family a fortune. "And the winner is..." the host shouted. "Lara and Harry!" Father came running onto the stage crying and Harry nearly fainted. The crowd cheering and gold flakes flying around us on stage was literally a dream come true. And just to top off that amazing dream like experience, Harry and I had also just won 5 million dollars. That was a very unexpected fortune...