The ATM

Vipul’s mother was ferocious since morning. The house had run out of supplies and there was nothing she could cook for breakfast. The local shops had stopped supplying bread since three days because of a price increase from the companies. Vipul got up hearing his mother scream at him and went straight into the bathroom to avoid an altercation. ‘You go out and get me some cash, will you. Where are you hording all the money? Or are you spending it elsewhere.’ He could hear her voice echo inside the bathroom. Vipul was running out of money. He was unable to save enough to help his mother manage the kitchen smoothly. But they cannot live without food. So he got to go out and take out some money. He was still not bankrupt; he was just getting used to behaving like a miser.

Vipul gulped the tea and changed his clothes to go out to the ATM nearby. He was hoping to earn some extra money from some side business. But nothing seemed to be clicking in these few months. His thought of making fast money was surely not monetizing at the moment. He got to do something; his thoughts were rushing fast as he proceeded towards the ATM.

There was a long cue outside. The man inside seemed to be taking hours to come out. Why do people get inside when they cannot operate the machine? Vipul wondered as usual. Five minutes later it was his turn. He took out his wallet and fumbled to find his card. Just then a man came from the side and knocked at the glass door. ‘Are you done old man?’ He enquired in a hurried voice. ‘Hey it’s my turn, please stand in the queue.’ Vipul said to raise an argument. ‘Don’t worry I will take just a minute. My cars parked in the no parking zone. Hope you don’t mind.’ Vipul agreed hearing the soft plea. What does he lose to let the man in before him? An old man emerged from inside looking confused and scratching his head. The man got inside quickly. Vipul stood there looking at the man from behind the frosted glass. The man’s head popped out instantaneously from behind the door. ‘Hey, you saw where the old man went? He has left his card inside the ATM machine without completing the transaction. What a fool. I could have taken out all his money if I wanted.’ Vipul looked at the man with surprise. His eyes grew big. And he swallowed his expression of having missed a chance of being lucky. Had he not skipped his turn, he would have surely come out with a ransom amount. Standing there he gave it another thought. Getting lucky with an old man’s money?