Andrew set his stack of nickels on top of the machine and picked one up. Nervous, he placed it in the slot, but didn’t let go. Waiting… waiting… He tried to judge how fast the wheel was spinning and where the winning slot would be when the coin shot down the chute. It was deceptively tricky. With a deep breath he let the coin go…
It slit with a hissing noise and shot like lightning at the wheel… and bounced off. He hadn’t hit any of the slots. Letting out his breath, he sighed. That could have gone worse. But he still needed to win. He drew out another coin and let it go, again trying to judge the motion. Another miss. He analyzed it, trying to use his previous two tries to figure out when to let it fly. He let his third nickel go.
It was as if time slowed. He saw the coin roll down the chute with its scraping noise, and it seemed like hours. It reached the end and shot off the ramp, twirling in the air. The “wish” slot was coming up right ahead of it! He was going to do it! The coin wobbled, but it was going to go squarely in… but...
No. The wheel was just a bit too fast. The slot glided by just before the coin reached it. With a clunk, it slid directly into the very next slot. Andrew groaned aloud. Still, the machine buzzed and dinged like he’d won, and spat out a little card like the first one. Maybe… it thought it went in the wish hole? Had he accidentally tricked the machine?
But as he grabbed the card and read it, dread rose bubbling in his throat. This was worse. Way worse.