The journey which would show me the true meaning of true luck. Before I knew it, I had won a ticket to my childhood dream destination, New York City, because of one simple lottery I had participated in. Before this lucky lottery, I had participated in many more with a money prize, but I never won. As I was a little girl, my parents were very busy, working day and night shifts to earn money. The day I had heard about New York was when I was around seven years old, and my best friend, Lily, had visited the East Coast. She had told me all about her trip and what she saw there. She listed all the travel destinations she went to, like the Times Square and the Statue of Liberty, as well as all these destinations were known for their history and stories behind them. I was fascinated by what Lily told me and researched all I could about the “Big Apple.” As I grew older, I entered activities and contests that had a money prize, but luck never came to me. Until one day, when I almost lost hope on my dream destination, I had won a lottery which won me a ticket to NYC! I knew this trip would be one of the best journeys of my life, but what I didn’t know was that I would learn such an important lesson that I would never forget for the rest of my life.
New York City was the lifelong dream of my whole life and finally, I was here. My flight had just landed in the airport in Brooklyn, NY, and I was ecstatic to be here, the moment I had waited for several years. It was finally here! I walked over to the luggage pick-up, looking for my suitcase, when I noticed a couple of men who were sitting at a terminal, looking at me strangely. I caught eye contact with one of them, who had a mohawk and was wearing a black sleeveless shirt. He looked back at me, his eyes looking like he found treasure. I turned back around, trying to find my suitcase. Once I had found it, I started rolling it behind me, and away to the “I LOVE NYC” sign. It had been a small wish of mine to just take a selfie with it if I had ever come to New York. As I was walking, I quickly turned back to see whether the gang of men were still there, looking at me, and they were. They even started to get out of their seats and follow me. Now, I was concerned.What could they possibly want from me? Money, clothes? I thought to myself, feeling endangered. Although, among the men, I couldn’t seem to spot the mohawk headed one, but that wasn’t my top priority at the moment. I stopped at the NYC sign, but the gang was getting closer and closer to me, so I decided my NYC selfie wasn’t necessary. I looked around for the closest exit, so I could get to my hotel room, much farther for those men. I exited the Brooklyn airport and saw an empty Taxi, with a driver sitting in the front, texting someone on his phone. I walked to the Taxi, and knocked on his window. He looked up at me, when I realized he looked an awful lot like that mohawk man, but his hair was flat instead. He rolled the window down and I asked him whether I could get in. He nodded and I opened the door to sit down. But before I got in, I spotted a homeless man sitting outside the airport, looking at me curiously. He looked concerned as I was getting in, and looked like he was about to tell me something. I looked at the airport doors and saw the gangsters come out, searching for me. I couldn’t wait for the homeless man because the gangsters were already getting into their black cars, ready to follow me.
I sat down in the car, and suddenly, the taxi driver turned around in his seat and tied my hands and legs. I started screaming, asking him what he was doing. But, all he did was tie a scarf around my mouth, so my screams were muffled. “Just hang tight,” he told me in a relaxed way. My skin had turned white and I was terrified. I thought my trip to my dream place would start off with me taking selfies and traveling across the city, but instead I was kidnapped and had less than a sliver of hope. The car had suddenly started going even faster than before and there was an abrupt stop. My body thudded against the seat and the taxi driver got out of his seat, opened the car door near my side, and took me by the arm, dragging me out. We had reached a deserted dumpster area, where no one was around. I saw the same black cars that the gangsters were riding in, surrounding the dumpster. Oh no, I thought. I turned around to see if there was any way of help, but there was no living thing in sight. Tears started gushing down my face, and I started sobbing as the driver dragged me closer and closer towards the dumpster. I didn’t know what would happen and whether I would ever come out or not from the dumpster or ever see the world again. We entered the dumpster and I saw mountains of trash everywhere, but in the middle, I saw a table and a man sitting in a chair with a gun on the table. His men were standing behind him, and I assumed they were the man’s guards. The middle man had a goatee and long hair, wearing sunglasses. Now, I was shaking on the spot, sweat trickling down my forehead. “Alex?” the man in the chair said, looking at the taxi driver. The driver smiled in an evil way, and pulled on his hair, taking off his flat hair wig, and revealing a straight, pointy mohawk. “Yes sir, ” he replied. “Remove the girl’s cuffs and the scarf.” the man in the chair said, and Alex immediately did so. I finally was able to inhale air fully and I was relieved for that, but Alex still stood really close by to make sure I wouldn’t run out. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t a girl with pockets full of change and a suitcase filled with that, too?” the man said. “Point is, give us all your money, or else,” He took his gun off the table and clicked his tongue, imitating a bullet. I was threatened now, life with no money or death. “Get it all out,” he said. What should I do? What should I do? I thought. I wouldn’t have a chance of surviving if I had no money. I was doomed, so I did what my guts told me to. “HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed loudly. All the men, including Alex, reached into their pockets and got out their guns, which were pointing at me. “Well, boys, I guess the girl wants what she wants. In 3, 2-” the leader said, as they all were about to click. This is it. This is it. I thought. I’m done for.
“WAIT!!!!” a voice called. Suddenly, there were distant sirens that sounded like police sirens. I turned around to see police cars park in front of the dumpster. One of the policemen came out of their cars with a megaphone, saying, “You have one minute to surrender. Release the girl and proceed out of the dumpster. ” The gangsters released me and all headed out of the dumpster. I was so relieved, I felt like crying happy tears. Thank you, God. I will forever be in your favor. I thought in my mind. As we all came out, I saw the same homeless man talking to one of the police officers. As the officers were arresting all the gangsters for the crimes they committed, the homeless man walked towards me. “Hello. Name’s Maxwell.” he said to me with a smile. “Hello, Maxwell.”
“Are you the one who saved me?” I blurted, unable to resist. He chuckled. “I guess you could put it like that. The police officers did most of it.” he said, his cheeks turning red. “How did you know I was in trouble?” I asked, eagerly. “Well, I was sitting outside the airport, and I guess you saw me. I saw you getting into the taxi with the same license plate that I had got into when I was kidnapped by these gangsters, two months ago-” My eyes went wide. “Wait! You got kidnapped, too?” I almost shouted. “Yes! And so did so many other people. These gangsters, what was his name, Alex? Yes. He disguised as the taxi driver and brought me here. Instead of dying, I just gave them all my money. My parent’s, mine, everyone’s. That’s why now I’m homeless and jobless. If I had reported them later on, they said they would kill my whole family one day after they got out of jail. But when I saw you getting kidnapped, I could tell you weren’t an NYC resident after you came out of the airport, and I didn’t want the same thing that happened to me happen to you. That’s why I informed all the airport police and they came after you.” Maxwell recited. “Oh my gosh, Maxwell, thank you! How could I ever repay you?! You saved my life! If it weren’t for you, then I wouldn’t be breathing right now!” I cried, hugging him tightly. I reached into my pocket and started counting my dollar bills, then handed it to him. “That’s 1,500 dollars. I hope it comes in great use for you and your family.” I said, with a huge grin. Maxwell started crying, “Thank you, dear. My family and I will always be grateful. ” I smiled and hugged him, “Even that is not enough to pay you for saving my life. Thank you.”