When he first received the phone call he thought it was just a hoax. The man had said,

"Mr Douglas, you have been named as an heir in the estate of the late Donald R. Silverton. I represent the executors of Mr Silverton's estate. I have been asked to inform you, to make sure that you are there when we read his last will and testament."

Bill could barely remember who Donald was. He had only met him once, at a wedding, a few years back. After receiving the call he made sure first that it was not a practical joke. Then he decided to find out more about Donald.

He needed to find out what Donald had done in his life, what kind of assets he had left behind, and how exactly he was related to him. He found it was all true; and that was when the excitement had begun to build up.

After years of bad luck, disaster and failure, perhaps at last there was a light at the end of the tunnel for him.

He pulled the car into the road, checking to see if the piece of paper was still on the seat next to him, where he had written down the address to put into his GPS.

The reading was to take place in a plush and wealthy suburb. It was not the kind of place he visited all that often if he could help it.

He did not feel good visiting a place like that, mainly because of his own past. It was too far above his financial condition or the way he lived. He had looked up the location in a map book and was ready now to type the address into the GPS.

With that done he was now ready to pull into the road ahead and follow the directions of the lovely lady who spoke to him so sweetly on his GPS. This was not a chance to be missed; and he wanted to make sure that he was there on time.

Easing the car into a forward gear and checking in his rear view mirror for traffic on the road, Bill moved into the main traffic lane. He began to pick up speed as he headed for his destination.

Now his feelings were making his stomach go crazy and his mind was in a spin. He thought about some of his many experiences of life. All of these had brought him to this place.

Life had not been kind to him. He could only bear the bad memories because of this sudden change in fortune. It seemed like all of his life he had struggled to find true joy and happiness.

Yet he had no more goals and plans than most people; and he was not trying to conquer the world. All he wanted was to live a normal, happy life like everybody else.

He would have been happy to just be an average person; someone who had his basic needs supplied; a good job and family, and the things that made life worth living. You could have called him Mr Bill Average.

Bill came from a normal home where his father worked hard to support his family. His mother did her best to run the home and bring up her children the right way.

There was a time when even she had to take a job to help with the family income. That was a painful time for him, because he was still very young and only saw her in the evenings.

But then came the new baby, and she had to stop working and stay at home. It meant less money, but at least she was there all the time. And he could go to her with his problems at any time.

His mind went back to the days when he played around the house, getting up to all sorts of mischief. He would retreat into a make-believe world; where there were no problems and life was beautiful.

Often this world would cause him to lose touch with reality. He would find himself doing things that he shouldn't; like playing with matches and setting fire to the dried pile of grass in the corner of the yard.

Such events usually made him come back to reality with a jolt. He would have to face the penalty of his actions; finding himself facing an angry father.

His Dad was always telling him to come out of the clouds, and to come back into the real world. Somehow it seemed that the real world was not a good place to be.

Even now as he rode along, Bill was finding himself being drawn once more into that other world; a place of fantasy that made the problems of life disappear just for a short moment. Like a drug, it brought a false feeling of security and happiness.

But this time his mind was thinking of all the good things that could happen; what was about to take place.

How much would Uncle Donald have left him? Was it a large amount that ran into the thousands? Perhaps even a million? Surely it must be a fair amount, or they would not have invited him especially to the reading of the will.

He was brought back to the real world by a sudden loud noise. Someone was blowing their horn behind him. That was the problem with day dreaming, and not paying attention to what you were doing.

He had gradually begun to drift into the traffic lane next to him, instead of remaining on the correct path. And he had to quickly pull the steering wheel to bring the car back onto the road.

The car that was making all the noise quickly sped past him. It was a large white convertible. The owner was clearly a young person, whose father was wealthy and had spoiled him rotten.

Bill shook his head in anger.

"It's just not fair," he thought. "I'll bet he made no effort whatsoever to get that car; and he's not even mature enough to own such a luxury."

He looked at the claptrap that he was driving. And as the envy rose up in him, he looked up at the sky and thought again the words that he had so often expressed in the past.

"God what have you got against me? Why can't I have a lucky break in life?"

But then he heard the voice of the lady on his GPS as she told him sweetly,

"Left turn in 2 miles, stay in the left lane."

He began to smile as he remembered where he was going. Soon he too would be amongst those who could drive around in style and be envied.

Returning to his thoughts, Bill began to go back again over the past events in his life. Some of the worst were those early days in school.

Other people always seemed to have something that they could boast in; things that they were born with or now had. But he had been at the end of the line in everything.

A lot of childhood sicknesses had left him small and weak. He had little to offer others who wanted to play together in teams.

When it came time to choose two teams, the leaders would choose which ones were to be on their side. It was usually Bill who was left until last; and they had to argue about who would be "stuck" with him on their team.

You would think that this would all change over time, but as he grew up it seemed to get worse instead. It was bad enough in the early years of childhood. But when the changes of puberty and the stresses of adolescence arrived, the situation only became worse.

It seemed that girls only noticed a guy who had his life in order. He had to be someone who looked like he could succeed; someone with a good background, wealthy parents, and a good body.

Once again Bill found himself at the end of the line. He hoped that there was someone out there who would look past all his weaknesses and lack, and would care enough to want to be with him.

That was when he discovered something about himself; something that he had never seen before. He had tried so hard to change his body but that did not work. Yet he did not see that he had a strength that most other people did not have.

In all of his days at school he had never failed at examination time. It was not that he was so brilliant. He did not come top of the class all the time.

Of course that was just because he spent more time in his daydreams than he did in study. He could easily have come higher if he tried. But people kept saying things like,

"Wow, so you are one of those clever ones huh?"

And, "It's easy for you brainy types."

He realized that he did have something, and it made him stand out from amongst the rest.

You would think that this would have really made a big change in his life. But it did not happen. In those days the term 'nerd' was not being used. But it did not take long for him to find out that he was like this.

People do not look out for a person who has a good brain, but has poor physical abilities. They do not want to hang around with someone like that. So his attempts to get others to accept and recognize him failed. He found himself back again in the same condition as before.

Bill tried hard to follow the only strength that he had. He worked up to the highest level of study there was at school. He hoped that he could then go on to University, qualify in some professional area, and be respected by others.

He was very interested in technical things and had a good mind for it. He hoped that if he succeeded he would begin to feel good about himself. And then others would also respect him and recognize him.

So with many things against him, he applied to a University he liked. He hoped to get a grant that would help pay the way through his studies.

But once again his life took a turn for the worst. It seemed that fate was against him. He could not find the money he needed to build a career.

He could still remember how bad he felt sitting at home not knowing what to do. He knew that he was able to rise up. He could easily earn that degree; but he did not have what was needed to do this now.

His parents were finding it hard to meet the needs of the family. They could not pay his way through College, and there was nobody else who would sponsor him. No one was ready to give him a chance.

He could still remember the first interview he went to for a grant. They were not really that interested in how good he had done in his studies. They wanted to know about his social and sporting skills.

What clubs did he belong to? What hobbies did he have, and which team sports did he play?

He could not figure out what this had to do with his career. But he soon learned that only strong and capable people win. Life does not offer much to those who are weak.

He was destined to live a life that was very ordinary, and to go without a lot of things. Once again his heart cried out in anger,

"God why did you do this to me?"

It took a while for Bill to realize that his goals and dreams were just not going to take place.

His first real job made this very clear to him. He wanted to be the best; to prove to others that he could still rise up and be great. He would ask questions, and talk about how he wanted to improve and rise up. But nobody around him seemed to care.

Most of the time people told him,

"Listen stop trying to mess things up. Just do your job like the rest of us, and then go home and enjoy life. You will get nowhere by overdoing it. The boss doesn't notice these things."

Of course they were right. He had just become a small cog in a huge piece of machinery. The only way to make things go smoothly was to just fit in and coast along like everyone else.

You went to work in the morning. You did your work until your lunch break. And then you ate lunch and worked until going home time.

After that you went home and watched television, and you saw how everyone else in the world was a success except you.

When the weekend arrived you sat at home depressed; knowing that you were not destined to be happy. You were not going to find a life that was satisfying and fulfilled.

That was when 'she' appeared on the scene; and his life suddenly took a change for the better. At last there was one person in the world who actually showed some interest in him.

She was not the most attractive person around, but she was full of life, and she seemed to spark him to life when he was around her.

For the first time he was filled with hope, and his daydream world took a leap forward. He dreamed about what it would be like to spend the rest of his life with her and to find true happiness at last.

Bill's thoughts were halted once again by the real world. The lady on the GPS spoke once more, announcing that he had arrived at the turnoff. Continuing in the left hand lane, he veered off onto the road that would take him to his destination.

The change in scenery showed him that he was getting closer to his goal. He began to see large properties, huge mansions and massive security gates; a sign that he had entered the realm of the rich.

He was beginning to feel like a fish out of water. The good old Chevy that had served him so well was now starting to feel like a tin can. He was amongst exotic sports cars, limousines and town cars; and they were all passing him on the road.

Keeping his eyes on the GPS map and following each direction it gave him, he turned left at the first intersection. He then made his way down towards the address that he had entered as his destination. The GPS lady then announced triumphantly,

"You have arrived at your destination!"

He knew that this was the home of a rich and important person. He could tell that easily from the size of the gate, and the security guard waiting to greet him.

He also knew that he looked like a person of low importance when the guard came to his window.

"I am sorry sir, but this is a private home. You cannot come in without an invitation."

He was probably not expecting Bill to be one of the guests.

Checking through the pockets of his shirt and trousers, Bill found the invitation. He had been told to hand it in when he arrived.

The look of disbelief on the face of the guard did not put him off. Sure he may not look like someone important; but Uncle Donald obviously considered him important, since he was one of the heirs in the will.

He could not help for a moment letting his mind go, thinking about how great things were going to be in the future.

He could see himself arriving at the gate in the future, driving a luxury sports car and dressed in a three piece suit. That guard would quickly snap to attention then! He would realize who he was dealing with.

With a grunt of disapproval, the guard stepped back into his cubicle; then he started opening the huge gate to the estate.

"Have a nice day," he said, quite clearly not meaning a word of it; just doing what he had to do as part of his job.

The gate moved out of Bill's view. He could see the road leading up to a huge mansion. Uncle Donald really had good taste it seemed.

The place was really clean and well kept. The gardens looked like they were designed by an expert, and kept in good condition by regular attention.

He put the car into gear; then slowly followed the road that led to the house. Bill began to feel nervous for the first time, and a bit of fear began to fill his mind. He had never met this family before, and now suddenly here he was - a complete stranger. He was coming to claim an inheritance from someone he had never really met.

What were the other heirs going to think of this? Would they welcome him or snub him? He had heard of events like this before, and seen enough movies showing this kind of thing.

Usually there was a big fight over what was left in the will. And someone always left upset, because they were left out of the will, or someone else got something they thought they should have.

A cold shiver went down his spine as he began to edge the car closer to the house. For just one brief moment he felt like turning around and going back home. But the gate was already nearly closed behind him. It was too late now.

He had come to a place which could alter his future. Now he must go on and pay the price for his life to be changed. So with a new resolve and determination, and a heart full of hope for the future, he set his eyes on the building ahead of him and drove steadily forward.

Post A Review For This Book