My home life isnt much better. My mom is really cool, shes the only one I really like of my family. She married her high school sweetheart. He turned out to be a real loser. So my mom left him and took me with her. She took a job at a diner where she later met the man who would later become my step dad John Maugham. Unfortunately we never got along very well. I think because I am not his son. I have three half brothers Eric 30, Jason 28, and chris 26. The three of them get along great. But I dont get along with them I am like the outcast of the family as I am not one of them. A full brother of theirs.

So to get away from things I decided to take a trip to Vegas. My brother Eric took me to the airport. I knew he wasnt that thrilled about it. I think he did it as a favor to our mom.

Vegas was awesome for a while I forgot about all my problems back home. While walking through the casino towards the end of my trip I came across a machine called "you bet your life" it had Groucho Marx on it. Intrigued by the machine I sat down to play but discovered I couldnt find a place to put the money in the machine.

"may I help you?" asked the attendent

"Yes" I replied "where do you put the money in?"

"this machine doesnt take money" he replied " you bet days of your life to play"

"days of my life?" I asked not sure of his answer thinking it sounded like some sort of con.

"you bet five days of your life every time you spin. You either gain days of your life or you lose days of your life" he answered.

So I decided to give a try. I at first was losing after the first five spins before i won. For some reason I liked the machine so I continued to play and the man walked away. minutes turned to hours and before i knew it six hours had gone by and I was doing very well. I was starting to get tired so when I saw the man I called him over.

"Do you want to cash out?" he asked

"yes i would" I replied

"wow!" said the man "you have been doing very well, you gained eleven years in credits off your life"

" I guess I was doing well"

"Indeed!" he said as he credited me out. "Thank you for playing You bet your life and I hope you enjoy the changes coming your way"

"Thanks" I said smiling to myself, shaking my head as I walked away. I then left the casino and headed to my room to go to sleep.

My sleep was restless, I tossed and turned all through the night and was sweating profusely. Not even the air conditioning helped much. My t-shirt was so drenched from the sweat that I took it off during the night to try to cool off.

I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. I reached for it and answered groggily. "Hello"

"Its your wake up call mr. maugham"

"thank you" I replied still half asleep. Wait a minute I thought to myself she called me mr. maugham. My last name is abrams. I got out of bed quickly still befuddled by her mistake of my name. Standing up I got the shock of my life when I saw myself in the mirror.

"whos that? thats me? it cant be!!" talking out loud to myself but yet still staring into the mirror and seeing my reflection in it. It was of a person about 6 ft 2 in tall, about 225 lbs, in his mid 20's, and muscular. I must of stared into the mirror a couple minutes not believing what i was seeing. My first thoughts were that i must still be dreaming. But when i whacked my foot on the dresser i knew i was awake.

I quickly got dressed and packed my suitcase to get ready to leave that day. I then checked my wallet and was surprised to find that it too said david maugham. My birth date was correct except for the year. According to that i was 24 years old. I left the hotel room and rushed to the casino hoping to find the man that helped me with the machine. After looking around for a few minutes i approached a lady attendant and asked her about the machine.

"We dont have any such machine in this casino" she replied smiling

I thanked her and walked away some what confused about what was happening to me when the man I was looking for approached me on my way back to the hotel room to check out to get ready to leave Vegas.

"I assume you like the changes mr maugham" he asked

"how?, what? yes i love the changes. I just dont understand"

"some things are beyond our understanding mr maugham. Just get used to it, you have many more changes to come at home"

"what changes"

"you will soon find out, just enjoy your second chance at life mr maugham, compliments of You Bet Your Life"

I left Vegas that afternoon with my things to think about. Also much curiousity about what changes are in store for me at home. I arrived home with my parents waiting for me my mom looked awesome like years of worry and stress had been lifted from her. I later learned she went to college and was a teacher she met dad in a diner near the college where they both went. john maugham who now was actually my real dad now. Gave me a warm greeting " hey son, how was vegas, glad to see you made it back safely" I hugged them both.

"whats that all about, you were only gone a week" mom said

"It seems like a lifetime ago to me"

over the next few days i discovered what other changes had occurred. my brothers and i were very close often doing things together playing or watching sports, cookouts. I got my wish to be closer to my brothers, except now instead of being the eldest i was the youngest. My best friend is Sean who used to be my worst enemy. must be because we are the same age now. the girl i had a crush on martha i found out was now my girlfriend and hopefully soon my fiancee. My boss even called me to his office and asked if i considered the promotion he offered me before i left. What could i do I said yes and took it.

Who would of thought how much ones life could change all because you played a slot machine called "You Bet Your Life" •