Caitlin and Judd underestimated the power of this simple game . . .
BY CHRISTINE BRYANT
CAITLIN stared down at the large parcel on the table. “What is it?” she asked her husband.
“First prize in the raffle, that’s what it is!” Judd beamed at her.
“First prize?”
He nodded wildly.
“Oh, wow!” she exclaimed. “I wonder what it is.”
Judd slipped an arm around Caitlin’s shoulder and squeezed her.
“Well,” he began, “it’s bound to be something good, isn’t it? You know what the company raffles are like.
“Last year, Martin in Accounts won the top prize and it was a top of the range laptop,” he added. She squeezed him back. “Just what we need!” Judd reached out for the paper.
“On second thoughts,” Caitlin said, “let’s take it into the sitting-room. I’ll get coffee and cake, and we can open it in style.”
“Good idea,” Judd agreed.
A few minutes later, they were sitting on the settee, sipping coffee, staring at the box.
“Go on, then,” Caitlin prompted him.
Judd rubbed his hands together, cracked his knuckles then tugged at the paper.
It was thick and glossy, as befitted first prize in the company raffle.
“Don’t pull on it,” she warned him. “It might mark the box.”
Breathlessly, they watched as he peeled away the paper.
The top of the box wasn’t black and sleek though, with red and gold writing that promised something expensive.
It was a picture.
“What is it?” Caitlin asked.
“Colourful,” he said.
She picked at the side of the wrapping to read 5,000 pieces.
Falling back in his seat, Judd looked at her.
“It’s a jigsaw puzzle,” he told her.
“A jigsaw? For first prize?” She was confused.
“There must be a mistake,” he said. “They must have got mixed up.”
“You mean another prize winner might have yours?” Caitlin asked.
“I don’t know,” he said.
He grasped at an envelope fixed to the top of the box.
“What’s this?”
It was a letter from the head of the company, congratulating Judd on winning first prize.
“So it is right, then,” Caitlin said, deflated.
“Seems so,” Judd agreed, reading on. “The company is doing its part to save the planet, apparently. So instead of tech, they’re giving a prize that’s completely recyclable.
“They hope it gives many hours of fun.”
The next few minutes of silence were broken only by the ticking of the grandfather clock and their
