“Quiniela”

Tell us about a time things came this close to working out… but didn’t. What happened next? Would you like the chance to try again, or are you happy with how things eventually worked out?

When I was little I was a soccer fan. My dad taught me the rules and we followed the matches by TV together. We had no money so my dad played sometimes to what they call in Spain “Quiniela”. A very popular game. A kind of lottery but not by choosing numbers but by guessing the results of the matches of the week in the First League. You had to try to predict the results of the weekend, fill in a coupon, pay a modest sum (then was less than a dollar) and if you get 13 or 14 results right, you can win a lot of money. The equivalent to thousands of dollars.
Once I took a coupon and made my prediction. I filled in the results and went to the store. But once there I found out that I didn’t have enough money to send my “Quiniela”. So I returned home with my worthless coupon. When the weekend was over I discovered I have guessed 13 results! So if I had had a few more cents to place my bid I had won thousands of dollars. I was so close. Only a few cents away.
What happened next? I didn’t know if it would be a good idea to say something to dad or not. Finally I decided to tell him as I always did with everything. I wasn’t sure of his reaction, but he laughed and told me to ask him for money next time I wanted to do a “Quiniela”. Or better, help him with his “Quiniela” from that moment on. So we had fun making predictions together.
We never won a “Quiniela” nor a lottery. Now is impossible I win a “Quiniela”, because we quit playing long, long ago.

Daily Prompt: But No Cigar.
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