Ralph From Scotland

For this assignment we were asked to choose a photograph from Bill Sullivan's website of a random person walking through a New York City turnstile. After choosing a photo we had to make a story about the person and the events leading up the time when the photo was taken. For more of Bill Sullivan's work click here. 

Ralph Westchester was a small lad from the lush highlands of Scotland. He had recently moved to Manhattan after his farm burned down in a terrible fire. He was depressed and left with nothing more than the clothes on his back. During his first week in New York City he met a young lady named Danika. She was a divorced immigrant from Croatia with three children. Ralph and Danika had an instant chemistry when they met in a busy city bus. They shared their life stories with each other over dinner at an Italian restaurant down the street from Ralph's work. Ralph worked at a cigar shop two blocks from Times Square. Ralph loved his job because he had conversations all day and he never had a dull day. Danika was always annoyed with Ralph's clothes smelling like cigars because it reminded her of her father. She never talked about her father. 

Three and a half weeks ago Ralph began saving up for a magnificent present he wanted to give to Danika. Every week he would stash away $130.00 he made at the cigar shop. Then one day he lost all of the money he had saved. His buddy Vinny from the cigar shop told him about a horse race he could triple his money on. Ralph was hesitant at first to put all the money he had saved on one unreliable horse. After a few days of weighing his options he decided to go through with it. Ralph got dressed up in his light brown blazer he had brought with him from Scotland and his favorite tan fedora. He never really wore ties but he felt like it was appropriate since he was going to the race track. He met Vinny at the race track two hours west of the city. He got there and Vinny explained to him how to bet and which horse he was counting on. The horse was named Lucky Lance and he had only won one race in the past. The odds were totally stacked up against Lucky Lance and Ralph, but Vinny was confident Ralph would walk away with more money than he originally had. The race began at 2:30pm and Ralph had just enough time to find a good seat where he could watch Lucky Lance take the victory. Since he was aging and had poor eye sight he sat in a seat very close to the track. The shot rang out exactly at 2:30pm and Lucky Lance got a heavy lead. As the horses began to pile up along the railing Lexington, a dark brown Stallion, took the lead from Lucky Lance. They were neck and neck up until the last furlong when Lucky Lance's knee buckled and he flipped. The crowd erupted in hysteria and fear as the white horse was trampled along with it's jockey. After the dust settled and the race ended the crowd was still in shock as they watched the jockey driven away in an ambulance and the horse was attended to by a medical team. 

Ralph couldn't believe it. He had lost over $400.00 in a matter of seconds. He was full of anger, sadness, and regret. Ralph got up from his seat and ran to the train station. He got on his train and headed to Manhattan. As he got off at his stop he walked with his head down and he kept himself from crying. He pushed his way through the turnstile and began his sad and slow walk home.