The Price of Friendship

Ted Milner, recently divorced, is living in a dump of a hotel. He is without a job and behind on all of his bills. His landlord is threatening to throw him out if he doesn't pay up his back rent soon. That night, Ted learns that his neighbor, Arnie Donaldson, has won a million bucks in the state lottery. Sleeping, all kind of thoughts run through Ted's head - including the knowledge that Arnie is all alone in the world and told Ted that he has told no one else about the winning lottery ticket. Desperate, Ted kills Arnie and takes the ticket. He stows the gun and his fingerprint-hiding gloves in his apartment's toilet tank. When a detective actually uses the bathroom without any trouble, Ted decides to leave the evidence just where it is. After letting some time pass, Milner heads to the lottery office to collect the million dollars. The clerk runs the ticket through the computer and hands him $91. He soon realizes that Arnie, with his bad vision, misread the winning numbers. Milner returns to the hotel and pays his back rent, which leaves with exactly one dollar. He turns the dollar over in his hands, thinking that all he's done - Arnie's life! - boils down to one dollar. As he heads up to his room, his landlady asks him to wait a few minutes, Her brother-in-law is in the room, fixing the running toilet. Not much later, the police detective appears and places a hand on Milner's shoulder. "We need to talk," he says. **2025: Semi-finalist Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards (Season 10).