[ WP ] You 're a time traveller who has gone back five years in time to amass a fortune by placing bets . Life is good until one day you are paid a visit by the FBI .

I'm a very poor writer. But I've outlined what I would've written below. If someone else wants to write this up, or modify it, or point out how this structure could be improved or given some poignancy, that would be appreciated. It may be too forward, but maybe /u/MediocreWriter or /u/schoolgirlerror would take a look ( it seems they're big on this subreddit ). 
 
 * A lady goes exactly 5 years back in time to amass a fortune by placing bets. 
 
 * She was actually sent back in time for a proof-of-concept that the time-machine works by changing some unknowable state or switch. 
 
 * She was chosen after volunteering for the risky operation for reasons that she does not know ( e.g. compatibility, sciencey stuff, etc. ). 
 
 * She actually specifically volunteered because her life had radically changed in the last 5 years. Some life altering thing happened that could've been averted if she had money ( miscarriage? the sickness of a loved one? ). She wants to escape that feeling of powerlessness and be an agent of positive change. 
 
 * Initially the time-travel is very disorientating and she was very afraid of disturbing the time-line or things beyond her comprehension ( it is clear that the woman in this cast is wholly unaware of the complexities ). 
 
 * She got a crappy apartment in a crappy area and tried to live as discreetly as possible. She does not do what she was tasked to do ( changing some unknowable state/switch ) -- possibly because she is unable ( e.g. something broke, the switch is n't there ) or because she is unwilling. 
 
 * She thought about affecting the future in the best way she can. Her entire apartment is littered with newspapers, encyclopedias, maps -- but she was unable to make the big bold differences ( e.g. can you imagine knowing that Mr. Putin would lay the ground work for a mass-humanitarian crisis by invading the Ukraine? But how would you get to him? How would you instigate change? No one knows you, you have no means, you did not train for this scenario, etc. ). 
 
 * Her first act of betting was merely to keep her off the streets. Then it became habitual. Then she realized how powerful the money could be and what she could change. 
 
 * Her entire existence now relies on amassing a fortune and waiting for the fateful day where she will use said fortune to achieve her goal. 
 
 * As she wins yet another power-ball as indicated by the TV ( meta: perhaps this could be a writing device, where the different numbers being announced separate the different bullet-points described ), the FBI storms in. They capture her roughly and demand to know how she has known the results of so many seemingly random events. 
 
 * She is told that she will be held indefinitely in detention until she reveals how she rigged the events. She is going to miss her fated day. Yet again, she is powerless. 
 
 
 Edit: 
 
 After thinking about it some more, I basically wrote this piece to undermine time-travel as an amazing power. No matter what you do, when you go, you must have the underlying resources and ability to make something happen. In that sense, what I outlined was a plot of despair. Despair which drove her to volunteer for this operation. Despair after arriving which led to betting. And the final despair -- just when she thought she had a modicum of control over everything, to have it snatched away. 
 
 Edit2: 
 
 Bonus points for referencing [ Cassandra ] ( http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra ).
