loadVariables from .txt simple problem

I am trying to load a variable from a text file named “variable_file.txt”

The variable in the file is “var” and I am trying to assign the word “value”

When I run the following code:

 loadVariablesNum("variable_file.txt", 0);
trace(var);

I get the following:

Scene=Scene 1, Layer=Layer 1, Frame=1: Line 2: Unexpected ‘!’ encountered
trace(var);

other times I have tried this I get “undefined”

I’m sure there is something basic I am missing here, but what???

thanks in advance,

lars