A Game of Poker – 365 Flash Fiction #51

By vinodnarayan on August 4, 2014 • ( 9 )

“Where am I?” He looked around trying to see something. It was pitch black. He could hear some groans and creaks near him. He realized he was sitting in a chair.
“Who are you?” Came a female voice from the front and before he could speak there was a loud cry followed by sobs that felt like they would go on for eternity.
“Stop it; we need to find a way out” Said another voice.
“Shut up, we might be being watched” This time it sounded next to him.
“Watch us? You must be kidding, it is so dark, unless there is a night vision camera” said a new voice the sound of which proved that English was not his mother tongue.

He counted five people including himself. He also realized that he could not move his body below the hips, they were paralyzed.
“Are they kidnapped?” he wondered. “Which derailed mind is up to all this?”
Before he could think more the lights came on and blinded his eyes. He closed his eyes with his hand and slowly opened it and looked around. He saw the people around him and connected them with the voices he heard in the dark and before he could confirm a door on the side opened with a loud noice.
“So how are you all idiots doing?” Came a pleasant and beautiful female voice quite contrary to the usage of the word idiot and the tone of the question
They all looked around. A masked figure stepped in from the door on the side and came towards them. The figure made a complete circle of them and that is the first time he noticed that the five of them were sitting in a circle around a round table and on it was a deck of cards.

“Who are you?” the lady in the group asked, may be because the figure, their captor sounded female and she felt it was her moral responsibility to speak up for the group
“I am death?” The masked captor giggled
“Death?” She asked. He thought she was going to cry again
“Does that mean we are all dead?” He asked and then felt ashamed about his pessimism but the queen in their group needed just that. She put out a loud shriek showing no since of the resilience and courage she had gained a moment ago. She probably till then never thought that she would have to die.
“No you are not dead” said the masked captor “You will be soon, atleast one of you, I have orders to choose one among you, some silly game the gods play in heaven, I am just setting the stage and carrying out the order”

“But your sound is that of a female, how can you be death” asked one of the guys in a bit of sarcasm scratching his head
“You won’t leave your gender bias even at the doorsteps of death” smiled the captor “And what gave you the impression that death is male, have you forgotten the one who beat you half dead for ruining her life?”
“I am death, now four of you can go free from here and tell the people that death is female and change the whole perception of the world. They have already made enough damage making God a man; this might be your chance to revert some of that damage”

“So God is not a man?” he asked
Death just giggled in her sweet voice and slowly said “Here comes another moron”
“What do we need to do?” Asked the guy next to him
“Play a game of poker” Said death “You guys are good at bluffing and you have bet your life on every trivial joy on earth, so you should be good, it would be a fun game”
“How will you choose the one you need?” He asked
“Give it your best shot and try to win; death is always fair, much fairer than life” Said death with a chuckle

Death walked out and closed the door behind and the group started to play. Death went to her assistant and said “Pick the one who wins, for once in this world let them fight over each other to win their death.” She walked away humming an old song “closer to the grave is all you get with the passing time, with the passing time….

Submitted for Flash Fiction Fridayfor the theme Poker F3 – Cycle 39 – You’ve Got to Know When to Hold ‘em