The Last Hand

The Last Hand

Friday night was a cool evening when all of the participants individually arrived. Each person showed the doorman a beautiful red ruby stoned ring. With a non-expressive face the doorman’s eyes checked the figure in front of him and then gave a small nod to indicate the path was clear for the player to go by.
Without a sound the figure floated by and went down a hallway that was lit by only four 60-watt light bulbs. As he neared the end of the hall, a muffled sound of voices came to his ears. He stopped and then slowly opened the door. The room was not much brighter than the hallway but each contestant sitting at the large round table could be seen.
The players were the best around that county. The game was poker. The room was part of an old casino. This casino was closed. It had been closed for 2 years since the owner had died and legal matters had tied up any activities. There was a musty smell in the place. The lights were on only for the security guard who was asleep in the banquet room on the east side of the building.
For two and half-hours the players sat and played. Some studied their opponent’s faces. The others tried to keep a focus on not showing any body language that might give their hand away. They used glasses to hide their eyes. Their conversations during each hand were so slight that the rambling wind outside could be heard.
The chips for the hands had only one color. The color was for the highest chip, red. The players started out very cautious and then became bolder as they felt that their time had come for good luck to be on their side.
Each person seemed to be winning and losing evenly, except for the last player who joined the game. His pile of chips slowly grew. His winning hands were the kind that players might not see for maybe six months if not a whole life time. The other players continued to play but with a growing suspicion that this player, someone who had only been with the group for two times, might be dealing with some special talents.
Finally, the fat man who had sparse hair on his head jumped out of his chair and pointed his finger at the stranger. The four other players put their cards on the table and began shaking their heads in agreement with the leader.
Finally, the leader hissed, “ You. I must know right now how you have been winning this night. I demand that you stand up and.”
Before the leader could get another word out of his mouth, the stranger took off his dark glasses. Instead of eyes, there were only sockets. His skin began to dissolve off his body and bones were beginning to become clearer. The only thing that the players could be sure of was the red ruby ring that each player had to buy to be allowed to enter the casino for the night’s game.
The four other players sat frozen in their chairs. Then their skins began to dissolve also. They all stood up to face Larry the biggest cheater at poker in Gremlin County.
The five skeletal figures all turned toward Larry and raised the long bony forefingers of their right hand towards him.
Larry grabbed his chest. He tried to keep his heart beating. His mouth opened. Nothing but a pain-filled gurgle came out. His chest felt like it was ready to explode. And then the pain went away. Larry plopped into his chair and his face fell forward and hit the table. He was dead. His glazed eyes stared at his last hand he would ever play.
This night, Larry a notorious cheater caught someone else cheating for once. However instead of going home with ill gotten gains and a smile on his face, Larry, had met his match. The hand and the pot were won by spirit of Death.