Park Place, Please

Written for Daily Flash Fiction to "Board Game" prompt"  Limit of 300 words.  This is 299!




“Park Place, please.”

“You can’t afford Park Place!”

“Sure I can!”  I scooped up my fake money and planted it on the board. 

“That’s nuts!  I mean, you can’t give me ALL your money!”  My twelve-year-old competitor stared at me, his freckles standing out.  “I mean, c’mon Dad. You know you’re gonna lose!” 

“Time for bed?”

“No way.” 

“All right.” I neatened the money and handed it over. 

“OK, Dad.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

“Roll the dice, Scott.”

The dice trickled across the board.  I watched my son smile at the “7.” 

“Lucky 7, Dad.”  He moved his token closer to “Go.”

I rolled.  The dice said “7” too, but not so lucky.

“Yo! Dad!  Go to Jail!”  My freckle-faced baby was becoming a vicious entrepreneur.  I turned over the Jail card. 

“Oh darn, I have to wait 2 rolls.”

Scott smothered the dice in his hands.

“Dad, you are too, too easy!”  He rolled and advanced another couple of paces to within two jumps of Park Place.  He rolled again.

“Dad,” the dice jumped on the board, “you know I would have to get snake eyes to land there.”

The dice settled, one teetering on the edge of the board.  Small dots in the center of each looked up.

“Noooooo!”  My entrepreneur was on the edge of bankruptcy.

“I think,” Scott leaned back in his chair.  “I think, Dad, I should re-roll the dice. I mean that one is right on the edge.” 

“Really?”  I planted a sober look on my face.

“Yeh.”  My son reasserted.  “I mean, it could roll off the edge and be a 2.  No way would it be a 1.” 

“It’s a 1, Scott, unless you want to get a lawyer, in which case, neither one of us has enough money.”