Death comes to us all but we are always surprised, as if our mortality was a fabricated truth, fake news. For some, death is sudden, for those less fortunate there is a long and painful journey to its door. And for others, death is the grim reaper, a man in a black hooded garb, scythe in hand, who severs our ties with life. And we say of those who have died that they have passed away, or they are pushing up daisies, as if it softens the blow that they are no longer with us.
For me death appeared from a silver sedan as a man of slim build, indefinite age and wearing a dark grey suit got out and walked over to me. I was holding onto the limp body of my husband, but death knelt next to me and whispered, “Let go, it is time.”
I yelled, “No!”
He smiled, “Then let us play a game.”
So I followed him into the house and we sat at a table.
“Shall we play roulette or blackjack?”
“Whichever, it doesn’t matter,” I replied.
“Indeed, then let’s start with roulette.”
He pulled a red velvet cloth out of his pocket, spread it on the table, then placed a roulette wheel in the centre. “Now spin it.”
Puzzled I asked, “Don’t I have to lay a bet first?”
“No need, this game is a bit different, as you’ll see.”
I spun the wheel and two small silver balls spun round rapidly at first, then slowed down and stopped abruptly.
“Ah, here is the first to be revealed,” he said. One ball landed on the red 9 and the other on the black 42. His deep black eyes penetrated mine, “In nine months at age 42. Spin again.”
I spun the wheel again, watching anxiously at where the silver balls might land. “Ah, another so soon, in three years at age 65. Shall we spin again?”
My mind turned with the roulette wheel as I spun it again, now understanding the revelations of the game. This time a red zero and black 75. I gasped.
“Let’s play blackjack,” he laughed, leaning back in his chair and reaching into his pocket for a deck of cards. They were shiny and red, embossed with what looked like a gold paisley swirl pattern. Then I looked closer and realised the swirls were human figures stretched out and wound round each other, silhouettes of human forms that moved as he shuffled them.
