by Michael

Poet (an acrostic poem)

Image: mandyevebarnett.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/unleashed-imagination.jpg

Placing emotions on a page, then folding them into intricate origami dioramas of life

Or pluck stars from the sky and plant them under mountains to grow gemstone geodes

Even distill humanity, boil off the dross, and serve up a potent shot of pure intoxication and misery

Then crumple up the whole thing, delete the file, and try again since the craft was not perfected

09.06.20

by Michael

The Fortune Teller (a 200 word story)

Image: macaunews.mo/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Casino_Chips.jpg

The cards spoke of fate, but the future they predicted was always left up to interpretation of the one reading them. Most people were almost illiterate. Preston fancied himself better than that.

He pondered that conclusion as he stared at the cards before him. He knew his present was a pair of jacks grinning at him, but his future? The jacks might have been a good a few hands ago, but now he was down to just a two more big blinds.

“What will it be?” asked Jerry with that lopsided grin he always wore. He sat behind a large chip stack that everyone at the table had been contributing to over the last hour or so. Preston stared at his opponent trying to get a read, but Jerry was a stone wall.

Preston thought about folding, but there wasn’t a promise of a better hand in the wings. This was the poker player’s dilemma. What did the future hold?

The jacks were mute, but Preston decided that the future was bright. He didn’t care if the light was that of victory or the burn out of defeat. He adjusted his shades and matched Jerry’s goofy ass grin.

“All in.”