J

Fred shuffled his deck of cards. He had his game face on. This was his time to beat his roommates at their own game. He smiled and then placed his deck on the table once he had finished shuffling it.

Sam: Okay. Let the game begin.

Fred: Yeah, here~ feel free to use my deck.

Sam looked at Fred, and nodded. Sure, he would still win this game. Using Fred’s cards instead of his own was not going to make him easily destroy his winning streak.

Martin: Come on already. Sam take the cards. We don’t have all day!

Sam: Sheesh. Fine.

Fred watched Sam pick several cards and he passed them to Martin. Martin thanked him. Then Sam picked some for himself, too.

Sam picked one more card and placed it in the center of the table. It was an eight of hearts.

Martin carefully held on to his cards, and checked to see what he had in his hand. He smiled and placed one card down. An eight of spades.

Fred shook his head. He didn’t have any good card to place down. Sam laughed.

Martin: Hey, Sam don’t take so long. Place a card. (sighs)

Sam: Oh. (looks puzzled at his card and then slowly places it down)

Fred picked up a new card from the deck and stopped to stare at the card Sam placed in the center.

Martin: Yoh. Sam- why did you place that card in the middle?

Sam: Hmm, it’s the Joker.

Fred: (gasps) Uh, let’s not use that one.

Sam: Guys, stop acting weird. It’s the one card I had that worked for my turn.

Fred moved his hand and reached for the card. Sam slapped Fred’s hand.

Martin: Could you two please behave?

The Joker started to glow right before Fred tried to grab the card again. Sam’s eyes became wide in awe. What was going on with this strange card?

Martin rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing—

A pair of hands emerged from the card and soon the Joker was standing on the table right before the roommates eyes. Fred had thought that he had removed the Joker from the deck, uhm, this was not good.

The Joker cackled & clicked his heels. Then stared at the three pairs of peo before him.

Sam stood up from the couch slowly and moved his hand closer to the Joker.

Fred screamed and told Sam to stop. But it was too late. The Joker twisted aorund and formed a whirlwind that Sam got pulled right into.

Martin took a tight grip of the couch, not wanting to be carried away like Sam. Fred stood up and faced the Joker. He was not going to let him take the fun out of this round of the game.

The Joker stopped spinning when he heard Fred tell him to bring Sam back. Martin was too scared to even nod in agreement with what Fred had said.

Fred waited for a response from the Joker. All he did was continue smiling and tilting his head from one side, to the next, staring at Fred.

The Joker shouted and placed his hands in the air. Fred couldn’t take it anymore. He was playing tricks.

Fred jumped onto the table and pulled out another Joker card, but this one wasn’t dark, it was a light blue Joker. The dark, and crazy Joker looked at the card & panicked. The Joker begged Fred not to use the card. Martin, now that he saw Fred facing the Joker screamed and told him to do what needed to be done.

The Joker snapped its fingers and the rest of the cards flew around Fred, he couldn’t see past all the cards zooming & spinning about his body. When the cards stopped flying and fell to the table, some on the floor, and others across the living area, Fred wondered where the Joker went. Even Martin was missing.

This was really bad. Fred jumped to the floor and went to the window. He opened it and checked if there was anything out of the ordinary outside. Nothing. No Joker, things there seemed to be in order.

Wait. He looked out again. Fred spotted a well not too far from where he stood. He stepped out of the place through the window and ran to the well.

Once there he peered in. There was no water in the well, only an endless pit of darkness. Then he heard the Joker’s laugh.

There was only only one thing he had to do. Fred held onto the other Joker card & jumped into the well.

*****

In the well went Fred, a burst of light shone bright. Was he on his way to heaven? No, he didn’t even say goodbye to his lovely next door neighbor, Catherine. He had planned it all out in his head. She would go take her dog for a walk. But he would offer to do it, she’d say yes. Then..eh, too late for him to think about the next step/s.

He saw a different place at the end of the light. Fred moved his hands in front of his face, he needed to get ready for a hard landing.

When he arrived at the end of the trip, he bounced onto solid ground. Right on his bottom. He squinted his eyes and looked aorund.

There was a waterfall, that actually had water going in an upward motion and not down. So, it was some sort of waterrise. Huh.

Fred checked for the other Joker card, he couldn’t find it. Oh no!

He got to his feet and bumped into someone. Fred looked up and saw Catherine. How did she get here?

Was this really her? She did look like her. But this Catherine was in a blue Joker’s suit. She placed her hand on Fred’s shoulder.

Fred felt his knees become weak. He lost his balance and almost fell to the ground.

He cleared his throat and looked into Catherine’s eyes. Her lips were moving, she was asking him a question. Fred shook his head and pulled himself together.

Fred: Right. Sorry about that. Catherine?

Blue Joker: Where is he?

Fred: Who?!

Blue Joker: Him. (She pointed at the Joker who was running about the moment he saw the Blue Joker).

Fred: Yes, the crazy Joker. Please, don’t let him get away.

The Blue Joker swung her slingshot and shot a load of gems at the Joker. Pieces of gems rained down on the Joker. The Blue Joker reached for a pair of ropes and swung the ropes with a great force. She tossed them at the Joker’s feet. The Joker landed on his frontside. He grunted and moaned. Fred leaped for joy.

The Joker was lifted off the ground. The Blue Joker threw him over her left shoulder.

Fred: Where are Sam & Martin?

Joker: (cackles) In the meadow, lies a fellow. Only there, you might find a hare. O, Sam, or is it Pam? Martin, maybe he’s now gelatin!

Fred hated this Joker. So full of many tricks. He ran to the meadow and found two piles of hay. Fred called out for his buddies. He felt lost and thought it was too late. Then the bundle of hay moved, and the other one did as well. Fred rushed to check the bundles. Right in the center of the bundles of hay were his pals.

He pulled them out. They smiled and both thanked Fred for saving them. Then they went back to the well and soon were back right at their place.

Sam: Fellas, who wants to continue the game?

Martin: Seriously!?

Sam: Fred?

Fred: (smiles) Nah. I’m good. I think I’ll stay clear of the game. Its time I try to stick to maybe dominoes.

Sam: Yeah, okay. Sounds like fun. Let’s play.

Martin: (laughs) you never cease to amaze me. As long as there are no Jokers in that game, I can join you guys.

#J.