Shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, silence…

He sat there, on the old floorboards. He sat there, in the dim light in the dark of this night. The moon had long since gone to sleep and so had the sun. So he sat there, holding a deck of cards in his hands. Shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling them.

A card fell out, flipping around chaotically before landing face down on the floor before him. A shaky hand reached out towards the card, deftly picking it up and bringing it closer to him. He flipped it over, looking at its face that was now staring him down.

Silence

There was no movement, no shuffling of cards or heavy breaths, just silence in the dark room of his. Until there was no longer silence. The deafening noise of nothingness was replaced with a discontented hum and the shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling of the cards in his hands. Those cold, white hands. The hands that were so skilled at shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling cards.

Time went on, the night growing darker at its peak and then becoming lighter as dawn broke into the sky. More cards had flown out and landed around him, always face down. Each time it happened his cold, thin, ghost-white hands would reach out and bring it closer to him. Staring the card down as it stared back at him. He would hum in discontent, before placing it in a row with all the other cards that had stared at him. Once the cards had been placed he would go back to that shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling of cards.

And then again, as the night finally faded, there was once again a deafening silence. It was only now that I dared to sit up and stare at the spot on the floor where he had been sitting. There was nothing, no deck of cards, no shuffling, no eerie moonlight when there was no moon out.

I stood up on shaky legs, staring at the spot where I had always seen him. He had never left anything behind when dawn broke, but this time he had. In the middle of my bedroom, sitting there face down on the floorboards, was a singular card. I quietly kneeled on the floor and reached out with shaky hands, slowly and fearfully picking it up before bringing it towards me and flipping it around.

I stared at the Tarot Card in my hands for a moment, confused as it had nothing on its face. In the place of the usual picture that would normally be on such a card was a small mirror. I stared at my own reflection, not realizing that that deafening silence had returned. I didn't realize anything until I heard that shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling from behind me.

The last words that were spoken to me were the only words I ever heard him say. “You’ll make a wonderful card for my collection.” Before everything went back, and then I felt the shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling of his deck.