Prompt: A Roll of the Bones

Jack lay collapsed in the apartment as dark blood spilled from his mouth onto the wood flooring. His eyes fixated on his hand as the knucklebones fell from its weakened grip, only to collect them and futilely try again.

Four men in black formal jackets appeared between two bounces of the bones. One carried a bottle of wine. One held a cane. One had a glass of rum. The fourth stood peering through the lens-less frames of his glasses at the newspaper clippings pinned to Jack’s wall.

“My my my, haven’t we been a little hero,” the Baron commented, “and we’ve enjoyed watching you.” Jack let out a scratchy cough, that the Baron interpreted as a response. “You? No,” the Baron turned to Jack, shaking his head. “We’re not here for you.”

Jack rolled his head back and forth on the floor as tears fell from his cheek as Jack endured the pain of forcing his words out. “No. Why don’t the dice work anymore?”

The Baron stepped over Jack’s limp body to accept the glass of rum from his associate. “You must bet part of your life to gamble, but you’re dead broke. And there ain’t anything I can do about that.” He raised the glass and toasted Jack’s wall of achievements, “Instead of hoarding the winnings, you’ve spread them around the table. For that, I offer you this drink.”

Jack felt the edge of the rum glass being pressed against his lips. His hand lay open displaying the sheep bones in his open palm as his body relaxed in surrender. Warm cigar flavored liquid splashed on his tongue, taking Jack back to the hot sands of last year’s vacation, when his ears registered the sound of bones tumbling on the floor followed by a solid thud.

His eyes shot open to find his room empty except for his mother now faced down on the floor. The pair of sheep bones cast beside her hand. A laugh echoed in his head reminding him, “We weren’t here for you. But do try to avoid temptation for a year.”