-19 Hours Ago-
It started with a simple Craigslist ad. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw “Frogs ‘N Toads Deluxe Dice Game - 1970’s - $15”. I eagerly contacted the seller and set up a pick up time.
I quickly found myself knocking on the door. It opened and I looked down. The woman, who in the ad had called herself Gertrude, was over a foot shorter than myself, with cotton-white hair and leathery skin. She invited me into her living room, which looked straight out of the 1970’s. The wood paneling walls made the whole room look dark.
I cut to the chase and asked to see the game.
“I haven’t touched the thing since Jerry gave it to me, all those years ago.”
“Jerry Fletcher? The game’s creator?” I had wanted to play dumb, pretending not to know the true value of the game but Gertrude caught me off guard with this news.
“The one and only,” she said.”How does a young man such as yourself know so much about things before your time?”
“He was my great uncle,” I revealed. “I’ve been collecting as many of his games as I can find. They’re hard to come across.” Her expression changed for a moment.
“He hand carved this set for me, you know,” Gertrude told me.
I couldn’t help but to show excitement. “He wasn’t able to make many himself before his… you know, …death.”
“Right… Where are my manners? Would you like some tea?”
I had hoped to grab the game and go but I couldn’t resist staying a little longer to learn more about Uncle Jerry from an old flame. She poured my tea in a mug decorated with mushrooms. Groovy.
I took a sip as she fetched the game. The room started spinning as she placed the game in front of me. I blinked a few times. The wooden frogs stared back at me, challenging me. The toads started weeping. This wasn’t right. I didn’t feel well.
“Roll the dice,” Gertrude commanded. She handed me four wooden dice, perfectly carved by kin I’d never known.
With a shaky hand, I rolled it. Gertrude counted out loud.
“Six and six is twelve, add five, seventeen, plus three is twenty. You’re lucky, Kid,” she told me.
“I… don’t get it…” I spoke slowly.
She walked over to her door and locked it before turning to me and saying, “You’ve got twenty hours to live. Jerry was less fortunate, he rolled six.”
