Yule, or The Origin of Santa, and the first game of Poker. On a cold snowy, miserable night, many, many years ago. Unlit, a cabin stood on the edge of the woods. Aged in body, stumbled a portly man, empty sacks in tow, yet a Really kind soul, who year after year, on Christmas Eve, delivered presents to each and every one of the Ravaged old towns children, of which he made by hand. Under stress, the old man struggled to start a much Needed fire, barely getting one lit before he collapsed on the floor. Needless to say, Time had taken its toll, and he drifted off In the night.. In through the flickering Night shadows emerged a Ghostly figure, clad in an ancient, tattered, Ornamental cloth robe, and a hood hiding his Ugly gnarled face. Scythe on Tow, he stepped forward and called Out the mans name, and he awoke. The old Feeble man looked up at the hideous figure and said, Tisk, tisk. you look ill son, let me fix you some cocoa. Indubitably the old reaper was surprised by his Mild demeanor, but calmly said, it is time to go. The Elderly man looked up and said, I cant go !, what will the children do for next Christmas day!? death said, that is not my concern. They will grow old, learn the hate in their fellow man, kill each other and die.. as has been for eons.. The old man said, youve never seen the joy on kids faces when they open a present on Christmas!? Death said, no, Alas, Joy is not my forte. The old man said, Im NOT leaving the children, Ill fight to stay! Death said, youre going to fight me, one who is armed with a scythe, that can not possibly die? The old man grabbed a fireplace poker, and said, you bet cha! The old man said, Take my soul! Give me more time for the kids! These are dark times! They need hope! Death replied darkly, Youd give up your very soul to make these little rag-a-muffins happy? Death said, it doesnt work that way. But,.. Death casts a glaze around the room at the various unfinished toys and games. How about a game.. a game of chess perhaps. I dont want your soul, and you have nothing else to gamble with, so... ill give you a token for your deeds. If you win, Ill let you live until tomorrow evening so you can see the childrens faces one last time. The old man fell silent.. Then suddenly a burst of flame blew out of the chimney leaving a swirling mass of smoke, a thin, wirey looking figure emerged, golden crown & long flowing white beard, long pointy ears.. dressed in green robes, with a staff adorned with clover. The old elf king said calmly, My, arent you the generous one Death. Death said, What are YOU doing here. I shouldnt be seeing you for eons. The king replied mischievously, I want in on this little wager. Ill throw in 1000 years of my own life to back this old man. Death said, A drop in the bucket to you eh? Why would you come here for this human? The king said, The humans arent as bad as you think. Dont underestimate them. The old man said, Wow! Im honored! I guess this is an open game then! Death said, As you wish, but was then interrupted. A brilliant sparkle of light hit the room, and through it few a small beautiful fairy, with a tiny crown, and fluttering prismatic wings. The fairy queen said, I want in too! Ill throw in 1000 years of my life for this old fool! Death asked sternly, why? Dont you hate humans? The queen said, This man is a curiosity.. he has a heart & I want to test it.. Very well, Death replied. Upon those words, a gust of cold air blew through the window, forcing back the flames of the fire, and in flew an icy sprite, named Jack, wielding a staff of crystal clear ice that reflected the rays of the fireplace like a giant diamond. He froze a chair and sat. Death asked, And you? Jack replied, Ill do the same, this looks like fun! This man has made the children look forward to Winter! I owe him one! And he said this game was open to all! Death said, that is true. The old man agreed and thanked the three ancient ones.. Death asked, in quite the smart-alek tone, well if there isnt anyone ELSE who wishes to barge in, shall we proceed. Without any warning a swirling mass of darkness appeared in a corner, pushing away the light. Out of the darkness emerged Satan himself, followed by a small imp. Death Slammed the point of his Scythe into the ground at Satans feet and said This isnt a game for souls, dont even think about it. Satan calmly replied, No, no, old fellow, thats not my intention at all, ill wager 3000 years of life to match the others. Nothing more.. Satan sneered, and he really has no choice, you all SAID it was an open game. Besides, I cant let this man bring hope to kids for that long.. It would be really be a thorn in my side. If I win, he gets nothing but Death! Tonight! The old man sighed and acknowledged his hasty words. Death looked at the group. Quite high stakes he said coldly. A game of Chess wont work for this situation. Hmm. Maybe I can come up with something.. We have here... myself, Death, I shall be represented as a shovel, to bury the dead. I shall be the high card. We have a king, of elves, his symbol will be that of the earth, the clover. A fairy Queen, who respects virtue of the Heart. Jack here.. who loves fun.. and ice. Hmm.. crystals. Your symbol will be that of a crystal. A diamond perhaps... Death turns to glare at Satan, and bellowed, And then we have a Jester. Satan growled. Death looked at the old man who was still brandishing his fireplace poker. Well call this Poker! Here are the rules. Death explained the rules of the game and the others agreed.. Death pulled a shiny new deck of cards from his robe, with the portraits of the players painted on the faces. Shuffled them, handed them to each player around the table to cut, The old man refused.. and didnt want to tempt luck. Satan cut them twice and handed them back to Death. He dealt five cards to each player. The cards began to glow. The Fairy queen revealed her hand, A full house. Quite the hand indeed. The elf king set his cards down. 4 nines. Death set his hand down, 4 eights. Jack produces a straight flush. Satan sneers evilly and glares at Death, throwing his hand on the table. A royal flush of Hearts. The King and Queen gasp.. The old man sits silently.. Satan growls.. The old man carefully places a royal flush of Spades down on the table. Congratulations, bellowed Death with a hearty chortle. The highest hand someone could get! Satan himself couldnt hope for more! The King, Queen and Jack cheered! 3000 years of life! The Elf king told the old man to come with them.. he had stuff to learn. and they left the room through a magic portal. Death was left alone with Satan. Satan snarled, YOU CHEATED! Death exclaimed, not really. You see, heres what happened. The King and Queen, wanted the old man to win, but wanted some theatrics.. and stacked the deck with their powers, Jack saw what they did and went one up... not knowing what I would do. The old man was powerless and could do nothing. You of course, would have yourself dealt a hand of which only you could conceive.. designed by ego. I simply swapped your hand with the old mans when dealing. I didnt even bother to look. You could have said something... but didnt notice. Too busy gloating on your soon to be win, I suppose. Satan hissed, You mean he really got a royal flush without cheating? Balderdash! Why did you even agree to this anyway!? Death said: If those other three would band together in unity to help children have hope for tomorrow.. perhaps humanitys not as lost as I thought. Perhaps the humans too will one day stand side by side, as brothers.. and for this, we have to thank a simple hand dealt in a game of cards, a hand only the devil himself could have dished out.. with a reward three times greater than the old man could have expected.. How generous of you! Satan slammed his fist on the table in disgust. One other idea, I have, said Death.. I have a new name for this old man, just so you dont forget it in the future. Ill swap some letters in your name just like I did the poker hands. The children whom you wished to deprive of light shall call their light Santa. With that Satan grabbed his imp and burst out of the room in a cloud of darkness and smoke. The old Grim Reaper tucked away his new deck of cards and silently disappeared into the shadows from whence he came....
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 03:51:26 +0000
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