Lucky Charm Prompt

Eternity clutches her necklace tight as the players across the table begin to make their bets. One by one poker chips of various amounts are placed in front of each player before being pulled to the pot in the middle of the table. Her eye twinkles as she counts up the stacks, hardly paying attention to the casino’s chatter around her. Tiredness hangs heavy on her face; it was her self-imposed last game of the night, in a chain of many previous last games already, and it was time to pull out all the stops. Skill be damned.

She pushes all of her chips towards the pot with a smug twist of her lips. The dealer quirks his brow and scoops her pile with his hand before stacking them neatly. Once the rest of the buns have placed their bets, Eternity tugs up the gem dangling off her necklace chain to press it to her lips, nervous. Cards are dealt and each player takes their turn in the same order around the table. Someone calls, multiple checks, no one folds this early. The game has only begun.

An elbow digs into her side from the bun beside her. She scowls, but it snaps her out of whatever daydream she had been caught in. Apparently it’s her turn. Eternity licks her lips and eyes her hand of cards. Nothing too good yet— a rush of worry shoots through her. She needed to win this hand to pay her bills this month. All the shifts she has called out and missed the past period made things tight. Carats didn’t grow on trees.

She swallows and plays her turn. The bun after her sighs at the delay, earning himself a scowl from Eternity, and quickly raises his bet before passing the turn. Eternity shifts indignantly in her seat.

“Think you got this in the bag, huh?” She sneers down her nose at him. The greed bun beside her cuts an equally cold stare back at her through the rims of his glasses. He turns up his nose and turns with a side-glare. Eternity straightens her back as she watches him eye her necklace.

“You keep touching that. Trying to change your luck?” His tone is thick with snark judgement. “Try learning how to play the game before throwing all your carats into the pot.”

The bun gives a scoff; he turns back into the table, eyes his cards, and lays them flat on the table to fix the neat piles of chips before him. Eternity seethes.

“Never heard of a good luck charm? This cat’s eye stone has gotten me jackpots so just you wait and see.” Her tone rises, drawing the attention of a few other players, though as Eternity settles herself back, the eyes draw back to the dealer at the head of the table who pays them no real mind. Little bickers between players were common during high-stakes hands.

Grumbling, she takes her turn again. This time she grasps her gemstone tightly in her hand. A flicker of doubt rushes through her before she shakes the thought away. The necklace works. She knows it does. Time and time again it has taken her from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the food chain. Eternity eyes her hand again and the rest of the players at the table. Already a number of buns have folded out of the game, their hands too poor to win.

Across the table another bun folds and the turns are played until it is Eternity’s turn once more. By now, sweat is beading on her brow. The judgemental bun beside her has since folded, but remains seated, perhaps to play another round after or perhaps to rub her loss in her face. Eternity swallows and steels herself. It’s the final round and she has nowhere to run.

The dealer clears the table of the folded hands— it’s time for a face off between the only two remaining players. A number of cards have been played out in front of him on the green for the entirety of the game and the cards beneath them will decide all. Eternity presses her cat’s eye stone to her lips again and kisses it idly without her eye ever leaving the dealer’s cards.

Slowly, each card is flipped over. Her eyes flicker from her hand to each newly revealed card and then to the bun across the table. Her heartbeat pounds in her ears. The rush of blood drowns out everything around her, deafening the casino music overhead. She mumbles intelligibly against her stone, hunched over the table, willing the final card to be in her favor.

Across the table her competition boasts a full house. It isn’t one of the strongest hands, but it is enough for the worry to twist in her stomach. She needs one more card to complete her straight flush and win the pot. Eternity’s eye bores into her cards: spades of successive value with one missing directly in the middle. It’s her last shot.

The edge of the card lifts off the table as the dealer pulls it, revealing the shining seven of spades. Immediately Eternity throws herself forward over the table with a victorious screech— waving her hand of spades at the dealer.

“I did it, I win! Straight flush sucker! Cash me out I’m going home,” Eternity slams her four cards to the green with another noise of celebration. The dealer neatly gathers the cards and chips, doing his own calculations to give Eternity her winner’s slip to take to the front of the casino. Beside her, the judgemental green bun twitches, his lips fixed into a straight line.

Eternity snatches her slip from the dealer with a grand bow of thanks. The rush of blood thrumming through her is addictive. The numbers on the page shake as she double and triple checks her winnings. There would be enough carats her to cover her debts from the night, her overdue bills, and a proper celebratory drink at the Rabbit Hole. She deserved it after all this excitement.

“What was that about learning to play?” Eternity drawls to the bun beside her, mocking him with a hand on her cocked hip. “If you’ll excuse me, I believe I have a bucket of carats to collect before I head out. So thanks for your contribution, darling, I’ll drink to you tonight.”

She winks as he curls a hand into an indignant fist— and then she takes her leave. Eternity dances her way out of the winding casino past its screaming slot machines and rolling dice tables. Tonight’s victory was only on the cusp of her horizon.

word count: 1115