Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly challenge presented by my old friend Al Forbes.
The idea is to write a short story (200 word max) inspired by what you see in the picture (below).
This week’s prompt comes from the talented and charming Sascha Darlington, and took me down a bit of an unexpected side street.
Click on this link to enter your tale, and to see what others have written.
© Sascha Darlington
Click here to hear the author read his words:
Our Trespasses
I am alive.
Utterly, thrillingly, gut-churningly alive.
Okay, I promised her I would give up gambling and save for our future.
But the job hasn’t been what I expected.
With this recession I haven’t done the shifts I needed to get the cash together.
And more free time means I spent more.
I can just about pay for a smaller wedding, but no honeymoon.
But she deserves the best.
So when I heard about this poker game I couldn’t resist it.
And I have already doubled my money.
Well, I had, now it is all in the pot.
I can walk away with around five times my initial stake.
Or nothing.
The start to married life she dreams of.
Or goodbye.
I know she will never forgive me.
It all rests on this last card.
An Ace or a Nine give me a straight.
Any Spade gives me a flush.
And I am rich.
I know the odds.
My chances are almost fifty-fifty.
My whole life hangs on this card.
I can hear every breath in the room.
But I am calm.
There is nothing I can do.
Except watch as the dealer flips it over.
I stare at it.
And slowly close my eyes.
Sound Bite Fiction 
Good mystery at that. As with many men, he probably should have walked away sooner, 9nowh when to quit. But I like to hope that maybe, this once, one of these gambelers actually won, so he doesn’t hurt his fiancée. Hugs CE. Glad to read your work today, I have missed it 😊
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He’s a winner! And from here on he will no longer gamble…because he’ll be married and his wife will sort him out…and then he’ll kill her…because I’ve read that story right here. 😉
Many thanks for your kind words, btw. 🙂
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Oh, bummer. Either way, there’s heartache in this man’s future. If not over this hand, it’ll be one in the not-too-distant future. Does that make me a pessimist or a realist?
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Really, Mandie, bummer?
What a charmingly unladylike expression, this made me laugh aloud!
I would put my money on ‘realist’, except gambling is one vice I don’t have.
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Haha
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The tension is palpable. I’ll go for nothing, the house always wins.
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Thank you for your visit, your comment, and your bet!
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I really do love your writing.
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I really do love your comment.
Thank you, Rosemary, I am smiling now, and the sun has got his hat on!
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That one could definitely go either way.
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All on that card, James
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Sounds like he is in trouble. His bride may have had a lucky escape.
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Aha, the pessimist viewpoint!
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There’s nothing quite like an all-or-nothing poker hand for some dramatic tension. Nice cliffhanger as to the outcome. I know which way I think it’s gone for him…
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Thanks, Iain.
The question is are you a glass half full or …
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