“Game Night”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

“I don’t get it,” Ellie says, staring at the die. “Why don’t I move forward when I roll a three?”

“Because a three means that you’ve gotten poisoned by an orinn flower and need to rest,” Jake says matter-of-factly.

“Unless, of course, you rolled a six the turn before,” I cut in, “because that would mean that you picked up an antidote.”

“And if you’re playing as a Botanist, you’re immune because you wouldn’t have been dumb enough to eat the orinn flower in the first place.”

“But that’s also assuming that you graduated within the past ten years, because before that, the orinn flower was classified as a simple weed with no adverse effects.”

“So,” Ellie interrupts, “what exactly do I do now?”

“Well,” I say, leaning over to look at her cards, “you’re playing as the Air Guardian, right?”

“Right.”

“So you get poisoned and don’t move forward a space.”

Jake frowns, staring down at the move log. “Wait, but she picked up a Book of Knowledge three turns ago, didn’t she?”

I reach over and spread out her cards. The Book of Knowledge slides out from behind one of her action cards. “Oh yeah, she has a Book of Knowledge.”

“And she rolled a two, which means that it’s a herbology book.”

“But she hasn’t used it yet, so that means she hasn’t read the book. Plus, it’s nighttime, so she wouldn’t be able to read it before the poison takes effect.”

“Does she have a light action?”

I consult Ellie’s cards one more time. “She has a Glowbug and a Cave Crystal.”

“Right, and it says here that she rolled a ten for the Cave Crystal, which means that it’s a Ruby.”

“What month is it?”

“April,” Ellie says.

“No,” I chuckle. “I meant in the game.”

“Oh.” Her frown deepens. “We’re playing in a specific month in the game?”

“Of course!” Jake exclaims. “If I remember correctly, it’s currently August.”

“So her Cave Crystal wouldn’t work because it only works in October.”

“That’s right. But she might be able to use her Glowbug.”

Final Comments: I really had no idea why I was thinking of a board game, but it was a lot of fun making up tons of ridiculous rules! Maybe I should make a game for my novels…

Overall Rating: 😏