Sneak Preview to Three Cards

Here is a sneak preview to the book I am writing - three cards. Please leave your comments and say what you think, good or bad.

Deadra xxx







Three cards, all different, but all the same. The meaning means nothing to anyone but me. the order changes around and sometimes one disappears entirely, only to be replaced by another.


Anagrams


Gramansa, margsana. Work this one out: 
Rex Norabir
Briar Roxen. A name, which means nothing and belongs to me. If I have family, they are insignificant  and irrelevant to this.


The first card to be there, was the Ace of Hearts. Number one in this, even though, it is number three. Numbers one and two don't belong now, and hopefully never will again.


The Ace, was there on its own, for a long time. Occasionally, it was joined or replaced, but it always found its way back, and probably always will. The cards joining it where low numbers. Twos and threes. Maybe a four, never reaching higher than a five.


What you must realise here, is that what I am playing with these cards, is not a simple game. This is a game of skill and luck. Sorrow and joy. Death and life. Hate and love.


The other two cards, are currently battling with each other for first place. One is winning, but its place is unsteady. This is the red Joker. A ready smile and jest, always on show, for all to see. But the Joker has many followers, although not all of them for the same reason. In all places, a Joker is followed for he has a sharp tongue, and you want him as a friend. The reason I follow him, is different from many of the rest though.


The other card, still holds the secret, as to why it is there. It is the Jack of Spades, the lowest member in the court. It requires skill to get there, but it is not skillful enough to get any higher. This card, unlike the Joker and Ace, has few followers. Friends of the Jack, are close and few.

These are my cards, and I do not know what to do with them.






Briar Roxen, means old fashioned heather, or exotic heather. What a stupid meaning. If someone asks what does my name mean, there is no way I am saying old fashioned heather! I will say: rose out of the fire. That is me, rose on fire. Actually, I'm not sure how well that would go down, as there have been lots of fires recently. And floods. And roses are turning out to be a thing of the past. I've seen pictures of course, and once, I saw a petal, lying on a pool of mud and debris. The insignificant woman nearly cried. 


That is what I am calling her now, the insignificant woman. Because if I act like I don't care, it helps me think I don't care. I don't want to remember that night. Many of the desrilos came. That was when my parents had to become the insignificants, as I could not bear to think of them any other way.


I thought I had lost the card holders, the meaning of those cards. Why I had an Ace of hearts, a red Joker and a Jack of spades balanced precariously on my windowsill. If I had lost them, and the insignificants, what did I have to keep me alive? Even though I tell myself I want to find the Joker first, I still go looking for the Ace. I cry his name into the devastation. No answer. I do what I can think of, and go round and round till I see a body. As long as it is not the Joker's....no, I'm lucky, for once. I then change tack, calling out in turn for the Joker, and the Jack. I find the Jack of Spades first, and he is unscathed. It is worse with the Joker. I call his name again and again. Jack even helps, although it will not benefit him, if the Joker is found. I find him on the ground, and I fear the worst, until he moves. I see him, he is in a huge crowd of bodies, but he is alone. They are dead and he is not. 


That pile of bodies holds none of my cards, but it holds memories for me. Tears are shed, but time is not lost. It is getting very dangerous for us and for Ace. If he is not found, or we are found, that will be the end for all of us. I am worried, my pack of cards is dwindling. Then the desrilos come. We act dead, but if we do not escape, we will certainly burn. On the cart, we meet many, some are old cards, some were to be new. That is not possible now, as this is the truck for the dead. I cannot tell the future, I can only read my feelings, but I thought the Ace was near. All we could hope was that he wasn't too near. When we get to the fires, we see many run from the trucks. They tried the same as us. We missed our chance. However, Joker just said the best time to go, is when the bodies start to burn.


The smell of singeing skin increases, and we wait for our chance. Then, I see my Ace flee, into the forest. We will not miss him. I take my chance and go, leaving my cards in the pack. They follow, and another tries. It is not so lucky. I do not know what will happen now, the desrilos saw. Will they give chase? We leave, free for now.


...to be continued...