I bring a large pile of wooden toys my father bought me several days ago towards a small cottage about a quarter mile from my house. The cottage was small but has a finely kept landscape surrounding it. Bushes of sharply cut quality, and trees are placed around the house just so. Every piece of the dense vegetation has a purpose, and each plant was obviously shaped a certain way..
I walk up to the front door and yell, “Lenic! I have presents for Christmas with me!”
I hear the faint reply, “Be there...a second.”
In about 15 seconds a small boy opens the door. He is slightly short, pale skinned, has black hair, and a bright red nose from working outside in the cold. His clothes are all of decent quality cotton, and his smile radiates with excitement as he sees my stash of toys.
“You seem to really go out with these things Anlok,” he says while holding open the door.
“Would you like the usual? Maybe some bread as well, “ he asks while closing the door.
I respond with barely contained energy, “Some tea would be fantastic Lenic. I also got presents for your sister if you want to get her.”
I drop my belongings inside of his room past the small front area of the house used for dining, cooking, and family meals. I see the finely split room is well kept, and lenic and his sister Eva. The right side had a few dolls and a pink comforter covering the bed while Lenic’s side had a collection of coins and advertisements he kept above his bed.
I sit in the area and a warm collection of memories floods my mind. The time we all helped lenic find his treasured golden pound, the time Eva was accepted into her school, and the time we all visited the greenhouse together. I trace my small hand across the rough wood used when they built Lenic’s bed, and then I hear Eva’s voice say, “A present for me you say? How bold Anlok. I guess age is just a number right?”
The thin girl of around 10 walked into the room. Her pale skin and black hair match Lenic exactly, and even the slowest of people could see their similarities. I laugh softly before replying, “These blue eyes and blonde hair are meant to woo vulnerable woman such as yourself Eva. You better back away before you lose yourself in my gaze,” I say while mocking a fainting expression.
Eva laughs a high pitched laugh and screams as she sees her present. A small pink horse with a ribbon on it is her present. She brightly picks it up and dances with it in her hands.
Lenic comes back into the room and I hand him his present.
“For the future chancellor of Britain! An abacus for math, and one of my favorite novels,” I say as I hand him the book A Tale of Two Cities and the mathematical device.
“Thank you Anlok! How did you know I needed an Abacus? ” Lenic says while his voice rises in volume.
“I overheard your dad say you are studying math, and I know how difficult numbers can be without that. I can barely handle an equation without it, but I know you will be able to put it to much better use,” I say while warmly squinting my eyes.
“Your so...Sweet,” Eva proclaims while tilting her head and slowing her voice.
“You...Your the best man,” Lenic says while jumping into my arms. I laugh and squeeze him very hard before lifting him into the air and slowly lowering him back down.
“The rest is so that we can play anything we want when I come over. As long as you’ll have me?” I playfully ask while huddling them together.
For a few hours we play with the different figurines pretending each one of us is a country. We made up random rules and pretended that each of us was a country, and as always...Lenic beat us at the game and conquered me and Eva. For a second me and Eva formed an Alliance before slowly being crushed under Lenic’s mental might.
Lenic cracks his knuckles and says half sarcastically, “Not to brag but uhhhh….Get stomped on loser alliance..”
I laugh it off while Eva gets red faced and marches out of the room. Lenic looks at me and shrugs. I give him a chastising look before going to Eva.
She is in the living room pouring tea and pouting. Although she is older, I was often the one who reconciled differences in our group, so it was automatically assumed that I would go and get her back.
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“Eva, I know he can be stupid when handling things sometimes...But just remember all the good times we had, and especially remember Lenic can get swept up in things. How about we plot preemptively to beat him together next time?” I say with a devilish smile.
Eva brightens at the notion, and we walk back together with fresh tea for everybody. Lenic takes a slight sip and I yell, “I hope you like the tea my friend because next will be the sweet taste of defeat!?”
Lenic smirks and proclaims, “Defeat by either of you is like the notion of a single ant defeating me. Accept your fates!”
Eva’s face contorts into a look of irritation before I glance at her. We both stare at each other's eyes for a second and nod. Defeating the evil dictator Lenic takes first priority.
With a righteous fury we combine our efforts from the very first turn, but it quickly becomes obvious we should have strategized beforehand. The master of evil quickly spotted our silent alliance, and planned accordingly. The slow whittling of our forces creates a panic among the leaders of the two small nations. The first one to crack is Eva.
“Bu-But how!? We can’t beat you!” the leader of the small country Evaland proclaims.
“Imagine a world where you two could somehow cooperate seamlessly. You still wouldn’t beat the master of slaughterville.”Tthe ruthless dictator establishes his dominance with each move and word.
“Maybe if we rally the troops here!” I point towards a small river on the imaginary map, and we settle our troops there. In one last final stand we roll the dice that decide thousands of men’s lives.
“You cannot hope to defeat the great slaughter armada,” the dictator warped into an evil so great we could barely look upon his visage when I finally grab the bravery to roll the dice.
“I don’t need to be smarter than you to win. I just need luck. ” I feel my pulse rapidly increase with the dictators steady cackle.
Eva clutches my sleeve as I roll the dice which will define the future of the world.
A great stillness fills the air as the two ivory dice tumble in slow motion, and they finally start settling. We all look with faces filled in awe at the grand conclusion. Double sixes. The battle had been won, but I would need 2 more twelves or the great evil would decimate the population.
“The end is predetermined no matter how hard you try to fight fate!” the cruel leader spat through his jaws.
“He can do it! We believe in him” I hear Eva and the men proclaim as a single unit.
I roll again, and this time one at a time. A six, and then another six.
War cries from a thousand small ethnicities rang through the room as our soldiers followed the miracle with ever furthering zealousness.
“He can do it!” I hear the crying leader of Evaland put all of her hopes into my profound control of fate. I feel the impossible happen. I know I will win the next impossible battle. Double sixes are assured.
“Is it the impossible?! Have I been defeated merely by parlor tricks?” the designer of treachery stammered as the dice flew.
Double sixes.
Tears fly and people fall on their knees. Not a single member of Evaland or Huxville is left standing. The forces of evil surrounding their last city are now defeated. The dictator throws the soldiers and starts thrashing on the ground, but the cheers of the winning party easily drown him out.
“Haha! Looks like we were able to take a game from him together Eva!” I say with newfound happiness surging through me.
Lenic says, “It was just dumb luck! You two could barely beat me even with 3 double sixes in a row. I’m still way better.”
“But we won!” Eva declares.
With a nasty scowl I see the evil mastermind slowly leave the scene. After celebrating our victory with some tea, I bid Eva and Lenic goodbye.
I arrive home to find my family's maids preparing dinner. I sit down at the table and everybody else quickly follows suit. For the next hour I tell them all a sweeping tale of conquest and love that was the game I played with my best friends earlier today.