The Babysitter
A warm August breeze blew by as Sam got out of his car. There were no spaces nearby; Sam had to park a ways down from the house, but Lucy was already at the door. She must have heard the sound of the engine. "Hey, Sammy," she called out to him with a grateful smile. "Thanks again for doing this for me."
Sam shook his head, "Really, it's no trouble." Except that was a lie. The poor kid had absolutely forgotten about promising Lucy he would babysit her brother. Her parents offered to pay Sam for his trouble, so he agreed months ago. It would be so easy. He'd get a chunk of change for watching a kid who was honestly too old to need babysitting anyway. Sam's only mistake was his absent mind. Thank God Lucy sent him a reminder text. He rushed over at top speed to make it before she had to leave.
"He's so annoying, but I think you can handle him," Lucy smiled again as she started walking backwards to her car. "I'm staying over at Kasey's house, but my parents should be back at around midnight. Just make sure he's in bed at a reasonable time, yadda yadda yadda, don't burn the house down, okay?"
"I'll try not to..." Sam grinned. They exchanged their goodbyes and Sam walked inside, setting his things down.
He heard the kid's voice before he saw him, "Sam, is that you?" The blonde haired eighth grader came running to greet his babysitter.
"Who else?" asked Sam, beaming. It didn't matter how popular he was at school, or how smart he was, or how nice he was. Sam knew that Lucy's little brother, Jacob, had always looked up to him. The kid was practically gushing with enthusiasm for him. The kid had the energy of a cocaine addict on seventeen shots of espresso. He'd want to play Nerf guns, or tag, or something that would surely wear Sam out. Sam wasn't in the greatest shape, so he chose their first game strategically.
Sam cleared his throat, "I have an AWESOME game for us to play, dude. But first, I need a deck of cards." Jacob was a little disappointed they weren't going to run around, but he agreed.
The boys searched in the game closet first. Nothing
Then they checked the toy chest. Nothing
Inside of another board game? Nothing.
After a fruitless search, the boys were empty handed. But Sam wasn't going to give up. The last place he checked was the attic.
Sam opened the door. Dust erupted from the edges of the trapdoor in the ceiling. Jacob let out a small cough. Sam walked up the knotted staircase, and Jacob followed close behind. Sam spotted a bookcase in the far corner. His eyes followed the bindings of various books and old papers. Near the bottom of the old bookcase, Sam spotted a tiny thing that looked like a treasure chest. "What's this?" he exclaimed.
Jacob looked over at it and frowned, "I've never seen that before." The curious boy rushed over to see its contents as Sam reached to open it. The lid creaked and gave away, revealing a set of fortune teller's cards.
"I know what this is! These are tarot cards, like for reading fortunes and stuff like that," Sam was amazed at his find. "I bet I could make this work for my card game," he said. The boys walked downstairs and out of the musty attic.
Back in Jacob's bedroom, Sam sat down cross-legged and started to explain the game, "So, this is called War, Have you ever played it before?" Jacob followed Sam's lead and sat on the floor, cross-legged. He shook his head. Sam sighed. He'd have to explain the rules. "Okay, so it's not that complicated. We each have a stack of cards. We each say '1, 2, 3, WAR!' and flip one card out. Whoever's card is a higher number gets to take both cards, and you lose win you run out of cards."
Jacob looked confused. "But they don't have numbers," he said.
"Right you are," Sam interjected without skipping a beat. "But each card has a phase of the moon in the corner here," he gestured to the card, "So whoever's card has more of the moon wins." It seemed to make sense to Jacob.
And so the makeshift game of War began, and Jacob was crushing Sam into the ground. Every time, Sam would have a little less than Jacob had. "Did I even shuffle these?" Sam asked.
Jacob grinned, "I guess you could say fate is on my side."
Then, suddenly, both boys drew the same card. A full moon. "Uh-oh, whaddo we do?" Jacob frowned.
Sam gritted his teeth playfully, "This means war! We each draw three and then flip another one." Sam leaned in close, "And the winner gets ALL of them." Jacob shook his head nervously. Sam stopped him before they flipped. "One more thing, when I play with my friends, we always make a wish before a war. If you win, it's supposed to come true. I don't know for sure, though. I'm still waiting on my Lamborghini." That set Jacob off laughing.
Sam spoke like a soldier, "Men, return to your battle stations! This is WAR! Do you have your wish ready?" Jacob nodded, "Alright then, on the count of three..." Both boys grabbed a corner of their card and closed their eyes.
Three...
Two...
One...
Sam shook his head, "Really, it's no trouble." Except that was a lie. The poor kid had absolutely forgotten about promising Lucy he would babysit her brother. Her parents offered to pay Sam for his trouble, so he agreed months ago. It would be so easy. He'd get a chunk of change for watching a kid who was honestly too old to need babysitting anyway. Sam's only mistake was his absent mind. Thank God Lucy sent him a reminder text. He rushed over at top speed to make it before she had to leave.
"He's so annoying, but I think you can handle him," Lucy smiled again as she started walking backwards to her car. "I'm staying over at Kasey's house, but my parents should be back at around midnight. Just make sure he's in bed at a reasonable time, yadda yadda yadda, don't burn the house down, okay?"
"I'll try not to..." Sam grinned. They exchanged their goodbyes and Sam walked inside, setting his things down.
He heard the kid's voice before he saw him, "Sam, is that you?" The blonde haired eighth grader came running to greet his babysitter.
"Who else?" asked Sam, beaming. It didn't matter how popular he was at school, or how smart he was, or how nice he was. Sam knew that Lucy's little brother, Jacob, had always looked up to him. The kid was practically gushing with enthusiasm for him. The kid had the energy of a cocaine addict on seventeen shots of espresso. He'd want to play Nerf guns, or tag, or something that would surely wear Sam out. Sam wasn't in the greatest shape, so he chose their first game strategically.
Sam cleared his throat, "I have an AWESOME game for us to play, dude. But first, I need a deck of cards." Jacob was a little disappointed they weren't going to run around, but he agreed.
The boys searched in the game closet first. Nothing
Then they checked the toy chest. Nothing
Inside of another board game? Nothing.
After a fruitless search, the boys were empty handed. But Sam wasn't going to give up. The last place he checked was the attic.
Sam opened the door. Dust erupted from the edges of the trapdoor in the ceiling. Jacob let out a small cough. Sam walked up the knotted staircase, and Jacob followed close behind. Sam spotted a bookcase in the far corner. His eyes followed the bindings of various books and old papers. Near the bottom of the old bookcase, Sam spotted a tiny thing that looked like a treasure chest. "What's this?" he exclaimed.
Jacob looked over at it and frowned, "I've never seen that before." The curious boy rushed over to see its contents as Sam reached to open it. The lid creaked and gave away, revealing a set of fortune teller's cards.
"I know what this is! These are tarot cards, like for reading fortunes and stuff like that," Sam was amazed at his find. "I bet I could make this work for my card game," he said. The boys walked downstairs and out of the musty attic.
Back in Jacob's bedroom, Sam sat down cross-legged and started to explain the game, "So, this is called War, Have you ever played it before?" Jacob followed Sam's lead and sat on the floor, cross-legged. He shook his head. Sam sighed. He'd have to explain the rules. "Okay, so it's not that complicated. We each have a stack of cards. We each say '1, 2, 3, WAR!' and flip one card out. Whoever's card is a higher number gets to take both cards, and you lose win you run out of cards."
Jacob looked confused. "But they don't have numbers," he said.
"Right you are," Sam interjected without skipping a beat. "But each card has a phase of the moon in the corner here," he gestured to the card, "So whoever's card has more of the moon wins." It seemed to make sense to Jacob.
And so the makeshift game of War began, and Jacob was crushing Sam into the ground. Every time, Sam would have a little less than Jacob had. "Did I even shuffle these?" Sam asked.
Jacob grinned, "I guess you could say fate is on my side."
Then, suddenly, both boys drew the same card. A full moon. "Uh-oh, whaddo we do?" Jacob frowned.
Sam gritted his teeth playfully, "This means war! We each draw three and then flip another one." Sam leaned in close, "And the winner gets ALL of them." Jacob shook his head nervously. Sam stopped him before they flipped. "One more thing, when I play with my friends, we always make a wish before a war. If you win, it's supposed to come true. I don't know for sure, though. I'm still waiting on my Lamborghini." That set Jacob off laughing.
Sam spoke like a soldier, "Men, return to your battle stations! This is WAR! Do you have your wish ready?" Jacob nodded, "Alright then, on the count of three..." Both boys grabbed a corner of their card and closed their eyes.
Three...
Two...
One...