Internally Bound

I balled my hands up and laid my arms on my chest so my fists were against my collarbone. Then I bowed. This is how you show respect to your opponent. When the referee in all black started counting down from ten I went to my circle and pulled out my dice. I took all but one and set them in a small bowl the girl game announcer brought to me. In Bloody Die, you’re only able to use up to three dice. You start out with one and as the game continues you use your other dice if you ever get the chance.

“On the left we have Synn Joey!” the referee shouted and gestured with his hand to me. “And on the right we have Xavier Marx.” He gestured to my opponent. “Now…begin!” He put his hands up in the air, making the outline of the circle we each stood in burst into flames. If one of us left our circle, we were disqualified. And you also get burned. Obviously.

I went first. I threw my dice out of the circle and waited for them to stop rolling.

Two.

I jumped high into the air, spun around, and forced white lightning out of my hand. Once. Twice. My turn was over. I managed to hit my opponent at least once that made his stagger over a little. Now it was his turn. I opened my hand and called my die back to me. It flew over and landed into my palm.

“And Synn makes a powerful hit!” the girl announcer called out into her microphone.

I grinned and prepared myself for my opponent’s attack. The dice stopped rolling.

Four.

I dodged all the attacks while smiling to myself.

“Round one over!” the referee said loudly. “Synn wins the round. Collect another die, Synn.” The girl came back over to me with the bowl and I picked up another one of my pearl dice. They were as smooth as marble. That’s what I liked about them.

I looked into the shop window at the three dice sitting on the red satin cloth.

“Mommy! Mommy!” I yanked on my mother’s dress.

She bent down. “What is it, Syvanna?” She brushed the hair out of my face and tucked in behind my ear.

“Dice! I want the dice, Mommy!” I said to her in my squeaky four-year-old voice and pointed to the dice in the window. They almost looked like they sparkled. I was dazzled by them.

“Honey, you know we can’t afford those now. Maybe some other time…”

I rolled again with such confidence that I might have just exploded.

Damn. Three.

I used what I had. I shot fire lightning at Xavier three times with all my might. I got him twice this time. When he rolled he got a six. Uh oh.

I tried to dodge all of them but he still got me twice. I cursed under my breath.

“Round two over!” the referee shouted. “It’s a tie. Xavier, get your second die. Synn, get your last.” The girl with the bowl came over to us again. I looked at my last die and picked it up.

“Round three…begin!”

I kissed the three dice in my hand and whispered, “Let’s make Al proud.”

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Syvanna. Happy birthday to you,” my whole family sung together. I looked down at the small, but wonderful in many ways, vanilla cake that said ‘Happy tenth birthday, Synn’ and the one gift I got. We were a poor family and couldn’t afford much at all. But that was okay. To me, money didn’t matter at all. It was family that I cared about. And family is what I had.

“Well, let’s see what ya got Synn!” my little sister Dory said, jumping up and down. My mother handed me the tiny box and I quickly undid the ribbon and opened it.

I gasped. In that small box were three pearl beauties. “Dice!” I rejoiced. “Oh thank you! These are the exact ones I saw six years ago!” I was practically bouncing in my seat.

“Thank Al,” my father said. “He’s the one that got ‘em for you.” Al was a family friend and sort of a brother to me. He was about five years older than I.

“Thank you, Al!” I hopped out of my seat and hugged him.

He laughed. “Sure thing, kid. Hey, maybe later today I’ll teach you how to play.”

I rolled all three of my dice now for the last round.

Thirteen!

I grinned wickedly at Xavier and I saw a hint of fear in his dark brown eyes. In a fast motion that you would miss if you blinked, I shot lightning at him thirteen times. He yelled and I saw him falling to the ground through the flames that surrounded me. If he didn’t get up in five seconds, the win was mine.

Five…four…three…

I saw him twitch a bit but other than that, he continued to lay motionless.

Two…one.

This victory didn’t make me feel nearly as victorious as I did the first time I beat Al at a game of Bloody Die. That day I felt like fireworks were going off on the inside of me. And it wasn’t just because I won the game.

I finally beat Allen. After three years of practice every afternoon. I felt like I really deserved this victory. And he wasn’t going easy on me. I could feel it. The success buzzed through my toes and finger tips like a swarm of dancing bees.

“I win, Al,” I told him and stepped over the rocks that outlined the circle. “I finally beat you.” I smiled widely at him and walked over to where he stood.

He grinned back. “Yup. You sure did. Fair and square.” He tickled my stomach and I giggled loudly. “You little monkey actually beat me!” I collapsed into his arms laughing with him.

“I’m not so little any more. I’m thirteen now,” I reminded him.

“Of course you are. But you’re still little to me.” He smiled sweetly at me and took my hand. “Come on, let’s go get some ice cream.”

“Okay!” I agreed. The touch of his skin against mine was electrifying. But unlike the many times when I’ve gotten zapped by an outlet, this shock was wonderful.

The flames disappeared and I walked over to my opponent. He was extremely pale. You had to be careful while playing Bloody Die. It didn’t get its name for nothing. I’ve actually heard of people killed in a tournament. But to my relief, he opened his eyes and looked up at me.

“Game over,” I told him.