The Town Herald

The e-zine about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.

Just a Pack of Cards

By [*Phoenix*]



“Mommy, mommy! Look what I got!”

“Those cards will go nicely in your Alice in Wonderland presentation, dear.”

“I know! They’re great!”

~*~

“More tea, my Queen?” the Three of Spades asked.

“Yes,” replied the Queen of Hearts sternly as she held out her cup.

“More,” she demanded.

“Yes, my Queen.” The Three of Spades slowly and quietly backed out of the room with the tea tray. He let out a sight. Playing ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was starting to get on his last nerve. The Queen was stern with what she wanted. If she didn’t get her way, then she’d lose her temper, just like Alice’s Queen of Hearts. If she lost her temper, she would yell “Off with their head!” After that the cards would drag the offender to a secret room where they weren’t allowed to leave. The Queen had to believe they were gone to keep up this charade. He ran off down the hallway. In trade for a Ken doll, Barbie had agreed to let the cards use her Malibu Dream House as their ‘castle.’ The Three of Spades ran down the spiral stairs and ran into the Ace of Spades.

“Watch it!” yelled the Ace.

“Sorry,” Three mumbled and continued on his way. “People are getting very temperamental from this whole ordeal,” he thought to himself. “Wait a second!” An idea dawned on him. “Ace! Ace, come back!” he called as he ran back up the stairs and ran after the Ace of Spades. “Ace!” The Ace of Spades slowly turned around and put his hand on his side.

“What?” he retorted rudely.

“What gives the Queen of Hearts the authority to declare herself as supreme ruler?”

“It’s Alice in Wonderland, you twit. The story just goes like that. Ask Lewis Carroll. Don’t bother me with sill speculation. Besides, you wouldn’t want someone hearing you talk like that. You’re just asking to be thrown in that nasty room.” He brushed the Three off as he turned and continued to walk down the hallway.

“Wait!” cried the Three of Spades and jumped in front of the Ace.

“Not again,” he muttered as he rolled his eyes.

“Just hear me out,” pleaded the Three.

“Fine.”

“In every game that we’ve ever been played in, what’s the highest ranking card?”

“Me, you nimrod.”

“So, why are we listening to a Queen of Hearts? If anything, we should be listening to the aces, and you should be the final word.”

The Ace of Spades began to smile. He was liking the Three’s thinking. “Go on.”

“Why don’t we throw the Queen in the Dark Room and redo all the laws? I think all the aces should be in charge, but if something goes wrong of can’t be decided then you get the final say.”

“I’m liking this. I’ll round up the nobles. You get the numbers. Let’s meet at the Dark Room.”

“All right!”

And so the Three of Spades and the Ace of Spades parted.

~*~

They soon met again at the Dark Room outside of the Dream House. All the cards had got there, except one: the Queen of Hearts. Thankfully, she was taking her afternoon nap so she wouldn’t miss a few cards. The Ace and Three retold the story and finished with cheers from the other cards. The Queen awoke because of the and appeared at the window.

“What’s the ruckus?” she yelled out the window.

“Come down here and find out!” challenged the Ace of Spades. The Ace of Spades cleared out the Dark Room and positioned himself in front of the open doorway. The Queen stomped out of the house, face red with anger.

“What is going on here?” she demanded, tapping her foot.

“Your downfall,” replied the Ace proudly.

“What?” said the Queen angrily and slight taken aback. The Ace stepped aside as a roar erupted from the crowd of cards. They pushed her into the Dark Room and barred it shut. Thundering footsteps interrupted their cheering.

“The child returns!” yelled the Nine of Diamonds. “Everyone, fall!” All the cards fell to the ground, completely silent and completely flat.

~*~

“Ally, were you playing with my cards? I told you they were for my project!” The boy gathered up all the cards from the floor. He looked through all of them. “Hey! Where’s my Queen of Hearts?”

“I don’t know.”

“But I need her!”

“They’re just a pack of cards. Buy a new pack,” Ally said as she took the cards and threw them in a drawer, where the special pack of cards lived in peace.

~The End~
^{© 2010 April Halcomb}




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