Fiction | Short story | Fascinate Me Fiction

A Win Or Lose Situation

Throw the dice. See what happens.

The wooden dice clatter across the table. Everything Webb could ever hope for — and everything he fears — hinge on this dice roll. Double sixes would free him, while snake eyes would destroy his world.

The dice settle. Four and two. No consequence. Webb sighs, both relieved and frustrated.

“Try again, ” The Curator says.

Webb rolls again. This time the dice fall at six…. and five. He feels the sweat bead up on his neck. A cool breeze sends shivers down his spine.

“Again.” The woman standing before him is immoveable. Why does she insist he keep rolling? He looks up at her and meets her eyes, perplexed.

“You must keep going until you roll double sixes or ones.”

Webb reluctantly picks up the dice and shakes hard. Yes, he hopes for the sixes, but mostly he just prays he doesn’t roll ones.

The dice fall violently on the table. One bounces away while the other stops — a one. He scans the table for the other die.

“No re-rolls. However the dice land is how they play.” The Curator shifts her weight impatiently.

The die isn’t on the table. Webb gets up and looks on the floor. Nothing. The fear and panic well up in his throat as the build-up becomes intolerable. Where is it? What is it?

Webb crawls on his hands and knees searching for the die as the crowd looks on in anticipation. He hears chattering as the people nervously predict the outcome of the game. The intensity grows stronger with each passing second he can’t find the die.

Finally, Webb sees the pale face of the cube. It rests next to the toe of a red leather boot. The Curator’s boot. She looks down in surprise when she sees Webb looking at her feet. She’s been too absorbed in watching him grope around, she hadn’t noticed where the die landed. They both notice the number of dots displayed on the top face of the die.

One.

Webb’s stomach drops. No!

He feels sick. He thinks about taking his chances and fleeing, but he knows that won’t help. Instead, he stands and faces the Curator.

“Webb Johnson, you have acted out against the community and broken our rules. The Dice of Consequence have determined your fate. Do you have any last words before your sentence is carried out?”

Webb’s jaw flexes as he looks down. “I don’t want to leave,” he murmurs. No one seems to hear him, and no one reacts.

A tall man Webb doesn’t know steps forward. He clasps a hand around Webb’s arm. “Follow me.”

They walk down a long dark hallway that wasn’t there a moment ago. Webb follows two paces behind the tall man. A door opens, and the tall man steps aside. “Good luck out there.”

Outside the air is fresh, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing. Water laps at a beach nearby.

Webb looks behind him, but the door is already closed and gone. He go back to the world he knows. He’d have to make do with this place now.

He’s never known a place quite like this one. As much as it is a balm to his soul, he feels an uneasiness stir within him.

He sits down on a verdant patch of grass and takes a deep breath. He imagines he can live here and maybe, eventually, he might even enjoy it… if only he can manage to forget that’s it not real.

Fascinate Me Fiction is a Medium publication created and edited by Meghan E. Gattignolo. For more from Meghan, follow her on Medium. Meghan also writes for The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center, and you can find her on X and Instagram as Meggiebeth_Writes.