Ace in the hole at the Easy Eight Casino
That is interesting. In fact… it is downright curious. Stan slowly walks around the oddity. It’s peculiar and weird. Yet, considering the events of the last few days, not unexpected. He is in the bar of the small restaurant, at the Easy Eight Casino. In the middle of the floor there is a large sculpture. Stan’s mind thinks of it as a sculpture, but it’s more of an oddity.
Stan blinks and looks at his manager. The young man shrugs his shoulders with wide eyes. Apparently no one knows when it was put here. Or by whom. It is so tall it nearly reaches the ceiling. It is composed of various items from the casino. Forks and spoons. Wine glasses from the bar, and casino chips and playing cards. It was an assortment of chaos. An oddity, that ultimately resembles a figure, or form.
The first thing he thought when he saw it, was how much effort it would take to remove it. In fact, he was wondering if he was going to have to hire an outside cleaning crew to handle it. And at this point he isn’t sure any of his own employees, will even come close to the thing. It is unnatural, unexpected and out of sorts. It feels wrong. Likewise, it feels menacing.
Ace in the Hole
Lucky Pockets is awake now. He’s actually sitting in the Easy Eight Casino watching Stan. He understands the man’s confusion. The thing is, Lucky Pockets couldn’t do anything about it. He watched helplessly as the void, the entity, built its vile statue. Hideous, was the first thing that came to Lucky Pockets mind, when he saw it.
Now as he watches Stan try to absorb the bizarre and odd thing, he listens for signs that it’s coming back. He has to avoid the entity at all costs. The damnable thing is that he can’t leave the Easy Eight Casino. Somehow he is bound to this place. Furthermore, he is reasonably sure, the entity doesn’t know he exists.
And he wants to keep it that way. Something tells him that it would be bad to have a face to face with the evil that is the entity, or void. It is odd that the word continues to assert itself into his thoughts. It’s possible to actually feel the evil emanating from the entity. Therefore, Lucky Pockets stays well away. He is the ace in the hole.
The Easy Eight Casino
Stan signs the papers and hands the forms to his floor manager. He is going to have to call in extra staff in order to be ready for this evening’s event. Why now? He thinks as he leaves the restaurant area. Of course he knows about Lucky Pockets. The friendly, sometimes mischievous, ghost is a local legend in this town.
In fact, it is safe to say, one out of every three guests, comes because of the allure of Lucky Pockets. Now this? What is that crazy ghost getting at? And again, why now? Indeed… Stan thought they had a happy balance. At least they would have the odd sculpture removed, and the restaurant operational again by the early evening. With this in mind, he sets his mind on other things.
Lucky Pockets Ace in the Hole
He had been at this ghost business for a while now. Although he isn’t an expert he has a basic understanding of the rules. One thing he’s gleaned without any help, is to stay away from the thing that is trying to take over the Easy Eight Casino.
However, that doesn’t mean he can’t try to help Stan. And thereby, the patrons of the Easy Eight. Furthermore, it is becoming obvious that Stan doesn’t have a clue what he is actually dealing with. After all this time Lucky Pockets has become attached to Stan and the Easy Eight. He isn’t letting go without a fight.
Thank you for reading! Like, follow and share The Frog Journal on X @1finja1 – and on The Frog Journal Facebook page click here. Subscribe to the free newsletter to stay up to date on new content and updates.
All original stories. Download in seconds, new titles weekly. The Frog Journal e-book shorts.
