Week 7 Story: The Game of Dice

 

Dice: Quantamagazine

I was strolling down the streets of Las Vegas, passing by all of the bright lights and the sounds of coin machines when I saw a casino that loomed over all of the others: The Crystal Palace.

Now, me being a newbie in the area, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I walked in between those doors. At the time, all I could focus on was the sparkle of the casino, which definitely fit its name perfectly. There were huge crystalline chandeliers hanging from the ceiling that were almost blinding to look at as well as a center bar that was encased with mirrors. Everything in casino seemed breakable to touch or too nice for me to feel comfortable to place my hand upon it.

As I gazed around in wonder, I had not noticed two men coming down the stairs until the entire casino was in silence. Standing before me on the grand staircase were the two biggest casino leaders in Las Vegas: Mr. Pandava and Mr. D. No one knows what the mysterious Mr. D's real name is; rumor has it, he has killed many men and plans on killing Mr. Pandava himself.

I had realized until this moment that I had come to The Crystal Palace at the wrong time, as the two bosses were going head to head by playing the simple game of dice. They sat down at the biggest table in the casino and everyone gathered around to watch, even the casino staff.

The bids started out small, just a couple thousand for bid on the table. However, Mr. Pandava was absolutely horrible at dice and was beginning to become frustrated at Mr. D's arrogance. He began to bid everything he owned: his car, his home, his fortunes. He lost everything. Just when everyone in the casino thought Mr. Pandava would quit before losing his pride, he then put his wife, Padi, up for grabs. He lost just as easily as before.

Mr. D was very excited, as he had now taken everything from his enemy, including his beautiful wife. He started collecting everything and was walking towards Padi when suddenly there was a loud bang. The entire casino looked towards the sound and standing before us was Mr. D's father: The King. The King was one of the biggest and most powerful men in all of Las Vegas, I swear I saw some of the casino staff shudder in fear. 

Calmly, The King gave all of Mr. Pandava's things back to him, including Padi, without saying a single word. He quietly went over to his son, whispered something in his ear, and then they both left without a single word. The casino was silent, unsure of what had just happened. One by one, the casino staff returned to their station and turned back on the music. Just like that, all the casino patrons went back to playing their games as if nothing had ever happened. Mr. Pandava and Padi left as happy as they had arrived.

What we did not know was that Mr. D was even more furious than before. Until he takes everything from Mr. Pandava, he will never rest.

Author's Note

This story is actually from The Mahabharata when Duryodhana challenges Yudhishthira to dice knowing that he is absolutely horrible at it. The first time they play dice, Yidhishthira loses everything (including his wife) until Duryodhana's father, Dhritarashtra, returns it all and tells them to go home in peace. I kept the basic story the same except I changed the place, the names, and I told the story from the viewpoint of a bystander. For example, The Crystal Palace is the name of the assembly hall in The Mahahbharata, but in my story, I made the location Las Vegas with the halls being grand casinos. I felt that this fit the story well since they were playing a game of dice.

Bibliography: Narayan, R K. The Mahabharata. The University of Chicago Press, 1978.