1/15/22 Find Your Card (Part 2)

 Find Your Card (Part 2)

Everyone in the room simultaneously cheers. “WOOOO SOMETHING HAPPENED!” shouts a lady in the back. 

The cheering dies down as a dark skinned man claims the attention of the room with a question, “What does it mean though? How do we ‘find our card’?”

A dead silence feels the air as this reality hits everyone else. All eyes turn back to the bold woman who has been deemed the leader. Before being so confident in her leading she stands quiet, having no idea what the phrase means, “I’m sorry everyone but I don’t know.”

“I’m sure you can come up with an idea to figure it out. You have had so many great ideas already,” the man in the brown sweater jacket says hopefully.

“Well I don’t have one yet but I’m sure I will think of something, and if anyone else has an idea please don’t be afraid to speak up, no matter how stupid it seems,” she says with encouragement.

A short black haired woman pipes up, “Maybe we all have a different favorite card? And if everyone stands on their favorite card maybe that will do something?”

“Alright, let's try it,” the leader woman says. Everyone begins shuffling around the floor. The cards are arranged in new deck order; Spades then Diamonds then Clubs then Hearts, with the numbers going from lowest to highest, Aces to Kings. As people step on the cards, a white border lights up around each one, bringing a little more light to the dimly lit black room. Everyone finds their favorite card, and those who did not previously have one chose one. Sadly there were duplicate favorite cards. Not all the spots were filled, and nothing happened in the room.

“Ok so that wasn’t it but it was a good idea,” the leader announces. “Lets see, I’m sure it has nothing to do with skin, hair, or eye color seeing as we are a pretty diverse group,” she says looking around at all the differences in the people.

A young blonde woman slides down the wall, head in her arms and eyes full of tears. The people nearest her try to comfort her. “We are never going to get out of here. This is the worst birthday surprise ever,” she says, breaking into even more tears.

As the middle aged blonde man listens to her complaint, something clicks in his mind, ‘Birthday…52 cards in a deck, 52 weeks in a year.’ “Maybe it has something to do with our birthdays!” he loudly announces. “Like I said before, there are 52 cards in a deck but also 52 weeks in a year, maybe we each have a birthday in a different week of the year.”

“You might be onto something,” the leader says excitedly. “Alright everyone clear out that area,” she says pointing to a corner of the room. “If your birthday is in January, go stand over there.” Only 4 people go to the corner. The woman smiles. “Ok and February next to them.” 3 people this time go to the designated area. “I think this is it guys!”

Excitement grows in the room. The rest of the months begin orderly lining up in small groups. Everyone is sorted and the groups are pretty even, all consisting of 3-5 people per month.

“Alright now the earliest January birthday, you stand on the first card, and then the next birthday after that all the way down,” she says standing with her group of Septembers.

Again, in a very organized fashion, everyone in the room steps on the cards one after the other, after brief discussions of whose birthday comes first. It gets to the last december birthday, the taller man with gray hair. He steps on the King of Hearts. The silent anticipation is strong, everyone can feel it. 

The lights go off and the room is pitch black. Then the roof disappears letting in the beautiful sunlight from above. Another round of cheers ignites, only louder this time. The floor begins to rise and the 52 people find themselves in a secluded area on top of a black platform. Around the platform are 52 self-driving cars, each with a card painted on the hood and windows blacked out on all sides.. 

The people, confused as they are, are now free. Some conversation begins between members of the group. Speculation about if it is safe to get in the cars. 

The bold woman, the assigned leader of the group, raises her voice and grabs everyone's attention once more. “I know you are all very excited to be free, as am I, but also a little nervous about the cars. As the sort of leader I will be the first to get in my car. Hopefully they will take us all home and we can all forget this ever happened.” The woman walks to the car with her card on the front and gets in the back seat. The car drives itself off. As they watch the car go out of sight they all join and get in there cars, hoping to be taken home.

The next day, newspapers, tv, and social media are flooded with “Find Your Card Game” The articles and stories all talk about how the group of 52 strangers were all taken mysteriously in the night and found themselves in the room. The articles outline how they beat the room, in case others were to be trapped there somehow, and that they all got home safely. No one knows who brought them there, or for what purpose, but all 52 people are very happy to be home.

The End

1/15/22