Saturday was the day. THE day. There were 599 players. One, only one, will
walk away with a ticket to the World Championship event at the World Series
of Poker. It was going to last 8 hours. I settled in, put my best music on
Winamp, and played my heart out.
The first hour I played excellently. I probed and parried, and when I saw an opening, I thrust at it. I'd broken two players and I'd brought my chips up to about 25,000 from a 10,000 start.
I kept on rolling for four more hours. I was moving my chips flawlessly, picking up the easy pots and staying out of trouble. The only time I actually DID get in trouble, I was able to run a huge bluff to get out of it. That bluff catapulted me to the top. I was the chip leader of the whole tournament, with over 250,000!
But going into the fifth hour, I started to tire. My longest tourney to this point had been three hours. I hadn't had the mental preparation to concentrate for such a long time. My mind started to wander. I started to find myself in trouble. And at last, I fell...in 23rd place.
23 out of 599. That's over 95%...that aint bad, right? Oh well, I'm only 19, I'll get another chance. I just need to work on my "endurance"...nothing I can't fix. (Thanks a LOT to Anifan1, who gave me tons of encouragement on AIM.)
Okay, enough about me. Reviewer response:
Alara-Sirinial-Amalon; Rachel9466; Teiwaz; L: All four of you are asking for more. Well, since I finally figured out a good way to do the next few chapters, they'll be up relatively quickly.
Philip (Triple Point) Walker: Thanks. Who knew the English Premier League games they show late on digital cable contributed to my writing style? :o) Also, one of the recurring themes of this story is the "little things" that make Ryan involved. For example, the Marco couldn't possibly have stumbled upon an attack plan for the factory had Ryan not watched "Home Alone" in Chapter 4. Creepy how these little things seem to make Ryan's insignificant shenanigans significant...
You probably want to read the story now. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Ryan's POV
The Sharing rec center wasn't that far away, it was a short walk.
I was dressed in my ultimate "average" look: A simple T-Shirt, jeans and tennis shoes...also gloves for my markings. When the party started, I need to slip out fast and not noticed.
I had a small, green bag (about the size of a bowling ball bag) with me to carry the "package". I had some of the quick popping firecrackers, a screwdriver for opening the vent, and a pretty cool fuse my cousin brought down from upstate last year. It burns at exactly 2.2 inches a minute. I brought 12 inches of fuse for exactly a five-minute countdown from when I light it.
Although it was nearly five o'clock, it was still light outside...Daylight Savings Time. As I walked up to the rec center, I noticed a pretty big bird flying around over head. It was bigger that an average pigeon or seagull...and it had a bright red tail. Weird.
Sigh...what does that matter? It's just a bird.
I went inside. And to my horror I saw...
(pause)
A mind-numbingly average rec center. A ping-pong table, a basketball hoop, a few vending machines. God this place is boring.
Well, that'll change.
I noticed Chapman lounging around in the corner, talking to a few other adults I don't know. Since "Objective A" was to get noticed, I went up to introduce myself. Chapman and his cronies quickly hushed up as I approached...I wonder why?
"Good afternoon, Ryan. I'm glad you could make it."
Glad I could make it? I'm not here by choice, so I'm going to at least amuse myself by scaring everybody! Muhahahaha!!
"Hi, Mr. Chapman."
"Ryan...you're going to be given full membership tonight...how's it feel?"
Both of his cronies immediately started to stare at me. What was I supposed to say?
"It's an honor, although I'm not too familiar with the organization."
"Don't worry, Ryan. You'll love it. You'll do great things...who knows? You may save the world someday."
Yeah, right.
"When does it start?"
"In about thirty minutes. Feel free to have fun until then."
"Don't worry, Mr. Chapman. I will."
I turned to walk away, with a smirk on my face.
"Hey Ryan...what's in the bag?"
Uh oh. Did he suspect? No...he couldn't possibly know...
"Oh...it's...um...some provisions for tonight. I don't have any money for the vending machines so I brought some snacks from home."
Whew...is that believable? I hope so.
"Oh, okay. See you in half an hour."
Yes! He fell for it!.
* * *
I set off to search for an air vent, preferably one that I could open up unnoticed. After a poking around for a few minutes, I went through a door. It led into tiny room with another door. It had a numeric keypad lock on it.
But more importantly, it had a vent.
After a quick look around, I went to work. Open the bag and get the stuff out. Open the vent. Set the fuse. Light it. Get out.
Just as I set the fuse, I checked my watch. 6:10:03. As I said to Marco, the party starts at 6:15.
Something weird caught my eye. I looked up at the ceiling. And I saw something pretty weird. Either it's a security camera or it's a weird looking sprinkler head for fires.
Wait a minute...this is a rec center. How can it possibly have security cameras? Gotta be a sprinkler head.
I pocketed the screwdriver, and left. I head out to the front.
I checked my watch. 6:14:37. I got next to the door, and tried to look like I was just going out for fresh air.
I noticed something when I stepped outside: That red-tailed bird was still up there.
Not that big of a deal, I was only there for about 20 minutes. Maybe the bird is waiting for night or something.
6:14:59. 6:15:00. 6:15:01.
Here it comes...
BOOM!! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Screams. Panic. A lot of people running, including me.
But as I ran, I had a weird feeling...y'know...the one where you think you forgot something...
A/N Sorry, this is where this installment ends! You'll just have to wait a few days for the next one. Don't worry, I won't be too long. :o)
The first hour I played excellently. I probed and parried, and when I saw an opening, I thrust at it. I'd broken two players and I'd brought my chips up to about 25,000 from a 10,000 start.
I kept on rolling for four more hours. I was moving my chips flawlessly, picking up the easy pots and staying out of trouble. The only time I actually DID get in trouble, I was able to run a huge bluff to get out of it. That bluff catapulted me to the top. I was the chip leader of the whole tournament, with over 250,000!
But going into the fifth hour, I started to tire. My longest tourney to this point had been three hours. I hadn't had the mental preparation to concentrate for such a long time. My mind started to wander. I started to find myself in trouble. And at last, I fell...in 23rd place.
23 out of 599. That's over 95%...that aint bad, right? Oh well, I'm only 19, I'll get another chance. I just need to work on my "endurance"...nothing I can't fix. (Thanks a LOT to Anifan1, who gave me tons of encouragement on AIM.)
Okay, enough about me. Reviewer response:
Alara-Sirinial-Amalon; Rachel9466; Teiwaz; L: All four of you are asking for more. Well, since I finally figured out a good way to do the next few chapters, they'll be up relatively quickly.
Philip (Triple Point) Walker: Thanks. Who knew the English Premier League games they show late on digital cable contributed to my writing style? :o) Also, one of the recurring themes of this story is the "little things" that make Ryan involved. For example, the Marco couldn't possibly have stumbled upon an attack plan for the factory had Ryan not watched "Home Alone" in Chapter 4. Creepy how these little things seem to make Ryan's insignificant shenanigans significant...
You probably want to read the story now. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Ryan's POV
The Sharing rec center wasn't that far away, it was a short walk.
I was dressed in my ultimate "average" look: A simple T-Shirt, jeans and tennis shoes...also gloves for my markings. When the party started, I need to slip out fast and not noticed.
I had a small, green bag (about the size of a bowling ball bag) with me to carry the "package". I had some of the quick popping firecrackers, a screwdriver for opening the vent, and a pretty cool fuse my cousin brought down from upstate last year. It burns at exactly 2.2 inches a minute. I brought 12 inches of fuse for exactly a five-minute countdown from when I light it.
Although it was nearly five o'clock, it was still light outside...Daylight Savings Time. As I walked up to the rec center, I noticed a pretty big bird flying around over head. It was bigger that an average pigeon or seagull...and it had a bright red tail. Weird.
Sigh...what does that matter? It's just a bird.
I went inside. And to my horror I saw...
(pause)
A mind-numbingly average rec center. A ping-pong table, a basketball hoop, a few vending machines. God this place is boring.
Well, that'll change.
I noticed Chapman lounging around in the corner, talking to a few other adults I don't know. Since "Objective A" was to get noticed, I went up to introduce myself. Chapman and his cronies quickly hushed up as I approached...I wonder why?
"Good afternoon, Ryan. I'm glad you could make it."
Glad I could make it? I'm not here by choice, so I'm going to at least amuse myself by scaring everybody! Muhahahaha!!
"Hi, Mr. Chapman."
"Ryan...you're going to be given full membership tonight...how's it feel?"
Both of his cronies immediately started to stare at me. What was I supposed to say?
"It's an honor, although I'm not too familiar with the organization."
"Don't worry, Ryan. You'll love it. You'll do great things...who knows? You may save the world someday."
Yeah, right.
"When does it start?"
"In about thirty minutes. Feel free to have fun until then."
"Don't worry, Mr. Chapman. I will."
I turned to walk away, with a smirk on my face.
"Hey Ryan...what's in the bag?"
Uh oh. Did he suspect? No...he couldn't possibly know...
"Oh...it's...um...some provisions for tonight. I don't have any money for the vending machines so I brought some snacks from home."
Whew...is that believable? I hope so.
"Oh, okay. See you in half an hour."
Yes! He fell for it!.
* * *
I set off to search for an air vent, preferably one that I could open up unnoticed. After a poking around for a few minutes, I went through a door. It led into tiny room with another door. It had a numeric keypad lock on it.
But more importantly, it had a vent.
After a quick look around, I went to work. Open the bag and get the stuff out. Open the vent. Set the fuse. Light it. Get out.
Just as I set the fuse, I checked my watch. 6:10:03. As I said to Marco, the party starts at 6:15.
Something weird caught my eye. I looked up at the ceiling. And I saw something pretty weird. Either it's a security camera or it's a weird looking sprinkler head for fires.
Wait a minute...this is a rec center. How can it possibly have security cameras? Gotta be a sprinkler head.
I pocketed the screwdriver, and left. I head out to the front.
I checked my watch. 6:14:37. I got next to the door, and tried to look like I was just going out for fresh air.
I noticed something when I stepped outside: That red-tailed bird was still up there.
Not that big of a deal, I was only there for about 20 minutes. Maybe the bird is waiting for night or something.
6:14:59. 6:15:00. 6:15:01.
Here it comes...
BOOM!! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Screams. Panic. A lot of people running, including me.
But as I ran, I had a weird feeling...y'know...the one where you think you forgot something...
A/N Sorry, this is where this installment ends! You'll just have to wait a few days for the next one. Don't worry, I won't be too long. :o)
