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PLAYING
WITH DICE
Story by Budjette Tan / Art by Bow Guerrero
(originally published in MANUAL magazine, 2010)
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He was the only one in the hospital
cafeteria. The lady behind the counter had stepped out to go to the comfort
room, leaving him and the day’s special that no one really wanted to order.
Miggy felt small seated at that long, white
table. He chose the one near the window, hoping to catch a breeze since the
lady turned off the air conditioning. The night air was stuffy, made worse by
the antiseptic they used to mop the floor that just seemed to punch him in the
nose.
He adjusted his eyeglasses as he flipped
open another book. His finger ran down the page, searching for the right magic
spell.
He was once caught reading the spellbook in
class. And of all the classes to get caught in, it just had to be Religion
Class with Ms. Saligumba; who completely freaked out when she saw the dragons
and magicians on the cover. She lifted the book up high and slammed it down on
the ground and declared Miggy a demon-worshipper in front of the class.
The school principal had to call up his
parents. Mom and dad were too busy at work that day, so his lolo came over to
see what all the fuss was about. After hearing Ms. Saligumba rant and preach
about the incident, lolo made Miggy apologize to his teacher and promise to
only read the Bible and other school required books during class hours. Lolo
even made him promise that to never bring the spellbook to school again.
Ms. Saligumba smiled like a goblin,
satisfied that she was proven right. She was about to stand up and bid them
goodbye when lolo said their meeting was not yet finished. Lolo then explained to Ms. Saligumba that the
so-called demonic spellbook is actually a rule book to the “Deadly Dragons
& Magical Knights” role-playing game.
He further explained that role-playing games
can serve as a good education tool to help children expand their imagination,
learn teamwork and how to interact with other kids. He then told Ms. Salibumba
that he’s played the game with Miggy several times and that at no time were
they ever possessed by demons nor have they started to worship the devil. Lolo
smiled and told her that maybe she should learn to play some games and not be
so serious all the time.
Finally, lolo pointed out that calling his
grandchild a Satanist in front of the entire class was not very nice at all and
made Ms. Saligumba apologize to Miggy.
Remembering the pale look of Ms. Saligumba’s face was enough to make him
smile.
Miggy continued to go through the book until
he reached the chapter of Healing Spells. In his palm was a 20-sided dice. It
felt warm in his hand, like a piece of M&M chocolate. The dice clattered on
the plastic surface of the table.
He got a 9.
Not enough.
He tried another spell.
13.
Rolled again.
6
Not enough.
1
And again.
He had been here since last night, since they
brought his lolo to the ICU, and ever since then, he had been trying to roll a
20.
If he rolled a 20 then the healing spell
would work. According to the rules of the game, he didn’t really have to roll a
20. Sometimes a 15 would do, since his Casting Ability was already at 30+.
There are just moments, certain situations, depending on the degree of
difficulty, that a 20 is necessary. Like the time he and his party of
adventurers were trapped in lava pits of Vulcarion. While battling a fire
demon, he had to project a force shield to protect them and cast a healing
spell to save their sorceress. That required a 20. And as luck would have it,
he rolled a 20.
He’d rather hear the roar of a fire demon
than those little beeping sounds in his lolo’s hospital room. He’d rather
listen to the howl of harpies than hear the hollow, rasp of the machine that
helped his lolo breath. Here in the hospital cafeteria, he was kept company by
the buzz of the florescent lamp and that was more comforting that any of those
other sounds, at least for the moment.
He rolled again.
19!
Almost got it then.
Even if he got a 20, he wondered if it would
be enough to save his lolo.
He had once seen a TV special about faith
healers and bleeding statues, and wondered if that’s how magic manifested
itself in the world. Maybe they were the
real magicians. And if they were the real magicians, do dragons still roam our
streets in disguise? Who were the dragons? Is it possible that these dragons
now hide underneath human skin?
How he wished that he really had a pet
dragon, so he could magically fly his lolo to the elves of Ayaniku, who can
supposedly heal any wound and have potions that would allow people to live
hundreds of years.
He quickly flicked to the next page and got
paper cut. That was when he found what he was looking for.
As he licked the wound on his forefinger,
his eyes wandered from the book to his pewter cleric figure. They called him
Benedictus. The Blessed One. Formerly known as Wodden the Wicked. Beneticus’
red robes looked like it was bleeding on the stark white plastic of the table.
His lolo helped him find the right name for
his cleric character using a big book about saints. Miggy loved hiding in his
lolo’s library. No one bothered him there. It was his castle. His fortress. His
secret door to worlds undiscovered.
Every Sunday, they would visit his lolo and
he was allowed to borrow one book. His favorite was the one about the dragon
who gave up his magic for the love of a beautiful princess.
He closed his eyes, slowly breathed in, and
he stepped through that secret door. He
was greeted by the scent of old leather, of yellowed pages that haven’t been
touched for ages, and his lolo’s favorite cologne.
Miggy would usually find lolo seated behind
this black wooden table that cut the room in half. He’d sit on his lolo’s lap and they’d read a
book and lolo would do all the voices of the characters.
What he really liked were the times
lolo would open his desk drawer which had a secret panel underneath. That was
where they hid a little sketch book covered in brown leather, kept secure by a
leather string that tied around the book three minutes.
This was their journal, their travel log,
filled with drawings and doodles of their journey to a place known only to
them; where the best mode of transportation were purple talking cats the size
of elephants. Or one could rent a circular spinning shield and use it to fly to
the other islands. This was the place where they were honored guests of the
Queen of the Candy Castle and had to run for their lives from the Tribe of
Rotting Houses. He gave a little laugh as he remembered all their
adventures.
Someone suddenly hugged Miggy from behind
making him drop the dice. His mom began to cry and tried to tell him in between
sobs that his lolo was dead. The dice
clattered under the table.
As tears began to make the whole room become
a blur, he took a peek at the dice and saw that it came up 20.
They stayed there for awhile, cried `til
they couldn’t cry anymore. They hugged each other tight, afraid to let go. It
was as if they were afraid they’d loose the other if they did released from
that tight embrace.
On the way back to the ICU he wondered, how
blessed is this place.
Room 9
How, if you listened carefully, you would
hear the whispered prayers slip out of every room and float down the corridors.
Room 13
These white walls must be holier than a
church, he thought. In a church, most people would nod off in the middle of the
sermon or keep looking at their watches or cellphones.
Room 15
But here, when people prayed, they thought
of nothing else but their prayers: please make him well, heal her, let him
live, take away her pain.
Room 17
They prayed by themselves, they prayed in
groups, they prayed as families. Some prayed so loud they could be heard in the
next room. Others prayed in song, in whispers, by mentioning verses from the
Bible. They prayed with their faces buried under the hospital-issued pillow
that slowly became wet with tears.
Room 18
And yet, so many people die anyway.
So maybe the prayers get trapped inside,
can’t get out, can’t get heard.
Maybe the hospital is built wrong, should
have more windows and doors to let the prayers out and reach the heavens.
Room 20
He hugged his spellbook as he took little
steps into the cold room.
He smiled.
His lolo looked fine, like the many times he
caught him napping in the library.
Page 88 was where he got paper cut. At the
bottom of that page was the Teleportation Spell. This allowed the spellcaster
to send himself or anyone else to a place that was far from all harm. This was
the spell he was trying to cast right before his mom hugged him and made him
drop the dice.
That was when he finally rolled a 20.
END
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