A Game of Karma

When Addison rolled out of bed on an average Tuesday morning, he had no idea how un-average his day would be.

As he staggered to the bathroom, eyes half-closed and cursing the alarm, he didn’t see the three ethereal figures watching him from afar.

As he shrugged his suit coat on, glancing at the clock and wondering where the morning had gone--he would most certainly be late, now--he couldn’t possibly know of the elaborate game board being set up on his behalf.

Two of the imposing spirits sat facing one another, the board setting a barrier between them. Each of them looked like a duplicate image of Addison himself, though they were dressed differently. On the left, the Evil stared at the game board with a keen eye. This match would be his, he was sure of it.

On the right, stone-faced and impassive, Good watched his nemesis, prepared to do battle across the checkered board for Addison’s life.

Standing over them, presiding over the game as judge--and possibly executioner, if it came to that--stood Fate, as silent as Good. Fate’s tattered cloak hung limp, with no breeze to stir it, and Fate’s tall staff rested at such an angle that the head seemed to hover heavy over the board.

As Addison steered his car off the surface streets and onto the freeway, Evil ran his hands over the pieces at his disposal. For every selfish, wicked act Addison had committed, Evil would get one move. He selected a pawn and slid it forward.

Addison glanced down at his radio, not immediately noticing the driver in front of him slamming on her brakes.

Good quickly slid a piece as well, countering Evil’s attack. Addison looked up and slammed the brake pedal to the floor, his car screeching to a halt with mere inches to spare.

“That was a close one,” he muttered to himself, under his breath, as the adrenaline dump made his heart attempt to pound itself out of his chest.

Evil smirked. He didn’t expect his earliest move to bear fruit, but each move had a price attached to it. For every action Addision had made, good or evil, the equivalent fate was granted a turn--and Addison had been, in Evil’s opinion, a very bad boy.

Wasting no time, Evil swept his hand across the board, nearly imperceptibly catching another piece and moving it forward as well. Fate watched, unmoved, as Addison pulled off the freeway and arrived at a stop light.

Next to him, a disgruntled man who was desperate for some cash saw Addison’s late-model car and decided to make it his. He thumbed the hammer of the .38 revolver tucked into his pocket and approached, but the Good shifted a piece of his own, executing a splendid block. A police officer turned his cruiser down the street, and the angry man turned away from Addison, who never even saw him approach. Addison pulled away from the light and continued his drive.

The two forces played under Fate’s steadfast gaze, move after move, turn after turn. With every action taken by Evil, Good counteracted perfectly--but as the game continued, each side was losing pieces. Addison’s accrued karma was emptying rapidly.

He had made it through the first half of his work day, seeming unaware of the game being played for his soul. The drudgery of the office on a sunny Friday afternoon was getting to him, so Addison decided to take a walk on his lunch hour and grab a bite to eat from a sandwich place up the road.

He walked idly up the busy street, snaking his way through a construction zone where a crew worked hard on re-facing a building. He deftly sidestepped bike messengers as they sped past, and he thought he was going to have a heart attack when two men dropped an upright piano out of a moving truck just as he walked by.

Addison tossed the last few bites of his sandwich to a stray cat lurking in an alley while he waited for the “Walk” signal at a busy intersection. Glancing at his watch, he sighed--time to head back inside or he would be late back from lunch, too.

Evil surveyed the board and a wicked smile cracked his face. The moment had come. He barely glanced at Good; he know what his nemesis had left.

Nothing.

Good had no pieces remaining. There was nothing left to save Addison from the final act of karma, the final deadly piece on the board.

Evil picked up the piece that would deal Addison’s death-blow. He slowly turned it in his hand, feeling the weight of it--what was this deed? Ah yes, he thought. It was Addison “forgetting” to file a report at work, costing a co-worker a promotion. Only Addison and his karma knew that the report wasn’t forgotten--it was never completed.

How interesting, that Addison’s ultimate fate could come down to that one, simple lie. Evil chuckled as he slid the piece in for the final attack.

“I do believe,” he hissed, “that is the game.”

Addison saw the “Walk” signal light up and he stepped into the road ahead of the rest of the crowd, in a hurry to get back to the office. He didn’t see the truck speeding down the road, the driver distracted by the radio, totally oblivious to the red light in front of him.

Fate and Evil both watched the scene unfold in front of them, but Good never took his eyes away from Evil.

A young man behind Addison reached out, grabbing Addison’s arm, and tugged him backwards and out of the way as the truck sped past.

“Game.” Good spoke for the first time since the match started, his word signaling the end. His hand rested on another piece, one that hadn’t been on the board before. With one final move, Evil’s final piece was destroyed.

“What?” shrieked Evil, standing. “Impossible! You had nothing left! You cheated!”

Fate’s staff tilted away from the board, and the game began to fade from view. As if to answer his accusation, an image appeared among swirling mists where the board used to be.

As the three of them began to fade away, they watched the image of a hungry, stray cat devouring the leftover remnants of a sandwich.