It was a lovely bright day to go to the park. Not uncomfortably warm and not uncomfortably cool. Not overly breezy and not suffocatingly still. A few people were scattered throughout but not so close to the path that it felt intrusive.
A nice day to go to the park.
Except who is this person coming towards me on the same path as I?
“Hey. I know you!” Uh-oh.
“Maybe. Do I know you?”
She looks me up and down in an overly dramatic gesture. “Maybe. Haven’t rustled any inks lately, though. So maybe you’ve forgotten me…”
“I know you!” She smiled in confirmation. “But, wait… we’re on opposite sides of the continent. So…”
“Yup. Dreaming.”
“Okay!” I just accepted that I had ran into a fellow Tumblrite “Sec” on a walkabout and continued with the dream for whatever the dream had planned.
We walked off the path and discussed all the little talk first. The differences in weather in our respective areas, the similarities in asshole drivers no matter which interstate we encounter them on, and why hole-in-the-wall taquerias make the best tacos ever.
“Alright, then. We’re not going to get another shot at this for a while, so might as well get on with it.” I raised my eyebrow in askance but couldn’t help but reflect her answering smirk. “You do have a deck of tarot cards with you, right?”
As fucking if. I opened my satchel and tilted it towards her without looking in it myself. I already knew all of my tarot decks were carried in it. The only thing I would have to do is decide which one to deploy.
“Bitch, please. Are ravens black?”
She reached into her purse and pulled out a well worn box of tarot cards. I didn’t get to see which one as she took a step back into a pose that anyone that ever watched Pokémon would recognize. Dream or no, I started giggling at the implied threat. Pointing with the deck of cards, she shouted, “I challenge you! To a duel! With tarot cards, defend yourself!”
Yup. I have just been challenged to a card dueling game using tarot cards.
Dream logic meant I knew the rough rules of the game. The Major Arcana were environmental cards that determined the terrain you were “fighting” through while the Minor Arcana were cards you could either sacrifice to alter the terrain to your advantage, defend your position, or attack your opponent. Well, that’s how the game started out as.
My satchel wiggled and squirmed as my decks began jumping for attention, eager to be picked as my champion and defender. Certain decks I pushed back down into the bag because I did not want them in this fight for various reasons. I do not remember which particular deck did wind up coming out in my grip.
In the meantime, Sec was trying to keep from collapsing into a puddle of giggles as the rules of the game also meant that she had to maintain the challenger’s pose until I accepted or declined the engagement. Which mean of course, I was going to drag this out.
“Are you challenging me? Are you challenging me?” I tried to be as serious as she was, but we both started losing our composure as the more she tried to stand seriously, the more she giggled about it.
The rules of the game said the defender’s chosen tarot deck had to accept or decline the challenge, not the player. So I gravely intoned while overhand shuffling my deck, “Oh Mighty and Powerful Spirits of Tarot… What shall be my reply?” I pulled a card and held it up for her to see.
7 of Wands answered my call. “Valour.”
“Bitch!”, I screamed with jovality, “It’s on. My victory feast will be tacos on your dime. Surrender now and I shall spare your wallet an indignity. Don’t make me work up an appetite.”
She lowered her arm (finally!) and answered quietly. “Cornbread with realbutter sounds really good for an afternoon snack, you know. You don’t even have to make it for me, unless you want to make sure you have some for yourself.”
Sec pulled off her long white coat in a circling and dramatic gesture that opened the coat up and made it loudly flutter. She flung it to the dry ground to become the playing field for our cards.
“BEGIN!”
I don’t remember what happened after that, or who even won in the end. I remember lots of mutual laughter and happy giggling, and a combined feast of tacos and cornbread at the end.
(This post made with @asksecularwitch’s permission. Tumblr login will be required to view her blog.)
(Also, I really want tacos now. I blame her.)