Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: GATHERING (07/14/16)
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TITLE: Deal the Cards | Previous Challenge Entry
By Brenda Kern
07/21/16 -
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My sister and I looked at each other, our unspoken fears bundled into that one glance. Is she finally ready to let go?
Her slurred speech cleared a bit, and she emphatically uttered a few words three times. We still didn’t understand it, because it was in her mother tongue, but I wrote it down phonetically. Her sister, Kevya, was due to visit the next day; maybe she’d know what Mother seemed intent on saying to some unknown visitor to her dreams.
When Auntie Kevya came bustling into the crowded nursing home room the next day, she brought yummy treats as she had every time we’d seen her since childhood. And kisses on each cheek.
She greeted Mother, squeezing her hands, kissing her cheeks and forehead, and murmuring into her ear. No response, which wasn’t unusual.
When we’d settled into chairs, my sister Barb handed me the words I’d written down the night before, and I explained to Kevya that Mother had said this in her sleep, handing over the paper. “Do you know what this means?”
Kevya read the words and closed her eyes, lost in her memories. “Maybe I do. It means… ‘Deal the cards.’ Yes.”
Barb and I raised our eyebrows and Barb said, “Maybe we wrote it down wrong, I’m sorry.”
Auntie Kevya said, “Oh, no, girlies, I’m sure you got it right. Didn‘t your mama ever tell you about dealing the cards?”
Barb said, “No, not me. You, Sandy?”
I shook my head. “Me, neither. She didn’t talk much about her upbringing, except to say that it was very hard and we were so lucky, that kind of thing.”
“Yes, you are, and don’t ever forget it!” Kevya’s voice took on the imperious tone that could scare a confession out of the naughtiest of children.
“Vell, I’ll tell you then. Vee grew up in a country ruled by a cruel tyrant, who had svept into power during a bloody military coup. Religion of any kind vas scoffed at, and churches vere burned, Bibles destroyed. All gatherings vere outlawed, religious in nature or not, as he also knew any revolt vould take planning and organization.”
She took a sip of her tea. “Except vunn kind of gathering, that is.”
She smiled a peculiar little smile and leaned over my mother, patting her shoulder. “You remember the card game, don’t you, Magda?”
Did I see the tiniest ghost of a smile cross Mother’s face? Barb had been refilling her own mug, so she hadn’t been looking…
“Anyvay. Our vorthless leader allowed a single exception to the no gatherings rule, and that vas to play a card game that originated in our country. He vas an avid player, and obsessed! How could he not allow this?
“So, of course, vee gathered to play Ravdah, often. In homes, schools, factories, stores. Ravdah is played vith eight or ten players at two different tables, and sometimes two games are played at the same time at four different tables, you see. So, vee gathered. And vee dealt the cards.”
Then she smacked her knee so hard I jumped. “But vee played nothing! Ha!” Triumph oozed from every pore.
“Vee prayed. Vee quoted scriptures. Vee vorshipped God as best vee could, sitting at tables vith our back to others in the room. But it didn’t matter; God didn’t have His back turned on no one! Never, never!”
And she burst into tears. “No, God saw us through that terrible time, and that evil, evil man vas assassinated, by two of his own men.
“My girlies, the phrase ‘Deal the cards’ came to be used as a code for believers, a vay to encourage others to put their hearts into a place of vorship or praise. Or, if vee said it tvice, it meant that vee vere in urgent need of protection from some danger close at hand.”
“And three times?” Barb asked. “Mother said it three times in a row in her sleep last night. “Does three times mean anything in particular?”
Kevya turned slowly to gaze with tenderness at her beloved sister. “Oh, yes. Three times.” She blinked back her tears. “Three times means that a most vunderful gathering is coming tomorrow, and all should be sure to attend.”
She grasped Mother’s hand. “Magda, go. It’s time to gather now, vith Jesus. Go, vith our love, my Babba.”
This time I was sure I saw Mother smile as she left us.
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Fiction
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