The Money Game

It's warm and sunny out today. I'm walking down the sidewalk in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina. The pavement of the side-walk thuds beneath my feet. I check my watch, it's 2:48 p.m. on a Tuesday in June of 2020. My pace quickens a little as I try to make it to the coffee shop to meet my friend, Tommy, who was eager to meet and sounded flustered over the phone.

I arrive just before 3 p.m. to the picturesque coffee shop. It has a "Central Perk" from the T.V. show "Friends" type of vibe. There's sweat beading up on my forehead, a brisk walk in a suit in the heat of the summer tends to do that to a person. I wipe it away as I enter the shop, seeing Tommy waving at me to come sit down in the booth by the window. He looks pale, as if he may be coming down with a cold or a stomach bug. He's 34 years old, kind of tall, skinny and dressed in "causal" attire. Shorts and a T-shirt that says, "Got Milk". His hair is brown and curly, it looks sort of matted. Like he hasn't washed it in a couple of days.

"What's going on with ya bud?" I ask as I sit down in the booth in front of him.

Taking a sip of his cold brew he says, "It's been a long week."

"It's only Monday!" I say with a chuckle.

A young waitress with black hair comes by to take my order.

"Iced mocha cappuccino with a double shot of espresso." I say light heartedly. "And put it on his tab." I motion towards Tommy, who just nods his head in agreement.

"Tell me, why did you drag me out here?" I ask with a bit of suspicion and woeful wonder in my voice.

Tommy reaches next to him in the booth and pulls out a little black book. It looks worn, like it's seen better days. "You didn't drag me out here to read your diary did you?" I ask sarcastically.

"Not quite" He exclaims as he sets the book on the table. The pages are kind of dingy and yellow on the outsides, the cover is worn around the edges and sort of peeling back at the corners.

"You and that book have seen better days.." I say sort of half heartedly laughing, with a bit of concern in my voice.

I reach and grab the book, it feels old in my hands. The cover appears to be leather. There's nothing written on the outside, it's plain. I flip the cover open and the first page reads: "The Money Game." "It's a rule book." I barely hear Tommy say as I look in wonder at the page. I peel from the corner and turn the dingy page to see what else is written within the pages. The second page has these foreign looking symbols on it, sort of like crop circles or sacred geometry. As I scan over the page random images start flashing in my mind. Pictures and concepts, I don't know exactly how to describe it. Sort of like a download of information. It happened so quickly I couldn't make sense of it.

"Your coffee, sir.." The voice of the waitress snaps me out of my daze.

"Oh, sorry, thank you" I manage as she sets down my cup and walks away. "What is this?" I ask Tommy, confused and struggling to process all of the information that has just been thrown at me.

"It's an instruction manual." He says with slight bewilderment as he watches me try to process everything.

"An instruction manual for what?" I ask, still confused.

"The Money Game." He says plainly. "Take it home with you and flip through the pages tonight. Everything you need to know is in there." He pulls out a wad of cash and hands me a one hundred dollar bill. "Keep the change, I've gotta run, good luck!" He says as he stands up and walks towards the front door. The bell chimes as he leaves and I sit there, dumbfounded.

I leave the $100 bill on the table, grab the little black book, and walk out of the coffee shop. It's 3:30 p.m. now and I make my way back to the house, telling the boss that I need to take a couple of personal days from work.

Sitting at my desk I open the book and thumb to the second page. It's again full of strange crop circle like symbols. They are large and take up most of the page. Just these strange designs, but as I look at them I am again taken into the deep regions of my inner psyche. Images and concepts dancing like a sped up fil reel in my mind's eye. The information comes so fast that I can't keep up. My head is flooded as I continue to flip through the pages of the little black book.

Suddenly, I awaken with a horrible pain in my neck. My head resting on the desk as the sun starts to flit through the curtains. I wipe the drool from my face and stretch. "Must've fallen asleep.." I think to myself. I had very weird, vivid dreams. I was in a casino, playing craps. I didn't even know what craps was the day before, nor had I ever been to a casino. The entrance I remember had a big sign that read "The Money Game" as you walked through the entrance. I had won $20,000 in this dream, but it felt so real! I shrug it off as I try to stand up from the desk chair, stretching and preparing to start the day.

I check my watch. It's 9:30 in the morning, but the date looks wrong. I got home and fell asleep on a Tuesday, but my watch says that it's... Thursday? That can't be! I check my phone, the digital calendar confirms that it is in fact a Thursday. There's 20 missed calls, one from my friend Tommy. I hit the call button next to his name in hopes that he can help shed some light on the situation. It goes to voicemail. "Tommy, I'm not sure what's going on.. call me back when you get this." I say shakily and confused into the voice receiver.

I see a voucher sitting on my desk next to the little black book. I walk over and pick it up. It reads: "Payment receipt Harrah's Cherokee Casino and Resort $20,000"

I sit back down, dumbfounded. I pull up my mobile banking app on my phone and log in. I see a deposit from the same place in the amount of $20,000... "That can't be right?!" I exclaim in amazement. Picking up the book once more I see that it is bookmarked to a certain page. I open it up and glance down at the symbols. Again my mind is flooded with information. My head starts to hurt but I persist onward. I need answers. I thumb through the pages until I'm lost in what seems like another dream. This time I'm in Las Vegas. The lights are dazzling, there are people at every entrance trying to get my attention, handing out cards, pulling me every which way. I persist onward and enter the casino. I sit down at a black jack table and set out $5,000. Almost every one of my hands is a winner! After several hours goes by, I leave the table with a cool $25,000 in my pocket. "Up another $20,000!" I think excitedly to myself.

I come to, this time I'm in a bed at a hotel. I have no idea where I am. This wakes me up quickly. I shoot out of the bed. My phone, wallet, keys, everything is with me sitting on the night table. Along with that little black book. I grab my phone and check the time. It's 8:43 a.m. on a Saturday.

"What the hell is going on...?" I exclaim out loud to no one, for it is only me in the room. I scramble to put on my shoes and gather my things. I feel as though I've gone mad! I see the little black book sitting on the bed, it's open to the second to last page. I walk over and pick it up, as if drawn to it like a magnet. I stare at the symbols, my mind being filled with flashes of home, or work, of the casino, of my family. "Family? I'm single, I don't have a family..." I whisper. Everything comes flooding in all at once, it's overwhelming. I collapse to the floor, on the way down I take one last glance at the book. It's on the last page, it reads "Game Over." in Bold, black letters.

I hear a ringing in my ears, there is a steady "beep, beep, beep, beep" like my alarm is going off. As I try to open my eyes, they feel heavy. There's a bright light shining in my eyes. I cover them with my hand and notice there is something attached to me. I hear voices in the background but can't quite make out what they are saying. My mind starts to catch up and my eyes adjust to the bright light. I can't move the rest of my body, it's stiff. I glance over to my right and see someone in white. I'm hooked to machines. I realize it's an EKG machine. "This is a hospital, how did I get here?" I manage through a gravely, crackly voice.

A doctor rushes over and assures me that everything is okay. He gets me a glass of water and tells me to drink. He says that it might be kind of difficult at first, but that I need to drink.

As I sip from the cup, it's as if my body is revitalized. I manage to crawl my way to a half sitting up position. The doctor says, "Mr. Benson we are happy to see that you're awake!" This news is probably going to be shocking so we will start slow." Can you tell me your first name, Mr Benson?"

"Uh.. it's Shaun.. Shaun Benson?" I say uncertainly.

"Good, good!" The doctor says reassuringly. "And can you tell me what day it is?"

"Mmm, before I fell out in the hotel it was Saturday morning, in June.." My voice sounds hoarse and gravely as I try to speak.

"Well Mr Benson, this is going to be shocking news for you to hear but we need to make sure you are on the same page with us Okay?"

"O-... Okay" I say, confused.

"Mr Benson it is Monday, November 23rd 2020. You went missing 6 months ago, and were found by hikers in a forest in Nevada a month later. You have been in a coma ever since. We have notified your family that you are awake, and they are excited to see you. They have been very worried!" "I'll give you a few minutes to process and check back with you shortly."

My head started spinning and I looked around in confused bewilderment as images began flooding into my mind. Was it all just a dream? I still don't remember having a family? Where did that little black book come from?

It's too much to process all at once. I sit back in the bed and out of the corner of my eye, on the bedside table next to me I see the little black book. I grab it, and open to one of the pages. The symbols are still there, staring back up at me. Blinded by white light and confusion again, I begin to fall unconscious. My last thought before everything goes black: "Was it really all just a dream?"