The Thief of Hearts

I stumble barefoot across the frozen ground, stubbing my toe on an exposed tree root.  The bitter December air steals my breath away.  I turn in a circle underneath the tree and the full moon illuminates the table and chairs right before I would have tripped over them.  Startled I sit down at one of the chairs and the cold metal bites me through my pajama pants.  I notice the pack of sealed playing cards on the table at the same time that he speaks.  “Hello David”, is all he says as he pulls out the other chair.  Time sits down across from me.  He props himself up in the chair and I admire the gold gilding of his oval frame.  Time is a mirror.  He smiles at me and I think, was I ever that young?  I notice he has a bit of pepper in his teeth, so I clean it away with the edge of a card.  The deck is in my hand, I don’t remember picking it up.  The wind rolls a small piece of cellophane across the table and pulls at the bottom of my tee shirt and I shudder.  Time makes faces at me and I deal out the cards.  Laughing, Time has five cards and I only have three.  It doesn’t seem fair.  He shows me his hand.  The Queen of Hearts has two dogs sitting next to her, she is smiling.  The Queen of Clubs has a bent corner.  The Queen of Diamonds is red-faced and is attended by two mute Pages.  His final two cards are both jokers, he seems to have the winning hand.  I stare at my three cards.  One is a photograph of a little boy crying standing next to his tormenter; his Mother must have taken the picture.  The other card is a scrap of paper torn from a journal with the words “I remember” written across it.  The final card is the Thief of Hearts and I recognize the profile I see printed there.  I look underneath the table for my other two cards but all I see is the frost glittering in the moonlight.  I try to protest the rules of the game, but my voice comes out as a warm vapor that hangs in the air, not a single sound do I utter.  I stare at Time and I wonder how long am I supposed to  just sit here?  Off in the distance I hear a wind chime and I smile.  I fold my hand and deal myself a new set of cards, this game isn’t over yet…