The lights and jingling sounds of the slot machines keep you in place. You don't know how to play any of the table games. This is your best literal bet. They drew you in before. Maybe there was a reason for it. Maybe there was still a chance you could make your comeback.
Sliding your card once more into the slot, you feel the familiar anticipation build as you press the button to set the reels spinning. The symbols whirl and blur, taunting you with the prospect of hitting the jackpot. With bated breath, you watch as they gradually slow to a stop, aligning in various patterns across the pay lines.
A small win lights up the screen, and you can't help but feel a sense of triumph as the machine dutifully counts up your balance. Back to only being negative by a dollar. Emboldened, you bet a bit more, pulling the lever with growing confidence. The reels spin once more, but this time the symbols fail to line up, and you're met with the disappointing sound of defeat. Lost another dollar. Two negative again.
Undeterred, you continue to feed the machine you time, your eyes fixated on the dazzling visuals and your fingers itching to press that button again. The terror of this play becomes all-consuming, as you search for that elusive jackpot that could change your fortunes in an instant. One jackpot and you would be free.
Time seems to slip away as you become lost in the rhythm of the slots, the outside world fading into the background.
Occasionally, a small win will provide a momentary high, but it's the tantalizing prospect of the big score that keeps you glued to the machine. The casino's dim lighting and the hypnotic patterns of the reels work in concert to lull you into a state of focused intensity, every fiber of your being invested in the outcome of the next spin.
You can't just walk away as a loser. It is either win or potentially die. Well. Not instantly. But a lot sooner than you were originally intended to. You can't have that. Why is it so hard just to win back this small amount?
"Having no luck?" Mr. Top Hat Man was next to you again. "Can't win a buck?"
This time, you feel more irritated than afraid. "Your rhymes suck."
He laughs hysterically, "Way to join in." You didn't even try or realize that you played right along with his rhymes.
"These machines are rigged!" You ignore him now and glue your eyes back to the reels.
"Play a game with me!" He offers, "It'll be easy. You'll see." You stare at him for a long moment. You are kind of tired of being stuck in this dollar rut.
To deny him and play your slots - Select page 22
To play with the Top Hat Man - Select page 23
YOU ARE READING
Game of a Lifetime
TerrorA choose your own adventure (CYOA) interactive story where YOU get to choose the path you take to adventure! Or do you? Is there even such thing as free will or fate? You're just a broke college student in need of some dinner and maybe some cash. Y...
