Mr. Hale's Gamble

8/11/2019 Mr. Hale's Gamble

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Mr. Hales Gamble

By: Logan Gardner

Mr. Hale was out for a stroll. I watched as his pointed chin tilted skyward, and he

stared forlornly into the inky gray. A thick veil of cloud masked any distinguishing

features that the heavens possessed. It was the kind of inconclusive gray that spoke both

of bone-chilling rain and a warm fire, of comfort and of melancholy. It was a two-sided

coin. This city, this country, and the entire world, everything a two- sided coin. And Im

just the one who flips it.

Mr. Hale was a simple man, with simple desires, and some semblance of an ideaon how those desires could be met. His desires were noble, and nobody saw any reason

why he shouldnt get what he wanted, e ven though happiness is hard to come by

wherever you are. Its wadded up in the pockets of a few lucky individuals while the rest

scrounge for it in the streets. America is no different; they just know how to market it

better. But Mr. Hale was the sort of person that even America would not deny happiness.

He was a well-dressed and well-mannered, always to be counted on to hold a door for a

stranger or to put a check in his churchs offering basket. He was a quiet man with a firm

foundation.

Mr. Hale was getting the sickening sensation that all the things that he wanted

were out of his reach. Mr. Hale had never known that feeling before, and it was eating

him from the inside out. Mr. Hale had once been in love, and now he had found out that

the woman he loved was dead. Being the simple man he was, Mr. Hale had decided that

losing everything deserved a good stroll through the park. After that, Mr. Hale thought

that the logical thing to do would be to go to the nearest bar, and become extremely


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drunk. He would think of the rest later. Mr. Hale was one of those rare people who

didnt really need to look down the road.

I followed Mr. Hale through the park, the kind of park a person often found in a

relatively large, basically industrial city. It was a small patch of emerald, made

extremely vivid by the gray skies, an extremely verdant green. A two-sided coin.

I smiled to myself thinking of how silly my children were. They could destroy a

beautiful ecosystem, masterfully created by my own hand, simply to have a convenient

place to put their automobiles, and still take solace in the fact that they had preserved a

tiny plot of grass with a few sparse trees. Mr. Hale walked through the park as he wouldon any other day. He followed the paved footpath (because these days people cant even

stroll without a footpath to follow) without any sign of pain crossing his face, without

stumbling for the incredible agony that burned in his breast like a hot coal. He passed by

several joggers, a couple holding hands, and an elderly woman walking her dog. None of

them knew that Mr. Hales insides were roi ling. I wonder if any would have stopped for

a moment, if they knew the horror Mr. Hale faced.

But I knew they probably wouldnt. They would excuse themselves by insisting

they didnt know what to say, but they secretly knew what I did. They acted for

themselves, most of the time. And when they didnt it was insincere. It is this way

because humans were primarily selfish. Ask anyone; nature crafted them to be out for

themselves, through natural selection and all that. Evolution, true or not, is just another

excuse for man to be wicked. And thats not cynicism; thats just something I know.

Id been keeping tabs on Mr. Hale for a good while now. He fascinated me

because he was something that Id never seen before: purity. He was the one machine


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that Id made that didnt malfunction. One who knew him could detect it almost

immediately, and most disliked him for it. He wasnt basically good or basically evil, he

simply was. He had ambitions and goals and loves and vices, like any other human, but

he wasnt trying to base his decisions on being good, nor was he prone to do evil. That

was why I loved Mr. Hale more than any of the saints, martyrs, lovers, or soldiers.

Make no mistake; I did love him, and that was why I was willing to cheat for him.

Ever since I created the world, I had followed one rule: fairness. Nothing good or bad

could be blamed on me, because I was just a gambler, and life was the odds. Simple,

clean, and honest, much like Mr. Hale.But tonight would be different. Mr. Hale had been cheated himself. He had

finally found a woman who had been able to see Mr. Hale like I could. See him not as

some freak, but as the one damn clock in this world that wasnt broken. No, tonight

would be the night that Mr. Hale got all he deserved.

But first, I would give him a test, a test that would show him the true face of all

those around him. And to find out if he truly did look any different. I walked down the

paved footpath, surrounded by brilliant colors that gained bittersweet beauty on this

grayest of days, and I approached the greatest man on earth. He had a pointed face,

handsome in an average sort of way, as well as dark eyes that were usually

expressionless. His features had a little twist of pain, subtle but detectable. They looked

uncertain, as if pain wasnt a usual thing for them. And it hadnt been, when she was

alive. But now she was gone, and his face would have to become used to pain.

I gave him a smile worthy of the Cheshire cat, then bowed before him in a stately

manner, the tails of my plain brown coat dragging on the floor.


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Good evening Mr. Hale. Rough day? He looked at me warily, and said nothing.

His face spoke of the pain that came with losing the grand game Id laid out for him to

play. But he could nt lose, because he should be the winner.

After considering me a moment longer, he chose to speak; Yes, its been a rough

day. Do I know you? His voice had the delicious quality of being absolutely bland. It

didnt have high -flying trills, guttural low sounds, or any of the strange nuances people

give their voices. The truth was that accents were only the result of a humans vain desire

to feel like an individual. Mr. Hale spoke like a man should, with no insecurity about it.

No, my friend, you dont know me. Nobody really does. But Ive co me to offersomething, Mr. Hale, I said ominously. Tension is the best part about life, the waiting to

find out if your gamble paid off. The worst part is finding out it rarely does.

And what would you offer me? He seemed only slightly curious. Unsurprising,

considering the current despair his heart was drowning in.

A drink, Mr. Hale, you look like the kind of man who could really use a drink at

this moment. And I mix the best cocktail youll find in the city. I confided in him with

my patented sardonic smile. The man weighed the odds, like any other gambler would.

It was really quite funny, seeing his indecision. I knew hed come with me. I knew Mr.

Hale, and I knew that he really wanted a drink.

Okay. Mr. Hale shrugged. Ill drink with you.

Excellent! Why dont you follow me? I was nearly skipping circles around him

as we walked down the gray streets, made duller by the day. A two-sided coin. The

street was called Lilac Meadows Avenue, yet there were no lilacs to be found.


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Americans had such a strange sense of nostalgia, to name the streets they paved after the

things they destroyed.

We stopped in front of the dankest, dirtiest, darkest building on the modern

central street of my city. Over it hung a small, flickering, neon sign that read: HEAVEN.

Heaven existed in one form or the other on earth at all times. Any man who entered it

could stay forever. But men were too wrapped up in their own visions of heaven to ever

see mine.

We walked into the bar. There were three patrons sitting in various spots around

the room. But they were very quiet, and shrouded in shadow. Mr. Hale didnt pay themany mind. Little did he know, they were the most important things on earth. Besides me,

of course.

This cocktail would open the mind of Mr. Hale, to him to see the true nature of

man. One by one, the patrons of this dingy bar would emerge from the shadows, and

Mr. Hales test would be given.

I shook the cocktail; it came out to be a simple, clear color. I poured it into an

unassuming Martini glass.

Essence of Humanity. I announced with an anticipatory smile. He took it

wordlessly, and drank unquestioningly. His eyes closed for a moment, and I shrunk into

the shadows. This was now Mr. Hales story, and I was merely there to be an observer,

and the master of this strange game.

Mr. Hale opened his eyes, and Heaven was now a bright place. He looked about,

and found Id disappeared. He then looked slowly to his left, and there was the first of

my friends. His name was Wrath.


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Hello, Mr. Hale. I hear youre having quite the day. My name is Wrath, and the

old man asked me to talk to you for a while, then offer you something, then leave you

alone. Wrath didnt ask for permission. Thats why he was Wrath. He took things

without asking, and he either destroyed them or used them to hurt people. He was the

most obvious of the group, and the most destructive, but not the most dangerous, not by a

long shot.

Okay. Mr. Hale agreed dully.

Anger only exists because nothing is right. Many people call feelings of anger

and revenge sinful, but they arent really. Theyre noble. Theyre the only noble pursuitsleft. To take action against this dark world, thats what the real heroes do. And theres

only good anger, because right is all about perspective. Its not about being right; its

about being sincere. Your girlfriends killer is a drunk. He hit her with his car and he ran

and he wont be caught. He feels bad about it. So bad that he might get drunk again

tonight, a nd maybe hell hit someone else, maybe not. But the odds of the game say that

he will again someday, most likely. You could stop him, hes walking by right now, the

streets empty, this gun isnt yours, and justice is served. Wrath held out a revolver w ith

a zealous smile. Mr. Hale looked at it for a while as he thought about what Wrath had

said. He thought, and then he spoke:

I see your point. But you said its all about perspective, and if thats true, then

killing him doesnt make sense because I say killing him is right and he says its wrong.

We cancel each other out. Those arent high odds, so I have to say no.


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You arent the hero Id thought youd be. Goodbye, Mr. Hale. Thanks for

playing. Wrath then put the gun to his head and pu lled the trigger. There was a cloud of

smoke and a report as the bullet blasted into his head.

When the gunsmoke cleared, a beautiful woman wearing a red satin dress sat on

the barstool. She looked like she was too good for the bar. Like nothing was good

enough for her. And nothing was. Her name was Desire, and she was the most narrow-

minded of us, which made her the most human. Humans want; that is what they do. They

begin their lives feeling a profound emptiness, and spent their days chasing after

whatever they thought most likely to fill it. The goals change; the hole doesnt. So you are the one Pride brought here? Youre not much. That was always her

first and only thought. She said with distaste. I hated Desire. She thought I was jealous,

but I wasnt, truly. I hated her because she was blind.

No, Im not. But I was enough, for her. And that was enough for me. He was

bearing his soul to that harpy, and she was enjoying it.

Believe me when I say that she wasnt nearly good eno ugh. I know what

wouldve happened, if shed lived. You would have married her, and had children, and

grandchildren, and then you both would die. And the entire thing would be so boring. I

think I know you, Mr. Hale, because nobody understands people like I do. You all want

more out of life. And this girl, she wasnt enough. Theres so much more out there. Ill

let you choose just how much life to have. Name any price on the planet, and I can give

it to you. Just forget this girls corpse and fil l in the blank , and Ill begin you on a road to

riches that youve never even imagined. She then handed him a blank check, full of


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more possibilities than any other slip of paper i n the world. Mr. Hale didnt hesitate; he

ripped the check to shreds and put the pieces in the empty Martini glass.

Your offer is only a little better than the first. You say you know people, but you

dont really. Many people become married, and there are some that dont. Married

Americans file divorce fifty percent of the time. Which means that fifty percent stay

married for life. There was a fifty percent chance she wouldve been enough. And that is

why I still have to place my bet on her. Mr. Hale sounded sure, but I knew he wasnt.

He was a gambler, like me, and he knew as well as I did that, as much as I hated it,

Desire may have been giving him the better deal.Youd rather live with a ghost than try to find happiness? That is even less noble

than not killing that drunk when you had the chance. She paused, and spoke quickly, as

if afraid of being silenced, Pride thinks hes god, but hes not. You can beat him. Now

go. Desire urged. She was uglier now, when things werent in her favor. I knew how

this would haunt her, and the thought made my smile stre tch ever further. I didnt care

what she said, but she was right. Im not god. Im better. Im the one who beat god,

twice. It was my greatest achievement. When I beat God, I got this whole thing rolling.

And, the more time goes on, the more people forget Him and follow me.

That ghost was the only thing that made me happy before, and I don t really

think anything else can. Mr. Hale admitted evenly. He s an even better gambler than

me, I thought to myself. Either way, replacing her with distraction is ultimately not the

right way to honor her memory. And the memory of her is more than anything else this

world holds for me now.


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Desire opened to speak again, but there was a loud crash that arose from a closet

in the back of the room, and Mr. Hale wordlessly rose and moved to the closet, as if

hypnotized. Desire watched him, bemused. Never had she met someone so resistant to

her charms.

He opened the door and stared into the darkness within. Sloth hung in the closet

by her neck. Sloth was the worst of us, the darkest, the most taboo, the most hated, and

the most misunderstood. She hardly cared what they thought of her, because she never

talked, never moved, and never thought. But she was there, always, a skeleton in every

mans closet.She didnt judge men, for that wasnt her job. She simply closed their eyes. In

the closet next to where Sloth hung was the only thing she could offer him, a noose with

a chair underneath. Death was the smartest bet, and one day every man accepted it.

Mr. Hale addressed the hanging girl, Finally! Somebody speaks sense, and

without speaking anything at all. I believe you are the wisest of them, wiser than Wrath

and Desire for certain. I could rest, and not worry about the pain that even in this strange

dream threatens to consume me. I could forget about that woman, whom is the same as

all others and yet infinitely different. This is the safest bet I could make, and I make it in

confidence. He then took a few steps forward, stepped up onto the soli d, wooden chair,

and slipped the noose around his neck. Then he put one foot forward and closed his eyes.

But he simply paused. His previously peaceful face developed a few lines of concern,

and he drew his foot back onto the little wooden island of life, and he removed the noose,

and he stepped down. He left the little room, and closed the door quietly, as if afraid of

disturbing her.


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I will see you again,. He whispered to the closed door, and turned to look

around the bar. I stepped out of the shadows and into the light of Heaven.

Why didnt you step off, Mr. Hale? You and I both know it was the right

decision. Maybe n ot the most noble, but the right one. It always is, and thats why its

the one every single person chooses. My smile, once ea r-to-ear, was now only a small

little knowing one. I am always smiling, because I am Pride. I am the surest and the

oldest of the Sins. God and I did battle twice, and I won both times. Hes been trying to

beat me ever since.

You always know the rig ht thing to do, Pride. But I am just a man, and so Idont. Mr. Hale told me. But I knew he was lying.

But you know the most important thing, even if you wont admit it. I insisted

desperately. He wasnt playing by the rules.

And whats that?

That there is no good and evil. That Wrath is the noblest pursuit. That Desire is

the engine that drives the machine of reality. That Sloth, Death, and Peace are

synonymous. That I created this world. That its all just two sides of the same coin. Mr .

Hale wasnt reacting to my words. They were a truth that was already inside of him.

I understand your point, but youre not entirely correct. I think that I was once

you. I thought that there was no goodness in the world, or evil, for that matter. That

everyone was simply trying to survive as best they could and good and evil didnt really

matter. And that may be true. But then I met her, and I knew it was wrong, because love

is a one-sided coin. With her, for the first time, there was never a need to look for another

side. I could lay in bed with her, in perfect silence, and be certain that we were One.


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Thats the most important truth I know. And I dont even want to hear what

your gift is, because none of it is worth as much as proving you wrong. You are all Sins,

and Love is not. That is why I choose Love. Mr. Hale looked the same in my eyes. His

voice sounded the same, the same droning monotone.

But he wasnt. He hadnt won the game; hed lost it in the most spectacular way

possible. B ut hed also beaten me, and that was worth its weig ht in gold, diamond, and

life. He couldve seen everything, the way I see it. Or, perhaps he already had.

I brought you here to play my game, and you didnt win. But you did earn

something else entirely . Youve placed your bet on Love. If it lands heads up, then yourwoman will return to you from the dead and you may have your time with her. Tails, and

you accept my gift. I said as I drew a shiny, new quarter from my pocket. He nodded,

and I flipped the coin. He watched it as it hung in the air, looking ever so much like the

moon. He waited for it to land in the palm of my hand with bated breath. I closed my

hand over it as it landed, and let it sit there. It was the greatest moment of my life.

Before I open my hand, Mr. Hale, let me have a final say. I do know everything,

Mr. Hale, and so Ill tell you before you have to leave that you were righ t. Love is a one-

sided coin.

I opened my hand.

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Mr. Hale's Gamble