** 

A young woman sits in her chair, surrounded by screens and blankness. She's searching for meaning, trying to complete a request for a second chance with a lost friendship. Unemployment weighs heavy on her mind as she navigates the complexities of life. The clock ticks away, a reminder of the passage of time.

In this state of limbo, memories resurface: a childhood playset, a card shop player's racism, and the isolation that comes with it. Laughter echoes in her mind, a friendship forged over Magic The Gathering sessions. But like a game of cards, relationships can be fleeting, and connections can snap like brittle twigs.

She thinks of Malcom Gladwell's Outliers, the analysis of winners and losers based on design. A Planeswalker's power to cast spells, to summon creatures that can outlast even death itself. Yet, in this world of fantasy, she finds herself stuck at 19 life points, unable to advance or retreat.

Time waits for no one, not even her. The clock counts down to zero, and the foe's life remains unchanged. No creature cast will decrease her life span, only a Planeswalker's might can change the course of events.

And so she sits, suspended in this limbo, unsure of which way to turn. Searching for answers in the cards, in the memories of childhood, and in the complexities of adult life. A Zuihitsu poem, born from fragments of thought, a patchwork of meaning that refuses to be tamed.

Signed,
The LightBringer
I am the eagle that flies ABOVE.
Jasmine Monique

**

Source: https://dev.to/jasminemlewis/new-orleans-writers-workshop-recap-surprise-or-how-to-get-started-01282023-29fd