Games of Chance

Games of Chance

On the day before the assignment due date, the history teacher reminded Jasmin of the deadline to submit her project. Mr. Smith’s declaration that he had already received the reports from all the other students shocked Jasmin into a panic. The high school co-ed had put the tedious project at the bottom of her priority list since receiving it a month earlier and had forgotten about it.

For the assignment, each student had to pick one of twelve topics. She had chosen ‘Games of Chance’ from the otherwise uninteresting selection.

The grade twelve student rushed home after school to start her research on the internet. Overconfidence in her ability to disguise plagiarism led to procrastination and ultimate disaster. Her heart sank when she surfed the web. The internet did not provide sufficient information to fill the minimum required ten pages of the report.

After a nervous glance at the clock, Jasmin shoved her laptop and instruction sheets into her schoolbag. She called her mom’s cell phone but had to leave a voice message, which she followed up with a text. Shaky fingers scrawled the exact words, ‘I will be at the library late to finish a project,’ on an unopened white envelope containing a utility bill. Strategic placement of the note against a tall vase of flowers in the middle of the dining table ensured notice by her mom upon entering the apartment.

Overwhelmed by the volume of research necessary for the subject matter, Jasmin dashed out of the apartment building. She sprinted along the sidewalk, toting her heavy bag toward the library a few blocks away. A glance at her watch alarmed her. She only had about four hours before the library closed…

A paranormal tale from the book PHENOMENA by Kamil Ali.

Click the links below to read this intriguing saga of a girl’s terrifying collision with destiny in her last-minute desperate attempts to cheat on her school assignment…