Dealing the cards

I think our life fell into the place of what cards we were delt. 1

When I, Hari, short for the cursed name of Harrietta, Julie, George and Dan, were in first grade, we played Go Fish. It was New Years Eve, obviously making this time special. Each of our parents had dragged us to a lame party,where they promised fun and happiness. But as usual, they abandoned us and sat at the dining room table together, drinking wine and eating fancy shrimp. We were the only 4 kids there, stuck in the basement. Thus, left the choice of conversing with each other and playing with a deck of cards, we chose the cards. 2

George decided upon Go Fish, and delt out the cards. When he was finished dealing, we all flipped up our cards at the same time, and the exact moment the ball dropped in Times Square.3

Years later, I figured out what everyone's cards had been. 4

George had recieved 3 Aces, a few 4's and 5's, then accidentally forgot to give himself a card. During his teen years, he was Mr. Popularity. He always got girls, went to the hottest parties, and was MVP in every sport he played. Later on though, his life began crumbling. He made bad mistakes in college, like stealing others' girlfriends and trying pot. Later in life, he lived out in the streets, and unfortuantly, died in a car accident as he was crossing the road.5

Julie had gotten all Kings and Queens, which obviously made her queen. She was the female equivalent of George: gorgeous, popular, and athletic. Although, instead of crashing later in life, she became a highly sucessful business woman with a nice, wealthy husband and fine children.6

Dan had gotten mostly 2's 3's and 4's, which did not produce good results. He lived in an overcrowded apartment building, owned by a man who felt bad for him. Dan worked at a frozen food processing center and did not get a good pay. He also suffered from nasty health problems which soon racked up his health bill, and caused him to weave into a web of debt.7

And me? I had gotten 9's and 10's that night, and I had lived a nice life. I had good, loyal friends during my school years. I was successful in college and got a degree in art. I later painted pictures of local scenery for state highway welcoming centers. I entered a few of my creations into art contests to make a few more bucks, and some of my art even made it to mueseums. 8

Who knew that on that one New Year's night, we had all unwillingly accepted our fate, in a game of Go Fish.