The Burning Wheel

My memories flicker in my brain like a film strip. The accompanying cassette speaks to me on each still, voicing over the events until that sound. That dreaded BEEP to remind the sleepy teenager next to the projector to rotate to the next still.

There is no clear order for the stills. I don't know what comes next as each beep rings out. But I know something is coming because the cassette doesn't really have an end. It just asks you to flip over to the other side to continue.

Over and over again the cassette gets flipped and the film strip never runs out. My memories are a science class run by a substitute teacher dozing in the corner. The tinny voice of the mono speaker reminding me of each moment. Just barely keeping me awake in the dark, too warm room.

BEEP

Dice rattle on a standing table in a crowded convention hall. The air is both cold and warm from the struggling AC fighting with the thousands of bodies generating heat. Heat and sweat, which stinks. It just stinks.

But the dice rattle and you shout a retort as blades are drawn. For the first time you remember roleplaying being given teeth. The clever thing you say strikes a point towards resolving who gets the sword. It is going to be you or the dwarf.

Fuck that dwarf.