Word: Serendipity

serendipity

[ser-uh n-dip-i-tee]

noun

1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

2. good fortune; luck:

the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for.

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                Teddy glanced over his hand at his opponent.  He used his cards to conceal his grin.  It was the best hand he had had all game.  Every card was set to be played in turn, and every one would guarantee his victory. 

He looked to the table.  It too was overwhelmingly in his favor.  Teddy had three cards on the field, all of them big, beefy creatures that were ready to stomp all over his opponent’s single, frail guardian.  It was not enough to win next turn, but it was a good start.  He went over his next few turns in his mind.  Three turns.  That was all it would take to get him the victory.

The only problem was that he had just ended his turn.  He had, of course, dealt heavy damage to his opponent.  And yet, the other guy did not look in the least bit upset.  Most people would be frustrated after taking so much damage on a single turn, but not this guy.  He still had that infuriating small grin on his face.

“I’m done for now.” Teddy said through his wide, smirking smile.

The other man’s confidence was a ploy.  It had to be.  There was no way he was coming back from Teddy’s substantial lead.  Not this time.  Not this game.  The odds were against the guy, and in Teddy’s favor. 

“Okay.” The other guy said.  “Let’s see what I get here.”

He drew a card off the top of his deck and added it to his hand.  His eyes ran over the colorful cards.  He now held five cards.  Those five cards were unlikely to be able to counter Teddy’s hand of six powerful cards, but Teddy was oddly nervous.  He had lost to five cards before.  But not this time.  Nobody was that lucky.  Nobody.  Especially given how the guy had acquired those five cards.  Five turns ago he had an empty hand, thanks to a nasty thing Teddy had played.  Since then, the guy had not played anything.

“I think I’ll play…everything I have here.” The guy said.

He laid his cards out one at a time for Teddy to see.  No.  There was no way.  It was impossible.  Teddy’s eye twitched.  That five-card combo.  The perfect blend of five separate cards which were individually annoying, but together, won their user the game.  Teddy knew that combo.  He had lost to that combo.  Five times.  Six now, counting the current game. 

Teddy’s eyes bulged.  There was no way.  He could understand drawing the cards and keeping them in his hand until ready to use, but this?  He had to have drawn all five cards one after another.  And this was by no means the first time this had happened.  Of the last six games, the same occurrence had come up three separate times. 

“Whelp, good game.” The guy said.  Teddy just stared and blinked.

“You…you…”Teddy said in disbelief.  “You’re cheating.  You have to be.  Nobody can draw a five-card combo like that.  You have to had stacked your deck or something.”

The guy looked hurt.  “Hey now, how can you say that?  I mean, you shuffled my deck and everything.  I can’t possibly be cheating.”

“I…I…I don’t know how, but you are.  Even if you have four copies of all those cards, they can’t come up so smoothly one after another like that.  Once maybe, but not so many times.  Spill it.  How’re you doing that?  Do you have copies in your sleeve or something?”

“In a T-shirt?”

“Okay, maybe not sleeves, but somewhere.  I know it.”

“Now, now.  No need to get all hot and bothered.  I’m just having a run of good luck is all.”

Teddy narrowed his eyes to slits.  If he could, he would have incinerated the smug look off the other guy’s face.

“Now then, if you’re done complaining, are you done?  Or do you want to try again?”

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Just so we're clear, this is not a traditional card game.  It's a trading card game, if you hadn't guessed it already.  It's not any specific game, just some generic type thing whose rules don't matter all that much.