It was once the cards were on the table that he knew just where he stood.

The odds were not good, his chances slimming as the minutes ticked by.

He looked around and realised the cards were well and truly stacked against him.

It was co-operate or most likely perish, and that scenario he didn’t embrace.

He was the number one counter-espionage agent; he had skills and a reputation to uphold. The nation would be depending on him to come through with a victory at whatever cost to himself.

His immediate problem was the handcuffs; then he estimated there was an issue with getting to the toilet and the very likely outcome of wetting himself, which he knew, would not go down well with his mum when and if he made it home. His mum was a stickler for good hygiene practice, and wetting one’s pants was just not on.

The cuffs were tight, they cut into his wrists and were stopping the blood flow to his hands, and he could feel them less and less.

He knew he needed to draw an ace from somewhere and up his sleeve was always a possibility even though his captors had removed his shirt anticipating such a move.

He had to think quickly, not an easy path to take for a man who thought less and less because he found the more he thought about any situation, the worse it got and right now thinking about his problem wasn’t helping, in fact, he was feeling the tinges of depression circling him.

Then a break. A guard entered, held up a bottle of water to his lips, and he drank eagerly. As he did, he brought up his hands between the guards legs and crushed his manly bits. The man went down clutching at what he hoped was not the end to his manhood, as our hero shifted and seized the keys from his belt and in a flash had the cuffs off and was making for the door.

The cards he felt at that instant were shuffling more in his favour as he had played his ace; the guard was still on the floor caring little about him and lot about his himself.

It was unfortunately at this point that his house of cards began crumbling about him and everything went black.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2020/09/13/sunday-writing-prompt-13th-september-cards/