Dragonfly by Jax Hill 

It was late November, and now it felt like winter. Once there had even been a snow flurry!

Thanksgiving was just a week away. I figured, the way Torstein got such a charge out of helping people, we’d all be working at the charity dinner serving turkey and mashed potatoes. But he said a lot of good-hearted people would be doing that. What we could do, any of us who wanted to, was run down to the casinos. The casinos for Thanksgiving!

There were several Indian casinos about 40 miles north of the city, on the river. They were riverboat casinos, and they all ran together like one big gambling complex.

“Who needs company on Thanksgiving more than some poor soul who has nowhere better to spend the holiday than a casino?” Torstein asked us.

“Maybe they’re at the casino because they like to gamble,” Franz said. “Maybe they won’t want our company.”

“And probably the casinos are serving some kind of turkey buffet,” Maggie said. “What would we do?”

“Give away money,” Torstein said. “We’ll pay people to come and eat at our Thanksgiving dinner. The worst most casino-addicted souls who’ve lost all their money and can’t stop gambling will come in and eat with us.”

“How are we going to pay them?” Ferdy asked. “And who’s going to pay for the dinner?”

“Those are excellent questions my friend,” Torstein said. “Will you get on it right away? Andy and Pete’s step-mom would be a good resource. Umm, Maggie, maybe you could contribute? Bruiser, would any of your friends...?”

“Wait a minute now,” Phyllis said. “You’re going to feed their gambling addiction? They come in to get money so they can go gambling after they’ve lost everything? How’s that helping them?”

“Well, my hope is, during the Thanksgiving dinner, we’ll get a chance to talk to them, and maybe convince them that their best option is to give up the gambling and go home to their family, or stick with us. What do you think?”

“I think we’re gonna lose our shirt,” Ferdy said. “There might be 10,000 people at those casinos, and everyone of them will want free money.”

“I bet those casinos can’t hold 5,000 people all together. It’s not Las Vegas. And I imagine only the poorest and hungriest will come to our dinner. Let’s say we offer them $10 each.”

“Five,” Ferdy said automatically. “They’re getting dinner, too.”

“All right, five. Here’s the deal though, we don’t tell anyone what we’re up to, except that we’ll be serving a dinner. I don’t want anyone just showing up there for the free money. I want the real gamblers, the really lonely folks who just don’t have any other place to be on Thanksgiving.”

“Quality folks,” Ferdy said.

“Exactly!” Torstein said. “They’ll be our honored guests. Now, who knows anyone at the casinos? How can we set up a tent or something where people can find us at dinner time? And who can cook the turkeys?”

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