A Game of Patience

Dealing seven neat columns on the oak coffee table is the only dependable way to wind down after a day of supervising the public. I walked back from the library before dusk settled, pulled the worn miniature deck from its cardboard tuck box, and began laying out the tableau. Solitaire doesn't require a committee, and the cards never talk back. When the black eight had nowhere to go, I gave the pile a sharp tap with my knuckles and slid a red queen into an open slot. Three crisp flips from the draw pile yielded the ten of diamonds. Orderly logic always pays out, provided you don't cheat yourself.