Hearts In Atlantis

Carlisle. The city where dreams are made, and opportunity blossoms beneath sun-kissed palm trees. At night, when the warm winds blow in from the desert, they carry with them long-forgotten tales of this hallowed place, the very cradle of civilisation.

Alright, maybe not. But it's always a good laugh to hop up to the Border City and see my friends up there, as I'm doing this weekend. Tom and Ivory have recently bought themselves a nice terraced house near the city centre, so a housewarming party's in order.

Any such party has a lot to live up to. Given that past gatherings have seen us set a floating fireball loose in the city, and accidentally declare nuclear war, hopes are high. But before we party like it's 2009, there's other old routines to be observed. Hearts, for instance. It's been far too long since we last sat down as a group and played our favourite card game (the one Alastair loves so much that he takes a screenshot of every victory he achieves in the computer version, and stores them all in a desktop folder called I WIN AT HEARTS).

It feels like old times again. At least while I'm winning at Hearts.