Check
Two men sat out on a deck at night with the soft light of a lantern passing over their game of chess and their faces, and pieces slid silently as Ned settled into a comfortable lead as he usually did when playing black.
“I thought I told you to stop using that opening,” Oliver said.
“If you want me to stop then do something about it”
“Come on, we’ve talked about this”
“About what?”
“You know I don’t have time to look this up”
“Well, too bad.”
“Why are you like this?”
Oliver castled.
“And here’s where I lose.”
“You don’t know that”
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“That’s what you said last time”
Oliver took a bishop. The weather was wonderful and the friends only had a few weeks together. They seemed to have less time every year.
“Well, how’s your year been?”
“Same as it usually is. You?”
“Ditto”
The old friends burst into laughter. They must look crazy to an outsider, Oliver thought.
“Still working that dull, boring, dead-end, no-future job?”
“Hey!”
“Really? Still mad about that, huh?”
The game elapsed into a silence broken only by the chirp of some lost insect. He pushed his knight trying something new this time. He knew nothing would change, but he might as well try.
“Look, can’t we play something else?”
“After this”
“Fine”
Stars shimmered in the cloudless night, easily providing enough light to illuminate the game board without the assistance of a lantern. They looked alone next to each other. Oliver heard there would be a meteor shower but he couldn’t see anything from where he sat on the deck with his buddy.
“Checkers or whatever?”
“What?”
“Can we do checkers or cards or something new or just talk?”
“Chess?”
He retreated his knight.
“I’ll stay away from the opening, I promise”
He sacrificed his pawn.
“I’ll let you play black”
He blundered his bishop.
“I’ll apologize”
“What’s the point of all this? Why are we playing games year after year after year after year when we know you’re better than me and there isn’t a thing we can do about it?”
Trees creaked while the wind whistled. A splinter broke off and fell from a tree onto the board and left a mark.
“Check.”