Your Move (Winter in the park)

Your Move

There was a cold breeze coming across the park today, the winds whipping up from the north and making it a little chillier than it would normally be at this time of year, not to say that it was not already warm coat weather. the wind just made you feel the need to pull that warm coat a little tighter around yourself.

He looked across the Chess table at his latest victim, no wait that should be opponent, his therapist had told him that calling people you engaged in a friendly game of chess with, were not victims and would not enjoy being referred to in that way.

But what the hell, did his Therapist know, overpaid idiot with a comfortable couch, if the man had any idea whatsoever, he would know there is no such thing as a friendly game of anything.

if he had learned anything from growing up in the eighties, it strike fast, Strike hard, no mercy, damn he loved that film growing up and there was no way that Johnny was the bad guy, I mean seriously that Daniel kid was a total punk and deserved a good beat down.

He let his eyes flick down to the chess board and could see the multitude of possible plays that were available to both him and his victim. the older man in the expensive business suit sat across from him with a look of deep thought plastered on his face as he let his hand rest on top of a single chess piece on the board.

He could tell it was a terrible stall tactic on the part of the other man, he had either realised that he was in an impossible position or he still struggling like a mad thing as he tried to work out which way he could go to get out of this situation.

Of course, if this had not been a friendly game in the park, the man would have been penalised for his indecision and he could have prompted him to hurry up, but it was not and so it allowed both of them to kill time during lunch.

he looked up at the face of the man once more and he saw the smallest flicker of a smile form there for a moment, this was interesting, had his opponent figured out something he had missed? or was it just the face of a poor poker player giving away his hand too early?

The piece moved into place on the board and the man lifted his hand from it, this to signify that he had made his move and was satisfied with it, the simple rule being once you let go, all bets are final.

He looked down at the board once more and surveyed the pieces set out before him, no he could see no change in what he worked out many moves ago and realised that whatever the man thought he had achieved, well he had not.

Without another moment's hesitation, he put his hand on one of his pieces on the board and moved it into place and lifted his head to look into the face of the man before him and spoke.
"Checkmate"

He could hear the audible gasp of shock from the man opposite him, he saw the sudden head movements of disbelief as he watched him look down over the board and frantically searched the board for a counter to the move that brought the game to an end.

"Good game"

The words finally came a few seconds later as the opponent realised he was out of options and had no choice but to accept the defeat he had walked into, the man got up from the stone bench-like seating that sat on either side of the chess tables.

"You Too"

Was offered back, but in no way was meant, it had been like taking candy from a small child, not to say that everyone he had played with in this park was like taking candy from a small child if it had not been so great for his ego, he might have quit by now, but it beat sitting in the break room at work and listening to his co-workers talk about sports or whatever lame television show was hot this week.

The man now moved away without another word, he was sure he would be back at some point in the week, people always seemed to want to push the boundaries of insanity and keep doing the same thing and hoping the results would be different, they not been in the last 8 months, so it seemed unlikely to change now.

Reaching into his jacket he pulled his mobile phone free from the jacket and checked the time, still another thirty minutes of his break left, damn that game must have been quick, he thought to himself

Replaying it over in his head for a few seconds, he figured out that it had indeed been very quick, there were the best games, and he was never into the whole cat-and-mouse thing and playing with your food, no get it done.

He shifted his legs beneath him trying to shift some of the numbness from the cold as he prepared to stand up, might as well head back and grab something to drink then sit here on his own.

Before he could stand though he sensed someone sitting down on the bench seat opposite him and could not help but smile at the thought of the next fly in his spider's web.

He shifted a little on the stone as he tried to make himself more comfortable before looking up and across to where his new.. his train of thought suddenly breaking free of the tracks as he saw a female sitting there.

The first thing that struck him was the colour of her dark black hair that hung down over her shoulder, on her face she wore a pair of glasses that were practical but not quite fashionable and her eyes seemed to glimmer in the midday sun.

He watched in silence as she set up the chess pieces on her side of the board and he instinctively mimicked that action and began to place his pieces in front of him on the board.

"Got time for a game?"

She asked with a sweet tone, the sort of voice that if you heard it on the phone, you might have asked to speak to her mother, even if she looked old enough to be a mother.

He opened his mouth to speak but could not seem to find the words, of course, he wanted to play her, he had never seen her before and it could be a challenge, albeit a quick one, he was sure.

Finally, he nodded an affirmative and she gave a smile in return and gestured towards him with her right hand before speaking,

"Your move"