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A quote: “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” ~~ Marcus Aurelius
I’ll start with a story …
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Between the state, aunties and cousins, I was last to choose among what was left of great-grandma’s things.
I didn’t want for something valuable (the state already took that) but I wanted something I could hold that would remind me of my funny, eccentric gram-gram.
From a crumbling box, I laid things out on the table – ticket stubs, broken hand mirror, cheap jewelry – I froze and stared at a tiny bottle hung on a cotton cord. Whatever possessed me, but I pulled the cork and let the liquid drip on my tongue.
“Oh ALICE!” and I fell through the mirror.
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license.
Dupin says: A pawn cannot checkmate a king alone. Neither can a knight. No single piece can checkmate by itself. Not even the queen or even another king can checkmate alone. Not without help. They need support. But two or more pieces provide protection and strength. Together, they can checkmate the king and win.
Child, you think him the evil king and yourself nothing more than a pawn.
Alone, it is true.
You know the other children he’s hurt deeply. You know where he sleeps and when. Gather those children…those pawns. Wait until he sleeps.
Take the butcher knife with you.
Checkmate.
Cameron says: I move a piece, and see a piece move in the mirror. We have dueled over the years and I lose every single time to someone whose skill is incredible. We have only seen each other’s hands.
Then one day, I found a solution. I moved one of my last pawns into Check. The king moved and my other pawn made it to the other side to become a queen which pinned him into place.
There was a flash of light and I’m on the other side of the mirror. Now I wait for the opponent who can free me.
Dupin says: Nice.
Cameron says: Yours as well. I love the writing challenge.
The oldies station in Eureka was playing Murray Head’s “One Night in Bangkok.” Quite appropriate, Elaine considered as she closed the beautifully illustrated version of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
By the hearth, Spartan and one of his lieutenants were bent over a chessboard. From her angle, Elaine didn’t have a clear view of the board, but if she moved a little, she could see its reflection in the mirror over the mantle. Yes, Spartan was about to promote one of his pawns to a queen.
Elaine considered how it echoed her life. She herself had arrived here at Sparta Point a mere pawn in a far greater game, one in which the board was the entire length and breadth of the United States. But now, by making her his wife, Spartan had promoted her to be the queen of his household, Gorgo to his Leonidas.
Now could she help him bring an end to the madness that had gripped the Republic, an insanity as insidious in its own way as Alice’s coronation banquet. She doubted that dealing with the Flannigan Administration would be so simple as shaking the Red Queen into a kitten.
On the other hand, could the motif of Alice waking up from mad nightmare into stable reality be figurative of the solution?
Navig8r says: Again, more tough acts to follow, but here goes.
The planet was in danger.
The steeds of the knights were converted to electric with five turns between moves to recharge. Fuel was cut until the other back row pieces could only move three spaces.
“Pawns are expensive. What to do?”
“Gaze through this glass of technology said the wizard.”
The king gazed, and a single pawn appeared large and mighty. The enemy in the distance appeared small and upside down.
“Excellent! I shall need only two. I shall move where I please, needing neither goals nor strategy.”
The enemy lacked these insights and technology, and still had full mobility.
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