Janet Flash: Chess

by Michael Seese


It's been a while since I've written here. As I mentioned before, I've been busy polishing up a few projects. But then along came Janet Reid and another of her 100-word contests, honoring the "hilarious" book Tweet by David Kedson. We'd gotten back from vacation until Saturday afternoon (bear in mind, she posts the contest Friday mornings), and I didn't read about it until Saturday night, about 12 hours before the deadline.  

The five words were:

tweet
chess
press
news
lad

I immediately thought of the idea for "Chess," and scratched it out in about 20 minutes before the deadline.

Chess seems hard. I like Chutes & Ladders better. But I'll try it. I like learning new stuff. I just wish Jeff was here. He's the best big brother. Always teaching me things. Impressive things, like how to load and fire a gun. He warned me the stuff Tweety Bird does would get Sylvester killed in real life. I wish I'd listened.

I lost already? Wow, chess really is hard. I'm not sure what “best two out of three” means. But I'll try again. The scary man in the black robe says it's the only way I'll ever get Jeff back.

Let's see what Janet says tomorrow, or thereabouts.

Flash! Friday "Checkmate"

by Michael Seese

Another Friday, another Flash! Friday. Writing is a funny thing. I thought my entry for last week was pretty strong. And yet, it didn't even receive a mention. I point this out not in a whiny sense; I'm always just amazed at how much variation there is among readers' personal tastes.

Let's hope I fair better this week.

This week, this was the magic photo:

 























And this is "Checkmate."

“Have you contemplated how proof of extraterrestrial life would impact Christianity?” he said, felling a bishop with his pawn.

They’d been playing this game so long, he knew the next move. The next hundred, in fact.

“Faith, like all living organisms, adapts,” the old man replied, countering with a knight.

He also knew which buttons to push.

“That sounds suspiciously like, dare I say, evolution.”

“You choose your words. I’ll choose mine.”

But the elder’s confident voice betrayed a slight catch. He knew the game was drawing to a close. Even so, he could not resign. Too much was at stake.

“And what of Jesus Christ? Admission to heaven requires belief in Him. Are we to assume He lived, preached on countless other worlds?”

“Enough!” the old man snapped, sweeping an arm across the board. The pieces scattered, then one by one returned to their respective, necessary places. Science looked at his age-old adversary Religion, and smiled. Knowingly.

“Checkmate.”

Feel free to comment on "Checkmate."