#chessmaster hex

Death and the Ascendancy of the Soul

Bird(s) in flight.

The camera spanning up.

Some days he remembered everything.

The pride of accomplishment in what they had created.

The uncertainty over what lay ahead, and the feeling of foreboding that he should have paid more attention to.

The staggering arrogance of his employers that resulted in countless lives snuffed out and countless more left to struggle for survival in a world ravaged by radiation and turbulent tides and a near-constant hail storm of moon rocks.

The secret, bitter delight that bubbled up whenever he thought about the revenge he would have upon them one day.

…

And then there were the days when he didn’t remember much at all.

Breakfast? Might not have even happened.

Lunch? There was a seed of some sort stuck in one of his molars so perhaps there had been lunch.

Dinner? Well, what even was time out here in the Junkyard?

Family? If there had been family members, their faces were all lost to him now.

Friends? Well, surely that was whomever he crossed paths with these days.

Pets? Who could own a creature? They merely shared space in this hazy place - sometimes sitting on his lap, sometimes resting at his side, occasionally batting at a piece on the board and earning a scolding for their playful misbehavior.

The game? Ahhh, the game. That never slipped his mind. Chess and music were the two things that connected all the years of his life together. They were the backbone of his reality and they were all that he truly needed to be happy and content with life.

Music, drifting to his ears from wherever people gathered to play.

And chess, exciting his mind and requiring all of his focus when the opponent was as brilliant as he. Yes, now time was truly to be disregarded. Hours could fade away, entire days lost… or, invested rather… in the art of strategy and the quiet contemplation of this move versus that.

…

Someday he would rejoice for he would have his revenge.

Someday he would weep for he would have his revenge.

Someday he would…

…

Time was slipping by, or speeding past perhaps?

Character: 'Chessmaster' Hex