The Game of Chess

Once on a chess board, there was a pawn. He always had only one goal, to do something heroic and save the King. That’s what he was told. That was what mattered to him because that was what he was told mattered. In every battle, he imagined himself going into enemy territory and killing the enemy King, as the one who kills the enemy king was considered the true warrior. Or at least reach the end of the line so that he could be promoted to a knight or a castle or maybe even higher. His goals were clear but deep down he had uncertainty. He did not want to ask anyone, for two reasons. One he did not have anyone who would listen to him and second, he knew about the fate of ones who questioned their superiors.

He did not show his thoughts to anyone but he kept thinking about them all the time. The more he thought, the more uncertain he became. His curiosity was leading him nowhere but he could not give up on it.

One day, in a normal battle he always had, he got a weird feeling. He felt like he was not doing anything, instead, someone else was commanding him. His first thoughts were, that his officers, most likely The King were commanding him. This thought comforted him for a while, long enough to finish the battle. New thoughts started to pounder him after the battle. He started to think, that either it was himself fighting in the battle or someone else was using him for fighting. If the King was doing so, it was alright, because that would fulfill his soul task, but what if King himself was used like that?

All these thoughts were making him go crazy. He started to feel like an idiot thinking about all that. He decided to let all these thoughts go as they were doing nothing well. He stopped thinking and went to sleep as everyone else was doing so.

The next day, there was a battle once again and he had the same feeling he had the day before. This time more intense and certain. This time he was sure he was not doing anything himself. In a mere second, he was killed by an enemy Knight and taken off the battleground. Normally he felt bad when he failed to be the one to save the king but not this time. This time he was stuck in his thoughts. He looked around himself, and he found himself alone, except for one enemy pawn. He hated black enemy pawns and his heart wanted to punch Black but his mind jumped in. A new thought, a new idea. He had never wondered why they were fighting. He never cared, all he cared about was saving his king, this time he decided to talk to Black.

“Hello Black,” he said.

“Hi…. White” came an unexpected and calm reply.

“Well, I was wondering, why exactly we fight and kill each other repeatedly. Do you know anything about this?” White said.

Black gave him a strange look. White almost regretted asking that question.

He was almost going to say Never mind but….

“If that’s what you want to know, I don’t know. What I know is, all Blacks have to secure The Black King and kill The White King.” Black said.

“Well, we are told vise versa of it. Have you noticed, that we look the same, just different in color? Then why should we fight? Do we have a choice?” white said.

“I don’t think we have a choice. It just seems like someone else just controls my moves.” Black stated.

That weird moment struck White. It meant both had that same weird feeling. It also meant that White had found someone who shared similar thoughts, just on the opposite side of the royalty.

He was fueled up by his thoughts when Black called at once.

“Look UP!!!!!”

He had never looked up, all he was taught was to look straight into enemies. This time, with a lot of effort, he looked up. The scene left him speechless. There was a huge figure, just as huge as thousand times himself. The actions of that huge thing made him go numb, it was attacking his people, just picking them up and throwing them around the battleground. He could not just sit there and wait for his turn. He wanted to help, maybe in that way, he might become a hero. Still, what he could do alone?

No, he was not alone anymore. He had an alley now if one doesn’t mind him being Black. He looked towards Black and was going to ask for his help. He found Black gazing upon something. White looked in that direction. He located a similar figure attacking Black Army.

“Those monsters are attacking our people. Or….” White was saying when a realization struck him.

“Or controlling all of our people,” Black spoke first.

“Yes, that’s it. Those monsters have captured our people and they control us. Maybe they want our lands, so they make us fight with each other so that in the end we finish up and they rule here.” White voiced his thoughts.

“Yes, that explains much. Still, there remains a question. We have seen their power. Did not you see them picking up that mighty White Knight and throwing it out?” Black stated.

“Hmm, it means, if they wanted our land, they can simply take it without any problem. Then why do they make us fight? What do they want?” White agreed.

“I have no answer to that. Maybe we should ask our officers. Maybe they know better than us.” Black said.

“I don’t consider that a good idea. One of the Whites asked The Knight about why we fight. He was called a traitor and no one heard of him ever since. Maybe we should find evidence ourselves and show it to our people.” White said.

“That seems favorable. I consider it a start of a friendship. Right?” Black said.

“Friendship accepted. I have a plan. Let us wait till the end of the battle. When everyone will sleep, we will meet here and we will go out and look for answers.”

“Agreed.”

That was the end of the conversation. White was happy to himself, as he had someone to talk with, at the same time, he was stunned by the new revelation. He was waiting for the battle to end so that he could go out and look for answers. He did not have to wait very long. Soon The Blacks lost.

It was a celebration time for The Whites. But, This time, White was not in the mood for any celebration. He just wanted answers. After that, he might celebrate. He just stood in his place and waited for all celebration to end and everyone to sleep.

As everyone faded away, he left the board and started to look for Black. He found him waiting, surely Blacks had lost, so he did not have to wait that long as White did.

“Ready for some adventure?” asked Black.

“Yes, I am,” White replied.

“Let’s go.” Black led the way.

White had never been out so he did not mind Black taking the lead. For the first time, he noticed that they were not a world themselves, instead they were living in a small part of the huge world around them. What if this huge outside world was just a tiny part of some other huge world? He thought to himself.

“This is so big!!!!” Black exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s so huge. Well, where should we go?” White asked.

“Ah, I don’t know. Let’s try to get off this huge platform and see what lies beyond it.” Black said, pointing towards the land on which their battleground situated.

“That might work. Let’s go.”

They reached the edge of it. It was a long way down, a very long way down.

“I don’t think we should jump down. It can break us into pieces.” White said.

Black considered it for a while. “maybe not” he replied. “follow me.”

“Okay.” white said and followed.

They kept walking along the edge for a while. Black came to a stop. There was a long rope hanging all way down to the bottom.

“Nice plan.” White complimented.

“Thanks.” came a short reply.

They used that rope and started to climb down. Once at the bottom, White started to wonder, Is this just this or much more lies beyond his range of vision? It was because, from the bottom, everything seemed even bigger.

“This is even bigger. Maybe there is more across all this.” Black said.

White had almost forgotten that he was with someone who had similar thoughts, so no problem voicing his own.

“That might be true. Maybe what we see right now is just a small part of another huge world.” White spoke.

“Who knows,” Black replied.

Enemy or not, White was feeling at home with Black. He always had a hard time fitting around with his people. He was surprised that he found a very good friend in his own enemies, he always wanted to fight and defeat them.

“I might be able to answer you.” came a voice from the darkness around them.

“Who is it?” Black said.

“Show yourself,” White said, almost ordering like his officers did.

Something moved in the shadows and a white figure stood before them. Almost like them.

“Is this you? Mr. White, who was called a traitor? I thought they executed you. Did not they?” white voiced all questions he could think of.

“Well, no one did. No one can. They just scare you with your own fear.” Mr. White replied.

“Okay. Then who are those monsters who control us and make us fight?”

“They are humans. They make us fight, as fun, as a game for themselves. They call this game Chess.”

“So our life I just a game for them?” this time Black spoke.

“You got it right. Yes, our life is just a game, they just play with us. One who plays Chess is called The Chess Master. He is the one who really controls everything, not your kings. Your kings are just an instrument for them. All of you are. They can make anyone of you, anything. A Knight or Even The King. They control everything.” Mr. White explained.

“Wow… that is crazy. It means that everything we were told was just a lie. We fought, not for our King but for the fun of those Humans.” White said.

“And they just control us, no one controls them. Am I right?” Black said.

“Maybe not. I had been out here for a long, I learned their language. I heard one of them say, “Everything is just a game of Chess, one chooses what he becomes on the board. Everyone wants to be a king but no one knows that The Chess Master controls Kings.’” Mr. White answered.

“That’s confusing. What does exactly it mean?” White asked.

“I leave that upon you to decide. Take whatever meaning you want. The choice is always yours.” Mr. White said and faded again into the darkness.

“That’s crazy man, I can’t handle all this. It’s enough. Let’s go back to our places.” Black said.

“Neither I can. Let’s go back.” White replied.

They made their way back. White thought, “Should I tell others? Would they believe me? Or should I just run away? Or live with Mr. White? Or just live as I always did?”

“Let’s wait, Let’s wait,” White said and went to sleep with his comrades.