
PHOTO PROMPT © Jeff Arnold
Cheryl led me into her father’s sitting room then melted into the background.
I hated playing chess with Mr. West. He was a surly man who beat me every time. I don’t know why I bothered.
Cheryl had asked me to play as an act of kindness to an invalid, though her father didn’t want for company. The invitation took me by surprise. I didn’t know Cheryl, having only seen her from a distance.
As usual, Cheryl appeared and sat on the floor once the game started.
Studying the board, I caught Cheryl’s eye.
I suddenly understood why I came.
***
Word count = 100
Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Jeff Arnold. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.
Nice one, Trent. I like the possibility of a romance between the MC and Cheryl.
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Thanks. I wrote this after reading Rochelle’s story and I think the romantic angle of her story influenced this….
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Nice tale of intrigue and romance
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Thanks.
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Looks like Cheryl assembled the board with great skill and showed him the right direction 😀
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She is a master at the game, so skilled she was able to make him think that he won when she knows that she was the winner…
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I thought the story had the right amount of intrigue with a sprinkle of kindness for the father. A new romance in the making could be his reward. Nicely done
Isadora 😎
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Yes, a new romance in the making :) Thanks.
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A lovely story, I see the writing on the wall. Maybe Cheryl did too and that’s why she invited him to come and play chess with her father.
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I believe that Cheryl liked what she saw and did that writing on the wall herself ;) That was what I was trying to imply with the Title – she had set it up so she won his heart – checkmate (with a slight pun on “mate”).
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Oops, I missed the title, well-done!
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I like the romantic part – and also felt a knot as I know what it feels to be in obligatory duties like the man playing chess with the dad
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Thanks Prior – Sometimes those duties can help the relationship in the long run :) For some reason all of your comments have been sent to spam, so I am rescuing them one at a time…
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thanks for rescuing my comments –
sniff
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Every so often some get lost…
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Great write.
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Thanks
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This is a wonderful story :)
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Thanks!
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Perhaps, once he eventually wins then Mr West will consider him a good match for Cheryl. I wonder does he know?
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Perhaps. I think he is just figuring out what he needs to do since he just realized what his heart had been telling him all along.
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Potential son-in-laws have gone through greater tests of their mettle, with potential father-in-laws, in pusuit of that one perfect “match.” When he says “jump”, they say “how high?” Perhaps he should work on his game.
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Now that he realizes that he is there to prove his mettle to his potential father in law, perhaps he will have some intensive to up his game a bit. He is obviously playing with an expert of the game, and I am not talking the father/father in law here…
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Cheryl sounds like a lady who knows what she wants!
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She knows what she wants and knows how to set up the pieces to acheive her goal – check and mate ;)
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Whatever she has in mind, this was a fun image, with so few words, the scene literally painted itself in my mind. Nicely done Professor.
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Thanks, Gary. It was a very fun image to work with.
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That’s really cute 💜💜 Trent.
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Thanks, Willow :)
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Pleasure Trent 💜
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Many of us seem to be sensing a whiff of romance – please don’t say we are wrong!
Click to read my FriFic tale!
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My original idea was that bit of romance – she invited him to play chess with her father trying to find a way to get his attention and he discovered that he spent that daily hour of misery to be closer to her.
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The queen is making a play. Nicely done.
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Yes, she is. And she aims to win the game, or better yet, make them both winners. Thanks.
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I’m thinking romance is in the air :-)
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It could be. I think Cheryl invited him over to play chess with her father more so he’d start a relationship with her than with her father…
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Check your mate, is that the intention? Nice end full of possibilities.
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Something like that – I purposefully put that little play on words between the chess terms and “mate” as a romantic partner (or friend or buddy in some cultures) in the title. Thanks.
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Aah, the smell of budding romance :-)
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Could be. I think she had her eye on him for a long time and just had to figure out a way for him to notice her in return.
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I really enjoyed this, Trent. You give us a sense of foreboding then flip it on us, leaving us to come to our own conclusions. Really well crafted.
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Thanks, Dale. I had it one way in my mind, but as soon as it was written I realized people could see other possibilities, something I always strive for in poems, but don’t always think about in fiction. But then, these 100 word stories are kind of like prose poems, aren’t they?
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That they are. And so much must be left out, which is good too. I love when I go in a direction but readers lead me elsewhere.
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Half of the fun is seeing where people take it – with this one most of the people had a dark or creepy, Halloweenish vision in their minds so many of them took this story as going that direction…
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I agree. It is fun to see where people take it. And yes, the day does inspire some to think dark…
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I liked this, I saw it as clear-cut romance, with a hint of mystery, the ending really got me. If you expanded this, I would be very interested to read what happens next.
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Thanks. When I wrote it my thoughts were on the romance side, but then I realized others could read it in other ways, and since most of this weeks FF stories were much darker, I think a lot of people had that dark thought in mind.
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Dear Trent,
The beauty of these short pieces is that it leaves a lot open to the reader’s interpretation. Not a bad thing. Personally, I’m a romantic. ;) Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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The short format does do that. I know you are a romantic – it was your story that made my mind go in this direction :) Thanks.
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A mystery of perhaps a romantic twist. Love it!
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Thanks. My first thought was the romantic twist, but after I wrote it I understood it could be taken in other ways…
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Nice one. You keep just a touch of mystery in there at the end, Trent, which leaves a bit of a barbed hook in the reader. :-)
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Thanks, Diana. There is something mysterious about that photo, so I guess I was echoing it.
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Ooh, now you’ve left that wide open to interpretation. Nicely done.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks. Yes, could be good or bad. Looking at that eye… I’m not sure…
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Now the motives on all sides are open to interpretation. :)
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Yes, all the motives are suspect here… It is all a great game of chess, and I think someone just won.
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Very good Trent, that last line hinting at something sinister going on behind closed doors.
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Thanks, Iain. Perhaps there is, but perhaps it’s just behind the closed doors of someone’s mind. It is all a great game a of chess and someone just won. A less sinister interpretation is that Cheryl, stuck under the wing of her father, had wanted to be noticed by the MC. At the end of the story, she was – he had been playing the unpleasant chess games to be close to her.
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Maybe the only way to the invalid’s heart is to lose enough games…
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Perhaps that, or perhaps the invalid is showing his appreciation by acting in a way the MC thinks is surly.
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