The Grand Master
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July, 1976
Grand Master Heidi Kurt was fumbling with the chess pieces on the chess board when the noise floated in.
“Let me through,” Someone demanded. Heidi looked up to see a young man struggling with the security men.
“lass ihn durch.”
“Er erlaubte uns nicht, seine Tasche zu durchsuchen”
“Na und? Suchst du, nachdem du seine Tasche durchsucht hast, auch seinen Hodensack? lass ihn in Ruhe!”
The young man walked to Grand Master Heidi Kurt and bowed. Heidi gestured at him to take a seat.
“Grand Master, when I learnt that you’ve come to America, I couldn’t believe it. I have been waiting for this day.”
“Good. Good. You play?” turning a glance to the chess board.
“Very little. I was taught many years ago by my father but I never had much practice because he died too early.”
“A shame. Sorry for your loss. Well, it's not too late to start now. Don’t worry, I’ll be easy on you.” Heidi assured.
“You were once a general in the army…”
Heidi raised a hand.
“While we play, you can spill your thoughts. Don’t worry; I’ll let you win the first one. By the way, what is your name?”
The young man moved his white king pawn to e4. “Jack. Jack Nicholson.”
“Hmm. I know this move.” Heidi replied and moved the black bishop pawn to f5. “By the way, that name sounds familiar.”
“So you recollect the name?.” Came with reply with his pawn on e4 taking the black pawn on f5.
Heidi smiled. "I do know one Jack though. He used to be an old friend. A very predictable one too.” Black knight pawn to g5
“Used to? What do you mean?” The young man looked up, sounding alarmed.
“I mean he’s dead. Please, we can talk while playing. It’s been a while someone tried this trick on me.”
“So even in death, he is still your friend?” ignoring Heidi's request that he continued playing.
“Well, that was an old time ago. Friendships didn’t matter when national interests come into play.”
“I don’t understand. What national interests? I thought you said he was your friend.”
“It’s old story. This game has a sure ending. I hope you know what to do. I made this very easy for you.”
“Easy rewards don’t last”
Heidi looked up surprised. “That’s a funny thing to say.”
“Why?”
“Because Jack used to say that. He taught me chess, you know. He was one of the brightest minds I had ever encountered. I know you Americans might not understand but Jack was a dear friend to me. He really cared about me. Unfortunately, he was Jewish and I was Nazi. The country must always come first. That’s why I go around the world, winning chess championships for my country.”
“Yet, you killed him.” White Queen to h5.
“Young man. Life is like a game of chess. We both knew what you were going to do. I could have taken measures to prevent it but I didn’t. I simply played along. He also knew that his end would come at my hand. Yet, he chose to believe in love. Such foolish ideas.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he could have run away or…”
“He loved you.”
“Excuse me, I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“You do. I watched everything through the cellar. I am Jack Nicholson jnr., the only surviving child of Jack Nicholson.”
“What have you come to do? Kill me? You’ll never get out of here alive. Guards!”
Jack simply opened his bag to reveal its content. Heidi opened her eyes in horror. “I never planned to get out of here alive.”
German Translations
lass ihn durch Let him through
Er erlaubte uns nicht, seine Tasche zu durchsuchen He wouldn't allow us search his bag
Na und? Suchst du, nachdem du seine Tasche durchsucht hast, auch seinen Hodensack? lass ihn in Ruhe So what? After you search his bag, are you going to search his balls too? Let him be
This is my entry for the RANDOM FICTION CONTEST by @honeydue
Thanks for reading.
Blessings.
[Image source: Pixabay]
Piece of art 👌
Thanks for the compliment (and resteem)
I'm very grateful
Blessings
Wanted to make my presence known for having read your entry. I loved the setup and the story of this entry. I will probably take part in similar contests in the future as this gives a lot of experience when you have a lot of different Authors participating. :)
Smiles
Thanks a lot.
Yeah, taking part in contests helps you to think widely. Even if you don't win, your writing skills will greatly benefit from the constant practice
Thanks for stopping by
Blessings
A nice dialogue, you set the scene well although predictable I did not mind it since it had me still wondering if I was wrong and provided enough backstory/ reasoning for me to continue reading.
Copy.
Copy boss.
This is the second time a story of mine is predictable to you. Funny thing is, after I read your comment, I had an idea. I could have made Jack a loiter and have Heidi call him to herself.
Well, it's too late now.
I'm glad you like it
Over and out
It is tough to make a story unpredictable and make sense, I imagine, I would not know, even though you know the destination does not mean you can't enjoy the scenery . :)
Aye on that one
Anyway, it's a personal challenge.
I'll try to write a story that isn't predictable. When I do, I'll let you know
Haha, your story is the opposite of mine, and yet the same. In hindsight, I can see mine is a love story, and yours is the flip side of love - hate & revenge. But again because of love.
Smiles
I can't help 'stealing' other people's ideas.
Even the Murder Is A Community Service (Fiction) that you upvoted was birthed from a similar story you posted sometime ago.
These days, I struggle with ideas so I read as much as I can and try to join two and two to get two hundred and two
Haha
Thanks for stopping by
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