Game Over, a short story

Game Over, a short story:

You walk through the hallway into a room, it's well lit, empty, except for a table in the center.

On the table is a pristine chess board. There are two chairs.

She walks in, she's beautiful! Her smile and laughter are contagious. She takes her seat, stares you in the eye, and without saying a word invites you to take a seat.

You play many games. Talk about dreams. Day after day, you both return. Your appreciation deepens for her.

You label the door to this room "My Pleasure".

One day, as you're making your move, you look up with a smirk "gotcha now"... And she's gone.

You don't know when she left the table, but she's not even in the room. You get up, search the hallways, other rooms, she's nowhere. A few days go by and everytime you return to the room, it's empty.

Desperate, you continue to return day after day, in vain hope of another match.

Then a week later, she's there again, at the table, smiling, inviting you to play. No explanation of why she left, she doesn't even acknowledge she was missing. She just makes her first move. You play for a few hours and look up- She's gone. Again. Without warning or word.

This repeats several times...over several weeks.

Eventually, you return to find her at the table, but your seat is occupied, and she doesn't even acknowledge your presence.

After a month, you return to the room, and she's there. At the table. Smiling. Inviting you to play.

You hesitate, but take your seat... Before the game fully begins, you look up, and she's gone. Again. Without warning or word.

You wipe the entire game off the table in a fit of rage. Then stand there crying. Leaving a tear stained note "goodbye" on the table, you walk out the door.

Then you lock it.

Seal it.

And throw away the key.

You burn all the memorabilia you'd collected, except one photo. You place that photo of your replacement, the one who took your seat, on the door, as a reminder to never return.

You change the label on the door from "My Pleasure" to "My Pain", then you walk away.

Never again will you return to this room.

Game Over.

PS...

... He still goes back. Every hour on the hour. He pushes aside the sign that reads "My Pain", and the photo of his replacement. He peeks through the window praying she'll be sitting at the table... But she isn't. She never is.

Someday he'll stop going back every hour, and maybe only once a day. Then eventually once a week. Maybe someday he'll make it a month without checking to see if she ever returned...

But she left. She's not coming back. She left him a note that said "Make sure you know I want you in my life"... But the note is all he got. She never returns. He is sure she felt like it was true, but her actions and lack of presence made it clear she didn't mean it. If she meant it, she'd be there.

But he still keeps checking, sees she's still not there, cries for a few minutes, several times a day, and walks back down the hallway...

He may never play chess again, because of her... But he might, in time... Time will tell.

Game Over