Your Move

Chapter 16 - Meanies

"Fine. You can join the club," Richard conceded reluctantly.

"Yay! Now get me into the Canadian Chess Open."

"Uhh... no. Are you crazy? That's in less than two weeks!"

"Yeah, I know."

"And you're a Little."

"So I've heard."

"That's just not possible. I can't get a Little into the CCO in two weeks! In two weeks! I can't even get you the federation membership you need in order to join any competition!"

I put both hands on the chessboard and leaned forward dramatically. "Do you want the winner of the Open to be a VChess member, or," I paused and grinned for effect, "a RICHMOND Chess Club member?"

From what I'd seen online, Richmond was VChess' greatest rival, so I made sure to emphasize their competitor's name. If it doesn't work out here, I can always go with the other one.

"Of course one of ours, but— but what you're asking for just isn't possible in such a short amount of time. Look, how about I get you into the BC Open in six months' time?"

"Twist some arms, pull some strings. I'm sure if you don't manage, RICHMOND will. Get me into the CCO or the only place you'll be seeing me is on podiums after demolishing your precious players." I batted my eyes at him for effect.

Richard sighed. "Okay okay, fine."

"Good. I'm glad we're on the same square." I pointed to C5. "Do you see your blunder now?" I motioned at the chessboard.

"Yeah, move 19?" He slid a finger across the top of the clock, and the pieces morphed to their position on the board just before he captured my pawn.

"Mhmm. Pawns can sometimes be the most powerful pieces on the board. Sometimes capturing one that's seemingly hanging can lose you the game."

"Yeah, I can see that. Your point is?"

"My point is that pawns are a really good analogy for the people that you Amazons call 'Littles'. You often underestimate us."

"Ok that's enough nonsense. Get outta here." He batted his hand as if to swat a fly.

I shrugged, hopped off the chair, and led Mike out of the room as the pieces on the chessboard reset themselves.

When we got back in the car (and I was strapped into my car seat), Mike offered to take me to a nearby seafood restaurant to celebrate my new membership, and I happily accepted.

Mike drove for some twenty minutes through downtown Vancouver, before we pulled up to a parking lot about a hundred meters from a seaside restaurant surrounded by beach. A giant neon sign beside the building identified the place as "Surf's Delight" and advertised a large encircled flashing "We're OPEN" underneath.

Mike parked and opened the door for me, but instead of picking me up like he'd been doing all along, he asked if I wanted to walk.

"Get some exercise, stretch your legs out?"

"Sure."

I walked beside Mike to the restaurant across a sand-blown wooden boardwalk laid atop the sand, enjoying the cool ocean breeze that blew through my hair. If it wasn't for my wet diaper, this walk would have been picture perfect. If only I could film this. Wait, does this cyrano have a camera? Cyrano, can you record what I see as a video?

Apparently it could, because a small red dot started blinking at the top-right corner of my vision, and a timecode started to tick to the left of it. I filmed the doors of the restaurant sliding open automatically on our approach, revealing a modern-looking, Amazon-sized setting. Like EVERY other building I've seen here.