Once upon a time in a typical far away land lived an island full of animals. Birds  and bats, rhinos as well. There was a clear divide on this island: A side with people. And a  side with not.  

The side with people was beautiful. Man made mountains, and lakes of chlorine  flowed to make the island less city and more nature. The government had to hide the fact  that they had torn all the mangroves down to make space for living, but then much later  spent billions rebuilding, to seem more green and clean. 

The people that lived here were out of the ordinary. Old women and little orphan  girls. A land of the wise, and the soon to be. The people almost acted brain washed  slightly. They’d live on the pretty side of the island for a couple hundred years, and once  the mountains fell apart, and the rhinos disappeared, the people would switch to the  other side and make it seem like nature just took its course to return to its natural beauty. 

Typical human nature. Make do with the home your born into until you get tired of  the niceness and make it seem as if its all bad all of a sudden even thought just a few  moments ago it was brand new and amazing. Maybe this is just the bipolarity of life.  

In this typical far away land the old women loved the game of chess. It was this  weird thing that the government had instilled in its people. A game of war so that no war  would actually ever take place. In other words, a battle for the lazy. Who never fight. Or  sweat. Or exercise. Just comfy chairs and long stares. What could a girl not like about  that?  

Chess was so big in this island city, that the government built a big round circle in  the centre of the land. It had floors tiled with chess board bases, and seats that were like  chess pieces. 

The weather in this land never changed as well, so hence, on one fine typical day,  of a clear sky with nothing to imagine about in the transparent clouds, a little girl played a  game of chess with her granny. It was her first game, and boy was she excited. She had  to wait until she was 90 months of age. It was the law, and no one in this land did  anything but abide by it. People of the government were mesmerising and pretty. Easily  convincing, and so let’s get back to the real story.  

So this little girl is sitting there dangling her legs. She is playing black, the safe  team. The one who sits back and observes as her opponent, Miss Granny, begins the  battle. Oh how she dreamt of this moment. After months of reading and seeing, watching  and imagining what moves she’d make. She was so stunned now in the moment, how  she did not know what to do. Like an exam you study for, but once you reach there, you  remember absolutely nothing. What were pawns, and could she move the queen  wherever she desired? All of a sudden once she got to this chair she started to feel  claustrophobic. Her elbows had no space to rest, and her back ached as her mind was  undecided. This dream of hers was now reality, and it just didn’t taste as flavourful as she  pictured.  

“Come on young one. Don’t be scared now. I’m waiting for you to show me what a  woman you have become,” laughed Miss Granny. She could tell in her little one’s eyes,  she was scared. She didn’t sympathise with the girl, for she was raised by tigers.  

“Okay. Okay. I’ll go. Just tell me one thing,” the girl asked her Miss Granny.  “Hmmm,” said Miss Granny, “now what in the world more do you want to know  from me.” The girl thought of asking her Miss Granny, how it felt like her first time playing.  Was she scared of the loss, or expecting it. Had she practiced in her mind, and studied  tricks. Had she pictured the taste, or smell of it. But here she sat. Ready to ask a question  that just wouldn’t come out. She crossed her arms, and looked down, slouching deeper into the chair shaped as a black pawn.   

“Abelone. You’ve got to breathe. I know whats running on in that little brain of  yours. Just play please. I’ve got places to go and people to meet. And if your not ready  today then lets just meet tomorrow,” said Miss Granny.  

“Oh,” sighed the little one. A little disappointed. She didn’t want her first time to be  with someone who just wanted to get it over with. She wondered to herself is this was old  age feels like. Did things that once excited you, now just feel useless. Like the adrenaline,  the wonderings, all of its just gone?  

“Tomorrow it is then,” the girl smiled, and quickly put all the pieces back into their  little bags, before her Miss Granny changed her mind.