Waning Gibbous Flashcards
Checkmate.
This is a stupid game.
I thought you liked it.
I liked checkers. The pieces were nice and round. These just look deformed.
Just because they’re not identical doesn’t mean they’re deformed.
They’re dented.
They’ve been loved.
Not by me.
Is it possible that maybe you just don’t like losing?
I only lose because the rules make no sense.
Okay.
Some of the pieces can go diagonally, but others can only go straight, but they all
look like misshapen blobs and I don’t know how you’re supposed to distinguish
between any of them.
The shapes are really different.
And then apparently if you capture one of my blobs, you win, but just that one,
none of the others, and heaven forbid I be able to tell which one it is.
I’ve told you, it’s the king.
And what makes him the king?
He has a crown. Look.
That one has a crown too.
Yes, but that’s the queen. She’s different.
Why?
She can move differently. The king can only move one square at a time, but the
queen is your most powerful piece. She can move almost anywhere.
So she’s more powerful, but if I capture her, I don’t win. It makes no sense
It’s about politics… (MOON groans and falls back on the floor) … and strategy
It’s messy!
We don’t have to keep playing if you hate it so much.
But you like it.
You could like it, too, if you actually tried to learn the rules
You say that every time.
Maybe one day you’ll listen.
Maybe I just don’t like chess.
So do you want to stop playing?
Nothing better to do.
I like chess.
I know.
It’s so elegant. You have to watch everything and how it fits together. Nothing is
insignificant.
Exactly. How do you know what to focus on?
Your move.
(laugh)
What?
I never noticed, but if you look from the right angle, you look like a rabbit
I know.
You know? How? I’ve never noticed, so I couldn’t have told you.
They noticed.
Oh. How come you never told me?
You don’t like when I talk about them.
No.
Some of them say I look like a woman. Or a boy carrying sticks
That’s because they’re stupid.
Like me?
No. You’re different.
How?
You’re up here. With me.
Are you sure?
I don’t know! Sure, yes, why not?
It’s okay, I promise, you’re getting better.
stop it.
No really. It’s complicated.
Don’t be so condescending. Remember, I almost beat you at checkers earlier.
I know.
Give me another hundred years, and I’ll be beating you every time.
A hundred years?
We have to talk about it.
No, we don’t.
It was the ten-thousandth full moon yesterday.
Yes, thank you, I can count.
You’re waning already.
That’s incredibly rude.
You know what I’m saying.
Yes, I know what you’re saying, but we’re not going to talk about it.
Why not?
We’re just not. Okay?
We’re going to have to at some point.
No.
I’m leaving.
Stop that. Stop saying that.
You need to hear it.
I have heard it, now stop.
Listen-
No. Not now.
Then when?
I don’t know. I just… I don’t want to talk about it now.
It’s your move.
You can’t cheat just because you’re in a bad mood.
Who’s cheating? This is the king, right?
Yes.
Great. I win.
No.
Yes, you said that if I capture the king, I win.
Right, but-
Alright, so I’ve captured him. So I win.
No.
Do you need to go over the rules again?
Stop it.
Stop what?
If this is because of what I said earlier-
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Look. You always knew this was temporary. Ten thousand cycles, that’s what they
said
I thought we’d dropped that.
Well, obviously you hadn’t.
I said, I don’t want to talk about it.
You knew this was coming.
That doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.
I’m not asking you to enjoy it.
No, you’re asking me to talk about it, which frankly, is even worse.
So you want to just pretend it’s not going to happen?
Sure.
And go on as normal.
Yes.
And that’ll just make it go away?
Oh, for heaven’s sake, I’m not a child.
I know.
Or an idiot. I’ve been here longer than your tiny mind can even begin to comprehend. I was here for eons before you and I’ll be here long after you’re gone, so there’s no need to be so patronizing.
Okay. I was just trying to be nice.
Don’t. It’s annoying.
What are you doing?
I want to play chess.
Again?
Yes.
We just played.
I know, but you’re being particularly frustrating today, so I feel like beating you at
chess.
Are you serious?
Deadly.
I’m not going to play.
Yes, you will.
Why?
Because if you don’t play there’s no chance you’ll finally beat me instead.
I hate you.
Okay.
You know that, right?
I know.
And I get the first move.
Naturally.
I really hate you.
I know.
Damn it!
