joeislove's 100-word story for September 30, 2025

joeislove wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on September 30, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

I hadn't played in years. We were playing for fun, something I never learned to do. I realized that I had been thinking for 37 seconds and caught myself glancing at where the clock should have been. Nothing there but a coffee cup and an ashtray full of crushed-out butts. When I looked across the table, she had that crinkly smirk. She knew how hard I was working to not take this game seriously. I laughed. We both knew I had long forgotten how to have fun playing chess. She didn't mind. I forked her queen with my knight. "Check."

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