* * * The Chess Master Press space for the next page. * * * I haven't shared anything for a while, so now I'm just starting to post more. Here's a story I started a long time ago and just recently finished. Hope you all like it! * * * 1234 words! :D * * * Story---------------------------------------- I stared at the chessboard in front of me. It was too easy. I had a strategy all worked out-I would take Rob’s rook on e6, then be in the perfect position to trap his queen on the next move. Now all I had to do was stare at the wall and wait while Rob took forever to make his move. “How’s the chess game going, Caleb?” Mom asked, walking into the room. “Pretty well,” I replied, feeling confident. Rob was my chess tutor. Mom had signed me up after I started showing promise. Not that I’d had any say in the matter. I actually wanted to play baseball instead, but I couldn’t pitch very well, so Mom had picked chess instead. I was really good at it, too; I hadn’t lost a chess match to Rob in months. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” There was the thunk of a piece on the chessboard, and I turned around to see where Rob had gone. “Checkmate.” I almost gasped out loud. How had I missed that? While I was busy going after his queen, Rob had devised a cunning trap for my unprotected king. I wanted to hit myself in the forehead! “Caleb, I’m disappointed! You should have seen that move!” Mom scolded. “Sorry, Mom. I’ll do better next time.” Mom was always worried about my progress in chess, and she hated it whenever I lost a match. Sometimes I think she just wants me to win tournaments so she can share in the glory and the reward money. Sometimes I think I’d like to quit chess altogether and take up baseball. But then Mom would be really disappointed, and I don’t want to face that. “Maybe we should talk about some more kinds of checkmates,” said Rob. I sighed inwardly. “All right.” Rob began to talk, and his words muddled together. My mind was asleep. The next day after school, I was standing by my locker when I saw the magical flyer. It was taped to a trash can, but it was anything but trash. BASEBALL TRYOUTS, read the bold headline. I took one of the papers in the folder and quickly scanned the text. It said that tryouts for the school baseball team were the coming Friday after school. I could do it. I could definitely do it. I was actually pretty decent at baseball. I bet I could make it on the team! Except…what about Mom? She would want me to focus only on chess, and baseball would take time away from it.
I shoved the flyer in my backpack. I would figure it out when I got home. Maybe Mom would let me do it after all. The flyer was still there, slightly crumpled in the bottom of my bag. Just do it, I told myself. Just ask her. She might say yes. But I couldn’t tell Mom about wanting to try out for baseball. What if she said no? What would I do then? Think of her trust. Think how disappointed she’d be if she found out you went behind her back. But Mom will also be disappointed if I say I don’t like chess anymore, I thought. Which disappointment was worse? My eyes caught the flyer. I didn’t care what Mom thought. I was going to try out, and Mom didn’t even have to find out. The front door banged, and Mom walked in. “Hello, Caleb! Anything interesting at school today?” “Nothing,” I replied. My mind was made up. I was going to try out for baseball, and I was going to do it myself. Soon, it was Friday morning. That afternoon were the baseball tryouts. I felt the nervousness like a lump in my stomach. Would I make it on the team? And if I did, I would have to tell Mom eventually. “Bye, Honey!” said Mom. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Rob is testing you on your skills today. He’s coming over right after school because he needs more time than a normal lesson. I swallowed. “Today?” The baseball tryouts were today! Mom nodded. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. You’re so good at chess, I know you’ll ace it.” “But today is the day I have homework club after school!” I invented. “So I won’t be able to make it home early enough.” “Well, Rob can’t move it back, so you’re going to have to miss homework club. Go on now, you’re going to be late,” Mom answered. Could Rob have picked any other day? What should I do? I thought of the flyer, and how much I wanted to do baseball. What would Mom do if I didn’t show up for chess? What if I told her I didn’t want to do chess at all? Then I imagined the look on her face, and I didn’t know what to do. There’s still plenty of time to figure it out, I thought. School went by in a flash. The last bell of the day rang, the sound sliced through me as I remembered I still hadn’t made a choice. Mom was waiting for me at home, where I had to pretend chess was my favorite thing in the world and I never wanted to do anything else. No. I was going to baseball tryouts, even if I had to miss chess. Let Mom yell at me all she wanted. I took a deep breath and walked out of school toward the field where tryouts were being held. “Where were you? Why didn’t you show up for your chess lesson?” I cringed at Mom’s angry tone, but kept a calm voice. “I went to baseball tryouts after school today,” I answered. “You went where?” asked Mom. “You tried out for baseball?” “Yes, I did,” I said calmly. “And I got onto the team.” “I didn’t know you liked baseball,” said Mom. “I thought you just wanted to play chess.” “No, you just wanted me to play chess. I told you once I liked baseball, remember? And you wouldn’t let me.” “That was so long ago,” Mom said. “I thought you’d given that dream up.” “Well, bad news for you,” I said. “Dreams die hard.” I climbed the stairs to my room, and Mom didn’t stop me. She was probably too angry to yell at me. I slammed the door to my bedroom and sat down on my bed, sinking into the mattress. While I waited, I absentmindedly fiddled with my chess set. There was a knock on my bedroom door, and a second later Mom entered. “Caleb?” When I didn’t respond, she came over and sat down next to me. “Remember the game you lost to Rob yesterday?” she asked. “Why did you lose?” Why was Mom talking about this now? “Because I was after his queen and didn’t see him checkmate my king.” “That’s right,” Mom replied. “Caleb, I’m sorry. I was so focused on you becoming an amazing chess player not because you wanted to, but because I wanted you to. I was so busy working towards my own goals that I completely lost sight of yours.” I looked at her strangely. Mom was apologizing? This was unexpected. “That’s okay, Mom.” I pushed the chessboard aside. “Will you play baseball with me? I need to practice, if I’m going to be on the team.” This made Mom grin. “Come on. Let’s go play baseball.”
