A changing of the guard was on the menu for the country after the exciting national election in 2024. The chess and checkers duo sat beneath a stately live oak, where they played their first game of chess after the election.
“You win some, you lose some,” the democrat declared. “This outcome hurts more than the first time around. Yet I’ve found that I’ve been forced to examine my own life more as a result, and also to do some deep questioning of our government and the very future of our nation. It feels like we could be in for rough times.”
The republican replied, “I feel your pain sir. Been there and done that!”
“I feel like such a loser, but I’m also angry at the thought of the changes that loom,” the democrat whispered, as he slid a pawn forward.
The republican replied, “Cultures and civilizations are always changing, as the people exert their will and desires, for better for worse. Your candidate was weak and unsuited for the job. The American people saw that and responded appropriately, in my view. The change coming will be like a nor-easter blizzard preparing the land for winter’s slumber. A wild train to traverse the land, hauling and delivering change. The people are exhausted and crave change. The democratic party has consistently made the wrong choices for many years. That’s what the Don is all about, my friend.”
“Thank god for the supply of superlative Scotch I’ve laid up” the democrat said, as he prepared his vaporizer device for use. “My friends agreed with me that we’re all in a state of shock about it all. Our boundless joy and hope turned to ashen despair and gloom in the course of one day in America. Do we accept it or resist? Why can’t life be easy? It seems like the world’s a madhouse, and angst and dread serve as main course in the commissary of our psyches. Am I rambling and sounding pitiful?” he said as he positioned a knight for duty.
The republican responded, “Not at all. Let your feelings help instruct you in your path forward. The king’s wall, if carefully dismantled, can and will serve up sturdy stone and timber, which will, if used prudently, help fortify the village itself. The key is to recognize that the nation must be efficient and strong. Our planet is not on a pleasure cruise through this cosmos. All we can hope for, as individuals, is day to day sanity and inner peace. We both know that your party has good ideas as well as bad ones. The same holds for my party. In theory, democracy works best when debate and compromise are the rule. A cooperative spirit moving forward will make the changes to come good ones. There are bound to be painful moments, but that is the story of man.”
“I feel for my grandchildren. Their future doesn’t seem bright if we don’t address the climate issue,” the democrat stated. “Yet when I read about the rest of the world and their malaise about it all, I realize that it seems a fool’s errand to drastically impact our own society with draconian climate measures. I reckon we need to do what we can. Somewhere in the stars there’s a solution, I’m sure.”
The republican answered while lighting his cigar, “There are too many of us ridin’ this train. But arriving here was an organic process. A journey that only man could conceive. The best and the worst conceived and implemented. Are we on the train, or are we on the track? When we were young there were at best 2 billion of us. Now there’s close to 9 billion. The planet is worn out and will rebel soon enough. History illuminates what’s in store for us. The song that holds us all is real, if only we listen for it’s melody and harmony.”
The democrat laughed and said, “The democrat women I know are devastated and plotting vengeance. Even though I rejected the Don, I feel like they hold me partly responsible. We both know that women are the emotional engines of the cosmos, but their fickleness drives me crazy. I need to stand firm and man-like in these times. But I seem to have lost the energy for a fight, either with them or with our new overlords. I seem to have discarded my animal instincts over the years. I’ve been allowing fear to affect me. Am I rambling again?”
“With love and logic mankind evolves forward. You and I have gotten old my friend,” the republican stated as he swirled a ring of smoke through the air over the chess pieces. “Elder status allows us certain weaknesses which were un-becoming in our younger days. We dialogue regularly while playing our matches. We insult each other’s candidates with glee, all the while watching for each other’s pecadilloes. We each madly grab for an infinite perfectability of the human spirit. Yet then we sing choo choo baby and saunter off to the pub for spiritual rejuvenation. In our elderness we’ve found peace and harmony. Checkmate my friend! Shall we retire for a nip or two?”
CP Butchvarov 2024