Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: PIECE / PEACE (02/16/23)
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TITLE: Quixotic or just ok? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Corinne Smelker
02/23/23 -
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I took the envelope from the middle of the board, peeked inside, and then laid the cards out face-up for the rest of the family to see.
“M-o-o-o-m,” Jan wailed. “I don’t want to play against you anymore – we never win.”
I snickered. Cluedo and Scrabble were the only two games I ever had a chance of winning against my video-game-loving kids and husband, so I’d take a win whenever I could.
“Who wants to play again?”
“Not me,” said Eli. “Hey, Jan, wanna play some Mario Kart?”
“Yeah!”
The two rushed off, leaving Ben and me staring across the board at each other.
“Two CAN play Cluedo,” I said hopefully.
“Yeah. No. I barely get a look in when there are four of us around the board; there’s no way I am playing against only you.”
“It was worth a try. And you know, I have told you my strategy to win more than once. If you followed it, I bet you’d maybe win.”
I put the game pieces back in their box, which would likely collect dust for another six months until I bribed, cajoled, or begged my family to play.
“We could play Scrabble,” I said as I placed the lid back on the game box. “I have the pieces right here.”
Ben smiled, “Ha! Don’t you remember the last time we played? I thought Armageddon was about to start in our living room!”
“Well, it’s not my fault I could play ‘quixotic’ on a triple word score and get the points for using all my tiles.”
“I was fine with that; it was the ruthless ribbing because I could only play ‘ok’ off your triple. Face it; you are a fiend when it comes to these games.”
Shouts from the living room interrupted our well-worn banter. “Your turn,” I sighed.
“Fine,” grumbled Ben as he got up from the table. “But you have to make the coffee.”
“Deal.”
As I prepared the coffee machine to dispense two piping hot cups of the South American roasted beans, I heard Ben refereeing Jan and Eli, brokering peace between them. I loved my kids, but sometimes I wanted to throw the game system (or was there more than one? It seemed to me that they multiplied overnight) out of the window.
I looked through the cased opening that separated the kitchen from the living room as the coffee finished percolating. I fondly watched Ben tousle Eli’s hair and kiss Jan’s head as they settled into a Mario Kart race once more.
“Bet I whip your tail, literally,” crowed Eli as he chose Bowser.
“Nope, this race is mine. I am Princess Peach, and she is the best,” Jan retorted.
As the opening jingle of the race began, and the countdown started, Ben rejoined me in the kitchen, and I handed him his cup. “Any chance we can go upstairs and avoid this racket,” he asked.
“I wish,” I sighed. “Noise-cancelling headphones sound great right about now.”
Ben laughed and grabbed my hand. “There’s no one else I’d prefer to go deaf with than you.”
“Wow. Ever the romantic,” I laughed.
We sat in companionable silence and drank our coffee, and listened in as Bowser, Mario, Luigi, and Peach noisily battled it out for first place.
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