Checkmate

In my position, I must always be one step ahead of the game. When playing, it doesn’t matter what side of the board each piece is on; what is important is knowing what is possible with each piece in play. Where each move can lead. Grasp this, and it doesn’t matter if you control the board – you can make sure the end game is in your favor.

Generally, playing passively will not, ultimately, win the match. But there are times where it is more valuable to bide one’s time so that a piece can be subjugated and made captive. Does she see the hidden lines, the invisible net on the board? Does she fall into the carefully laid trap or take the safer path?

***

The safer path is to stop reading now.

The safer path is to not let fear and desire find their way any deeper; they are dangerous, and together they can rip you apart.

The safer path does not go through dark woods; it does not remind you of your hunger to be consumed. To be held down. To be naked and exposed under eyes that see all of you; and then, taking all, leaves you ready to be filled with words that will have you craving release; wanting it, *needing* it. A hunger only satisfied when you have given in and offered yourself to the unyielding weight of someone who can take it from you.

The safer path does not lead you into places too dark to see your own hands, where the hands that are needed to keep you from the sins in the shadows may feed you to them instead. In the darkness, there is no place to hide. Here, you are given the freedom to indulge without being judged. You have no choice, it is demanded of you.

The safer path is to not respond to this, to forget you read it, to go on with your life.