Here I am, with heavy eyes, wanting to shut and not open for another 8 hours for a good night sleep, contemplating over an incident which happened a few weeks ago at S’s place.
I was invited for a lunch followed by supper at S’s place. I always love traveling there. It’s a beautiful 1 hour journey through suburban region of Massachusetts. I enjoy gazing through the window, the country side reminds of me of my home town. S’s family are some of the nicest people I know and they have a special place in my heart. A huge house along with a garden and backyard which portrays an ideal American home.
I arrived just before the lunch time and soon, lunch was served. Everyone finished lunch and went to take a nap. S asked me if I wanted to take a nap to which I politely declined given the fact that his sister and her two children were also in the house, upstairs, playing in his children’s bedroom, where he would’ve made arrangements for me to take a nap, if I’d said yes to his question. I was browsing my Instagram feed when S’s sister came downstairs along with one of S’s children, shying behind S’s sister, wanting to ask me a question but too hesitant to ask. S’s sister asked me if I wanted a pillow to which I again, politely declined and told that I’m not sleeping. She asked if it’s fine if she let the kids play here then since I’m not sleeping? I agreed.
Now, I’m terrible with kids. It’s not that I don’t like kids, believe me I really do love kids, but I just don’t know how to communicate with them and connect with them. So here I am scrolling through memes on Instagram when S’s kid brings a chess set and asks if I’m open to play with him. I obliged. He was playing the usual game like you would expect an 8 year old would play. He knew some of the basics of Chess but would often mess up with the turns and places that each piece is supposed to move. I might not know much about children but I do know one thing, you always let the kids have their first win! And so I did. He was very happy being a winner and I was happy being a loser. I finally connected with the kids for the first time.
At that very moment, I thought maybe I should just enlighten the kid with a formal knowledge about Chess and the various pieces and how each piece is supposed to move, maybe play another game or two with him but none of that actually happened. He got busy with other games with the other kids and here I was all by myself, contemplating my lost Chess game (or should I say, the game where I won by losing).
Soon it was evening and everyone woke up from their naps, S made tea for me. After having it, I left for my home. After so many weeks, my mind suddenly decided to bug me about this incident and create a ‘What If’ scenario in my head where I ask myself, ‘What if I had more time to spend with the kids? I can teach them about Chess and some day we can have a real game of Chess where the kid actually beats me fair and square’. I guess that will have to wait for another time.
Whoever read it this far, thanks! This is just a late night conversation I’m having with myself as I’m typing this entry on my phone. Apologies for any grammatical mistakes as I’m not a native speaker.
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