Memories of the Checkerboard

## Full-text

Elio finished his breakfast and gathered his belongings for the day. He put on his black leather, put his lunch in the mailbag, and headed out the door. It was a beautiful morning, and Elio was looking forward to his job and receiving a smile from the people he will be delivering the mail to today. On his way to the company headquarter, Elio made a stop at Jake Minere's place to drop off some food for him as he recently lost his brother in a mining accident, and does not really have any family member left to take care of him. Elio knocked on the door of Jake's small house, and after a moment, Jake opened it. He looked tired and sad, but his face lit up when he saw Elio standing there with the food.

“Elio! Hey! Thank you for coming,” Jake said with a raspy voice.

“Anytime, Jake. Here, your food, I packed you some turkey sandwiches, hope it’s okay.” Elio gave him a small smile.

Jake nodded, “Yeah, that’s not a problem at all.” He stepped aside to let Elio in, “Here, why don’t you come inside. So, we can eat breakfast together.”

“I’d love to but I have mail to deliver, I’ll send Bertell your way if he’s free today, if you’re okay with that?” Elio noticed that the house was a mess and assumed that Jake had been neglecting his hygiene routine. There were bottles and beer mugs scattered around his living room.

“Yeah, sure, man!” Jake replied, “And between you and me, this is top secret by the way \*hic\* I think Bertell hasn’t been feeling himself lately.”

“Huh? How so?”

“I don’t know man, he seems off. Two nights ago, he tried to start a bar fight, and not like \*hic\* not like a joke too. He was very serious.”

“Right…” Elio responded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, don’t tell Bertell about this, El, I may be bigger than him but that dude scared me sometimes.”

“Your secret is safe with me” Elio put his hand up to mimic the action of swearing an oath, he laughed slightly. “Hey, and… take care, alright. Get some rest. I’ll make some time to visit later, okay?”

Jake nodded, “You’re welcome here anytime, if you don’t see me here, you know where to look for me.”

“Yeah… Well, have a great day, Jake, take care.” Elio replied, then walked away, continuing on his way to the company.

As Elio reached the headquarters, he overheard a conversation at the reception table but did not pay close attention to it. Elio walked past the table to one of the mail boxes, then took all the letters that were marked for today’s delivery out and put it in his bag.

“Hey, Elio.” Bertell, one of the EFJP journalists, greeted him as he entered the building, “Out for delivery?” He asked.

Suddenly, the woman who was talking at the receptionist table walked to Elio and called him.

He turned, and there was Elani, Elani Weatherstone, his childhood friend. “Elani, It’s good to see you.” He said, then asked, “what brought you here?”

“Chess.” She replied.

“Oh! you’re here for the chess competition!” Elio said, “It’s been a while since we played, huh?”

“Yea…it’s been a while.”

Three days later, Elio found himself waiting in front of the company with a bouquet of roses. Within just a moment, a footstep approached him.

It was Raelynn-Joy Florentine, one of the senior writers who also worked at EFJP “Hey, Elio!” She greeted, then asked, “The company headquarters is closed for the weekend, why are you here?”

“I thought the first round of the chess competition was today, wasn't it?”

“Oh.” Raelynn expressed. “Yeah… it got canceled.”

Elio’s face turned pale as he heard her.

“But… there will be an event in \*Bravos\* pretty soon.” Raelynn went on, “So… you might want to accompany me to that place.”

## Synopsis

Elio, a cheerful mail carrier, starts his day by delivering mail and providing emotional support to Jake, who is grieving the loss of his brother. Elio learns that their mutual friend, Bertell, has been acting strangely lately but promises to keep it a secret. Later, at the company headquarters, Elio reunites with Elani, his childhood friend, who is there for a chess competition. Unfortunately, the competition is canceled, but Raelynn, a senior writer at EFJP, invites Elio to an upcoming event in Bravos. Intrigued, Elio agrees to accompany her.