Someone had been listening to the game inside her head.
The Eighth Square is empty. The pawn you abandoned in 2014 still waits. Come to the old prefectural library before the autumn equinox. Bring nothing but your memory. Kaori Saejima -2021-
She folded the letter carefully, slid it back into the envelope, and tucked it into the folds of her gray cardigan. Then she rose, unsteady on legs that had forgotten stairs, and crossed to the window. Someone had been listening to the game inside her head
The apartment was silent save for the arrhythmic drip from a leak in the corner, where a red plastic basin collected rainwater. On the low table in front of her, beside the empty chessboard, lay a single white envelope. It had arrived that morning, slipped under the door by the landlady, who never looked Kaori in the eye. Come to the old prefectural library before the
The envelope had no return address. Just her name in calligraphy so precise it looked printed.