Time is a pawn that can never be captured, only moved. We choose the moves, but the board keeps turning regardless. So I move it, but I also watch it slip through my fingers like a pawn that never quite settles. The future is a line of potential moves, each one a choice that stretches out forever.

I’ll slide the pawn diagonally into the future, but I’ll also place a second pawn beside it— a backup route—because in a game where time is the only opponent, you never know which square it will actually land on.