Nap Eyes - "Every Game Is A Game Of Stalemate"

Edmund wore 41 like a bicycle helmet on grey hair, like a backpack on a suit jacket, he wore it like sneakers at the bank. He had thick brown hair, in a coif atop his head, he wore the cheap version of men's magazine clothing. He looked like Bobby Fischer, but less haunted. More daunted, unwanted. He let himself in through the back door of his ex-father-in-law's house. From his first marriage; Carolyn, mother of Evelyn. No one is home, he's dropping off a birthday gift in the kitchen. Kevin's kitchen, where so much greatness had been stirred, heated and watched. Kevin and Edmund had remained close after the split and all these years. Kevin was a poet, and the kitchen was proof of that. It was cluttered with warmth, the shelves all stacked to the ceiling, the many shades of wood interlocking with other wood. On the cutting board was a note he'd left for Edmund, a typically risky move from Kevin, anyone could have seen it:

"It seems my daughter's found herself in another mess. A customs officer named Garry with whitened teeth and a scary-looking dog. In love, it seems she's far more interested in the falling than in the getting up."

[PWYC]