Mindy sat at the circulation desk at the Dunnock Bay Free Public Library and sighed.
As Dunnock Bay’s librarian, this was her domain. This desk was the seat of power of the library. This was where library cards were issued, granting benefits to their holders of all the library’s services. This was where books could be checked out or checked in. This is where you came with questions or complaints. This was the desk that housed the phone that rang when you called the library with questions about anything.
And yet, Mindy didn’t like spending much time at the circulation desk. She liked to think of herself as a different kind of librarian. The library has evolved from a quiet repository for books and reading into an active hub of the community, bringing together people for all sorts of things, from knitting club, to accessing government services, to using the internet, and, yes, to signing out books.
Since taking the job as librarian in Dunnock Bay in January, Mindy has transformed this space. The library is a bustling, beloved space where friends meet, where community gathers, where people live their lives. Mindy is at the heart of all that activity, constantly running from one end of the library to the other to lend a hand to whoever needs it.
On this particular Tuesday, Mindy sat at the circulation desk for most of the day. She just didn’t feel much like running today. She was tired. She was unmotivated. She was sad.
It had been four days since Lars left Dunnock Bay. And even though she was the one who sent him away, she missed him. She wondered how he was doing.
“MINDY,” said a voice in front of her.
Mindy jumped, startled. She’d been so lost in thought, she hadn’t seen Muriel standing in front of her.
“Oh!” gasped Mindy. “I’m sorry, Muriel. My mind was somewhere else. It’s nice to see you back in the library.”
Muriel blinked in response. The older woman stood quietly in front of the desk. She never spoke much, but just now she seemed a bit agitated.
“My normal computer,” she said. “It’s… occupied.”
Mindy swivelled to look towards the back of the library. Sure enough, the computer terminal Mindy had Jill from the town’s IT department move to a separate space away from the others was occupied. Normally, Mindy would have policed the use of this computer, but it had been weeks since Muriel had spent any time in the library. While Lars was on the island, she’d spent most of her chess-playing hours with the world champion, playing over the board at home.
“I’m sorry, Muriel,” said Mindy, getting up from her desk for the first time in nearly an hour. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Tournament Tuesday begins at 3,” said Muriel flatly.
“I know, Muriel,” said Mindy, glancing at the clock.
It was 2:45.
The gentleman at the computer didn’t make much of a fuss when Mindy spoke with him. He was only checking the lottery numbers. By the time Muriel was set up at her usual machine, she had more than ten minutes to spare. She immediately logged into chessdudes.com and began doing tactics puzzles as a warm-up for the competition.
A crowd of teenagers had gathered around the circulation desk by the time Mindy made it back.
“Hi Mindy!” said Jackson.
His tone was friendly, but there was some urgency.
“Hi guys,” she said. “Everything OK?”
Jackson motioned with his head towards the programming room at the back of the library.
“Right!” gasped Mindy. “Shoot! Sorry. It’s Tuesday. Let me open the room up so you can stream Muriel’s games.”
“You’re the best, Mindy,” said Jess, as the group walked with Mindy towards the programming room. “Thanks. I hope… you’re doing OK.”
Mindy noted a bit of careful sympathy in Jess’ voice.
“What do you mean?” said Mindy, fishing her keys from her pocket.
Jess looked awkwardly from her friends to Mindy.
“It’s just… you know,” she said. “I just hope you’re doing OK. With everything.”
Mindy unlocked the door and swung it open.
“Everything?” she repeated.
“Mindy, is it true you dumped Lars Nilsen?” blurted Aiden.
“Aiden!” shouted Jess.
“Shut up, idiot,” said Jackson, driving an elbow into his friend’s rib.
“Ow, what?” said Aiden. “She did, didn’t she?”
Mindy let out a sigh. Some of the other teens in the group were busy setting up the overhead projector to stream the live chess matches. Jess, Jackson, and Aiden held back to chat with the librarian.
“Ah,” she said. “I didn’t realize that was… known.”
“It was kind of obvious,” said Aiden. “Dude left town, like, bam.”
“Aiden,” said Jackson.
“Like, one day he was here, the next day, BAM,” said Aiden. “You musta destroyed that dude.”
“Aiden,” repeated Jess.
“How do you dump the greatest chess player who has ever lived?” said Aiden.
“AIDEN!” said Jess and Jackson together.
“Jeez, what?” he said.
“No, it’s OK,” said Mindy. “You guys should probably know. You were very kind to give him such respectful space when he was here. It was a big part of the reason why he loved it in Dunnock Bay so much. But yes. I guess you could say I dumped him.”
“Cold, Mindy,” said Aiden.
Mindy frowned.
“Kind of feels like it, I guess,” she said.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” said Jess, “what happened?”
Mindy allowed herself a small grin. She hadn’t spoken to anyone about this since Lars left, and here her main confidants were a bunch of teenagers.
“I can’t believe I’m talking to you guys about this, but it just wasn’t meant to be,” she said. “I came to Dunnock Bay to start over as just me. Mindy. Lars is a super guy, but it just wasn’t the right time. We want different things right now.”
“I’m sorry, Mindy,” said Jess.
“Yeah, me too,” added Jackson.
“It’s OK,” said Mindy. “You guys are sweet.”
“Stone cold, Mindy,” said Aiden.
Jackson and Jess glared at him.
“What?” he said. “I mean it with respect. Mindy has to look out for herself, you know what I mean?”
Mindy touched his arm. “Thanks, Aiden. Hey, the games are starting.”
The projector in the programming room flashed to life with the title screen for Tournament Tuesday.
“It’s Tuesday!” said the announcer’s voice. “And you know what that means. We are back with the world’s best chess players duking it out for prize money and bragging rights. And before we get into the nitty-gritty, there is just one story we really need to pay attention to today, and that is the return of Lars Nilsen.”
“That’s right,” said a second announcer. “It’s been nearly three months since the reigning world champion just straight up disappeared from not only the world of chess, but seemingly from the face of the planet. We still do not have a clear answer of where he went, or who he was with. He withdrew from three major over-the-board tournaments and a number of Tournament Tuesdays right here on chessdudes.com. But we can confirm, he is back. He logged on to play just ten minutes ago from his home in Oslo with zero explanation of where he’s been.”
The library’s programming room buzzed with energy. Only they knew where Lars had been since early May, and they prided themselves they’d managed to keep his secret from leaking to the wider world.
“There has been a lot of speculation about where the champ has been,” said the announcer. “Let’s see whether his time studying the deepest layers of chess high on a lonely mountain top paid off, because he’s paired off in the first round already. Let’s watch his game.”
“Right on,” said the second announcer. “It looks like he’s playing the chess world’s absolute favourite grandmother: TheRealNannyM.”
A sharp gasp went up from the room. Of all the ranked players in the world Lars could be matched against, he drew Muriel, who was sitting in the next room logged into a library computer.
The clock began on their match. Muriel, playing the white pieces, opened with a standard move, opting to move the pawn in front of her queen ahead two squares.
“We know NannyM favours a d4 opening, so this is no surprise,” said the announcer. “Let’s see how Lars responds.”
The clock clicked down. Lars didn’t move. The camera on his face showed him sitting quietly with his cheek cradled in his hand.
“Nilsen is taking his time here,” said the second announcer, sounding a bit concerned. “This isn’t typical of the champ, who likes to play aggressively in a queen-side opening game.”
The clock kept clicking down. A full minute of Lars’ three allotted minutes had ticked away.
“Lars, what are you doing?” whispered Mindy.
As soon as the words were out of Mindy’s mouth, the camera showed Lars sit up in his chair. He looked down for a moment and sighed deeply. When he looked back up, every single person on the planet watching the stream could see what Mindy could see.
Lars was crying.
The image of him went to black. An icon popped up on the screen read: “BLACK RESIGNED. WHITE WINS.”
“Lars Nilsen,” said the announcer, with some shock, “has just quit the game and logged off the server.”
“I’m not sure what to make of that,” said the second announcer.
Every eye in the library programming room turned to look at Mindy.
“Stone cold,” said Aiden.
I don’t like going too long without checking in on Mindy. She feels like the heart of this little town.
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Have a great week. <3 Davy
Sorry for Mindy's trouble, but the thing with Lars never felt right somehow.
Stone cold.
Love the characters and their stories.