The Tale of a PAWN

I read a poem of my friend , Vicky for the Cafe Writing - December Project for the following picture. (Credit: Carmi Levy of Written, Inc.)
I wanted to write something on this. But I did not have the time.
Couple of months passed, I suddenly got this idea out of the blue and
I was not even thinking about it. My mind is really a scary place....
My friends poem is Vicky. I think the poem is really awesome and better than this story.
Also, read my comments at the end of the story:

A Tale of a Pawn

This is my story. Who am I ?
My name is D7, But my name changes as I move.
I am a pawn, a soldier in the service of my King and Queen.
I fight this endless war for a reason I know not.
But, like my brethren, I fight without asking.
There are others like me and others unlike me who fight for our
cause. Sometimes, I wonder about my purpose.
Am I merely a merchant of death ?

I do not remember my childhood. I have not travelled widely.
I take a step at a time. Each time I go to battle, I fear for my life.
My hands tremble for I see opposing me an entire army composed of
pawns like me, the holy bishops who pray and yet kill for religion,
the knights who leap and smash, the rooks who shake the BOARD as
they march and stamp out any in their path,
the fearless,beautiful Queen who can travel in a flash and kill in an instant and the resolute King who seeks victory. My army mirrors theirs and they us like the two sides of a coin representing something I know not.

I speak with my steady comrade to my left ,who counsels me thus.
"Our work is temporary; We die whether we win or lose.
That is the nature of all things. If there is a beginning, then there is
an end. But, worry not, the King Bishop told me that if you fight well
and serve well, the PLAYER, the one who is greater than the King and
is the maker of all,will be pleased and you will reincarnate to fight
your battles again".

Hearing this, my nervous friend to the right , stammers thus:
"T-the Wise Q-queen Bishop, She told me that the P-player wages
this war against the P-layer of the O-ooother Kkking. She says
each time our world is created and destroyed, our PLAYER learns
something called "STRATEGY".She says that there is PLAYER called
CHAMPION who is the most supreme of PLAYERS.She asked me to
pray to our PLAYER and the CHAMPION for courage and life".

Not consoled by this, I sleep, during the lull in the battle.
I dream about a PLAYER of the PLAYERS named the GOD
(upon retrospection, a very silly name), who creates and destroys
the worlds of the PLAYERS to learn this things called "STRATEGY".
I wonder about the CHAMPION of these GODS and I call him
SUPREME ONE.I also dream that there is no GOD or SUPREME ONE
and that the PLAYERS was created out of life's longing
for itself. I dream about me becoming a PLAYER one day and not
dying. I wonder if the PLAYERS die.
I wonder why I do not have control over my life.
Why I must keep living in this Valhalla ?
Why did not my PLAYER let me have my own free will to live my life
rather his predetermined pattern ? Or maybe I do
have free will but I blame the PLAYER for my own faults ?
Does not the PLAYER have free will or does he live his own patterns too?

Suddenly, the King roars at me waking me out of my reverie, "Beware Soldier, yonder knight seeks to slay you". Shivering with fear, I pray to my PLAYER for his forgiveness at my blasphemy. I hear the sound of steel clashing, horse hooves pounding hard and death approaching. I cry "En Garde" and fight..........


My Comments:
When I was a kid, I used to love the Commando comics based upon
WWI/WWII. I always used the stories where the human element
and characterization was very good. Where the focus was more
on the person rather than the story. I kinda wanted to make D7
talk to everyone on the board and get their counsel.
But I let it go. Maybe I will work on it later.

I originally had the title as "The Story of a Soldier"
but I renamed it as " The Story of a Pawn".
I think the word Pawn reflects the tale above better.
I am not sure if the the story is about the pawn or me (still a pawn/if not us).

I spent 10-20 mts to draft this initial story.
I think it needs a bit more editing.
But I leave this unfinished, unrefined and incomplete just
the way I like it.