fandomweekly | [#002] Distraction (The Man From U.N.C.LE.

Theme Prompt: Practice Makes Perfect
Title: Distraction
Fandom: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015 movie)
Rating/Warnings: Depiction of a child in an emotionally damaging situation
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 314
Summary: Illya needs a distraction

Illya sits cross-legged on his bed, in the tiny apartment he and his mother had to move into after they took his father away. His room is little more than a cupboard; if he stretches his arms out wide, he can almost touch both walls. His mother tells him he should be grateful he still has a room of his own, and he really is. The walls are very thin, though; he might as well be in his mother’s room for all the protection they offer from what is going on in there.

The sound of a sneeze from the next room makes him look up from the book he is reading. Male laughter and a high-pitched female squeal follow, and Illya redoubles his concentration on the words. They tremble slightly as his clenched hands start to shake. He closes his eyes for a moment, and pictures a chess board. The clean lines of the black and white squares are orderly and regimented, as he would like his mind to be. He feels the anger slowly draining away and opens his eyes again. The words have steadied and he begins to read once more.

The book is a set of chess puzzles designed by the Russian master, Semyon Alapin. It was the last present Illya’s father gave him before he was taken away, and Illya has read it so many times that the pages are ripped and dog-eared. Over many hours left to his own devices, he has cultivated the ability to visualise the pieces on a board in his mind, and can move them at will to experiment with different solutions to the puzzles.

The focus it takes to maintain the mental picture serves as an effective distraction from his current surroundings. But, one day, Illya hopes to be able to buy a chess set of his very own, and play for real.