Knight's Tour
This is my attempt at a prompt from The Very Short Story Starter: 101 Flash Fiction Prompts for Creative Writing by John Gillard (2018).
“The knight’s tour is a mathematical problem-solving exercise from the world of chess. The tour is a sequence of sixty-four consecutive moves in which the knight touches each square on a chess board only once. The writer George Perez used the knight’s tour as the structure for his novel Life. A User’s Manual (1978). The novel moves from room to room within a hotel, mirroring the sequence of a mathematical solution to the knight’s tour.
Write sixty-four micro sentences or just a few words, which offer an insight into or tell a story of each of the sixty-four rooms within an imaginary hotel: for example, what the room looks like, who is in the room, what has happened in the room in the past. Does a story begin to build?”
A room that hides the heart of a man who was broken up with during dinner.
An old man puts his shoes next to his bed. He is not used to turning around and finding the other side of the bed empty.
The date went very well.
A mother is counting how many days they can stay there while the mould is being removed.
A woman curses the waiter who spilled wine on her dress.
A chandelier is clinking.
A chandelier is missing.
A couple sleeps on opposite sides of the bed. This is the last time they will share a bed.
A waiter delivers the room service and wipes tears from their eyes.
A boy steals glances at his crush who is oblivious.
Friends are sharing their purchases from the mall.
Another room. But this one doesn’t hide anything. Other than a body.
The lid of the whiskey bottle drops to the floor.
A businesswoman punches a pillow after her seminar.
A room that has not been cleaned. The cleaning lady has not been seen in a few hours.
A room that hides the tears of a man who had to tell his boyfriend that he fell in love with someone else.
A writer writes the last chapter of her novel.
A woman finishes a book and searches whether the writer has any more books announced.
A man reads a text with an explanation from his date that sounds made up.
A room with an open door. The safe is open.
A person watches a true crime episode about a hotel and turns on the light.
A man tries to sleep after witnessing what his friend did.
A vase is thrown out of the window.
A couple is sharing a teary hug after seeing the two lines.
A man checks that the ring is still in his pocket.
Why are knives so hard to clean?
Glitter on the floor as friends are preparing for a concert.
A video is being made about how the fans of a singer are stupid.
A first kiss.
A last kiss.
A child has lost their teddy bear. The parents have lost their patience.
A woman from the seminar tries to remember the color of the other woman’s eyes.
Football.
The ex found out about the upcoming proposal and plans to surprise the woman.
A teacher is preparing their class for tomorrow.
A child is happy about finding a teddy bear. The parents are too busy fighting to notice.
Friends are making an itinerary for the next day.
It is safe to say that the safe is open.
A woman drinks wine and dances to her favourite music.
A family lies awake listening to footsteps from above.
The music provides a good soundtrack for the confession of love. Too bad it isn’t to his wife.
The wife heard the wrong room number on the phone.
Another room that has not been cleaned.
The music coming from another room reminds them of their ex-partner.
A door is slammed shut. Or it would be if they didn’t have those stoppers. The woman seems mad to realise that fact.
Football and beer.
A woman yelling on the phone because the curtains in her room have been ripped out. There’s also some blood but that is not as big of a problem as missing curtains when it comes to her sleep. They will help her when the concierge comes back.
The drugs seem to be working.
A hotel room is not the best place to dye one’s hair but that is why they have cleaning staff.
A man from the seminar is writing an angry email because he believes he could have done a much better job on the presentation.
No one is answering at the front desk.
A room that was cleaned a few hours before the incident.
A person was thrown out of their room because they apparently snore too much. But this new room has a stocked fridge.
Football and a stream of a concert. A woman tries to watch both at the same time.
A mansplaining marathon.
A man wonders about the fight he witnessed downstairs.
A man puts on his dressing gown to go to the front desk.
No football because there is a hole in the tv.
No, she did not hear a gunshot. She should just go to sleep.
A woman is cursing herself for picking a noisy hotel because she has to get some sleep before her flight.
A person is on the phone with the police. They didn’t want to risk using the one at the front desk. The police say they are coming.
No, the couple has not heard of anything unusual happening that night. But their watches seem to have been stolen.
A relaxing bath with a book. And a knock on the door that will not be answered.
A room that hides the concierge who is stuffing money under the mattress. He will have to clean the rooms before the next visitors arrive. And find a new cleaning lady. He curses himself for picking a nosy cleaning lady.
