A High Stakes Game of Noughts and Crosses

Lily tugged Steven’s sleeve as he entered the control room. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Steven wished people would stop asking that. A glance at his battered jacket and hair that hadn’t been brushed since the first attack should have told anybody that he didn’t and would welcome any suggestions.

But in the absence of any such suggestions, it was his terrible ideas or nothing.

“Are you ready?” the Other asked, smiling with all five mouths.

“I win the game, you leave?” he said. “Back to your own dimension?”

The Other hissed. “Yes.”

“Right, then.” He looked down at the stage they’d set: a vast flattened square of dust and earth divided into nine squares by towering mountain ranges. “I’ll be Crosses.”

As his first move was carved into the earth, he wondered if the Others would agree to best two out of three.

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Word Count: 147

This is for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. Thanks to Priceless Joy for running the challenge and Yarnspinnerr for providing the photo prompt!