The Pawns' Practical Joke

With tournaments completed,
the pawns are feeling bored.
Outside it's raining cats and dogs
so they, with one accord,

decide it's time they played a prank,
a harmless, practical joke,
not enough to cause a shock
and make a chessman croak,

no, just a modest escapade
that, with a little luck,
will give them all a chuckle;
this is where we meet The Duck.

It's the usual kind of bath toy
found in any happy home
residing in the bathroom,
maybe in a nest of foam.

Today it has another use
you'll notice, if you look;
one pawn climbs on a chair with it,
while one distracts a rook.

The pawns are rolling on the ground
with laughter - so amused,
which makes the poor rook frown
as he is totally confused

until - Stage left: there enters
one bishop, shaking head.
He holds a mirror for the rook,
who says, "Right, pawns! You're dead!"

But soon he sees the funny side:
"You pawns - you're always smaller.
But now, thanks to this rubber duck,
I'm feeling ten feet taller!"

He chases all the pawns away;
they're fearful of a smack.
But no, the rook just sees them off
by shouting, "Quack, quack, quack!"

Then he and his companion,
the bishop, have a laugh.
"And now," the rook informs him,
"I am off to take a bath!"

© Celia Warren 2017

This is the tiddliumptieth adventure of my chessmen. I've lost track of exactly how many adventures they've had on and off the board in between games, but if you search Blipland using the tag #chessmen, you'll find oodles.

Back to leaden skies, howling gales and teeming rain again today. Good job I called in to see what the chessmen were up to or I'd have been blipless.