Exhibit A
TAKE THE CHIP
The R. L. Incident
One chip changed everything.
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The R. L. Incident
One chip changed everything.
Chapter One
It was an evening like any other. The family had gathered. Snacks were laid out with casual indifference — a bowl of chips among them, their angular forms catching the lamplight like fragments of a story not yet told. No one suspected what was about to unfold.
What happened next has been the subject of family debate ever since. The details leading up to the moment remain hazy — not because anyone forgot, but because no one was paying attention. Why would they? It was just another Tuesday. Until it wasn't.
Family assembles. Snacks are deployed. A bag of chips is opened. No one documents the moment — a failure in evidence collection that haunts investigators to this day.
Nothing remarkable occurs. R. L. is relaxed. Some would later say "too relaxed." Conversation flows. The chips sit undisturbed — for now.
A subtle change in demeanor is noted. R. L. becomes contemplative. Her gaze drifts toward the chip bowl with what witnesses describe as "profound focus."
R. L. extends her hand. In it: a single chip. She looks at a nearby family member with an intensity that silences the room. And then — she speaks.
Take the chip.— R. L., That Night
Firsthand Accounts
"She held out one chip. Just one. And the way she said it — like it was the most important thing she'd ever done. I didn't know whether to laugh or call someone."
Witness Name
Family Member
"I've replayed that moment a thousand times. The look in her eyes. The single chip. 'Take the chip.' It was like she was passing a torch — except the torch was a chip."
Witness Name
Family Member
"We tried to give her more chips after that, but she wasn't interested. It was always about that one chip. That singular, perfect chip."
Witness Name
Family Member
"I don't think she remembers saying it. Which honestly makes it even better."
Witness Name
Family Member
Case File
Exhibit B
The Beverage
What R. L. was drinking that evening remains a matter of dispute. Some say water. Others aren't so sure. R. L. herself has declined to comment.
Exhibit C
The Chip
A single chip. Brand and flavor remain disputed — witnesses cannot agree, and R. L. isn't talking. Held with the gravity of a sacrament. Consumed shortly after the utterance.
Exhibit D
The Couch
The scene of the incident. A standard residential sofa. R. L.'s position at time of utterance: fully reclined, deeply committed.