A/N: Some of us grew up with certain iconic game elements...

Piece of the Action

The panel on the sign out front was designed to swing in the breeze, but no winds blew here. The sign had been bright and painted at one time, but the letters were now cracked and somewhat faded from the sun that shone brightly. Occasionally a car would drive by on its way from point A to point B, never stopping or even slowing to read the sign:

Happy Rest
Retirement Home
est. 1942

"I was here when it first opened" Miss Cash sighed as she sat on the front porch of the retirement home. "Everything was new back then, wasn't it Charley? The porch was new, the furniture was new, our games were new, even the windows seemed clearer."

"Sure was, back when then put me out to pasture" he reminisced as he rocked back. "I wanted to stay in the game, but they said the war changed everything and I was too old. Been here ever since."

"They didn't put me in here until 2000" Big Bertha shot back "so way back then is a little out of my range. What was it like?"

"Let me illuminate you" Ray grumbled. "It was just...like...it...is...now. We'd sit around and talk about the old days, but none of us did anything. Sleep and eat and talk and eat and play and sleep. Real exciting stuff, let me tell you! Just like now, a thrill a minute."

"I've only been here since 2013, and I already feel like the place is pressing in on me" said Fefe flatly. "I know the walls aren't getting closer, but it feels like the rooms are getting smaller." She started to cry for a moment before stopping it with a big sniff. "Sorry for the water works."

"Me and the gang only stepped foot in here last year" said Tony. "Haven't even gotten used to the place yet."

"Trust me, you will" Ray warned. "Next thing you know, ten years will have passed."

"I don't like the sound of that" Fefe trembled. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life here."

"Nobody does" Charley agreed. "What can we do about it though? Our days are past, it's a different world out there."

"Maybe we could stick out our thumbs and hitchhike" Tom halfheartedly suggested. He had arrived the same time as Tony and considered him his sole brother; he did have a sister somewhere that was a seamstress but had lost contact with her long ago.

"I say we make a break for it" a soft voice spoke.

Everyone turned to stare at the source. Dolly arrived with Tom and Tony and wasn't one to speak up much; when she did it was best to pay attention. "My opinion probably doesn't carry much weight, but what do we have to lose? I'd love to see the boardwalk again. What are they going to do, make us go to jail?"

"I went to jail once, but I was just visiting" Tom thought back. "I wouldn't care to go again as an inmate, but then again I'm starting to wonder if staying here will make me crazy eventually. I can't protect myself against that for too long, so count me in."

Most quickly agreed to the concept of breaking out, but hadn't come up with what to do once they left. Jacques was slow to start, and finally made a declaration from high atop his seat. "It might work, and then again we might not even make it out of the gate. All I need is a sign."

"A sign?" Ray asked incredulously. "What kind of sign?"

"I don't know, but I'll know it when I see it."

As if on cue a large, gold bus drove up to the front of the retirement home and stopped close to the front gate by a free parking sign, letting out a gush of hydraulic pressure from its brakes. Along the side of the bus was painted "Deluxe Monopoly Token Set World Tour", and as the group watched the door of the bus opened. A portly gentleman in a tuxedo and tophat emerged, stepped out to blink in the bright daylight, and waved to the group after spotting them.

"Milburn Pennybags!" Miss Cash gushed. The man walked to the front gate and opened it wide, gesturing for the others to join him.

"That's the sign!" Jacques said and rode out to meet his old boss. The others immediately joined him and through the open windows of the bus laughter could be heard as it closed its door and left the retirement home's sign swinging in a dust cloud.

The End

A/N: For those keeping score, the featured tokens that have been retired from Monopoly in real life were:
Miss (Penny) Cash the purse,
Charley (Sway) the rocking horse,
Big Bertha (Gunn) the cannon,
Ray (O'Light) the lantern,
FeFe (Flatt) the iron (yes, a chemistry joke),
Tony (Lama) the boot,
Tom (Thumb) the thimble,
Dolly (Kart) the wheelbarrow.

The first tokens were retired in 1942, and others have been sent out to pasture sporadically since. I was going to call this "Token Resistance" but thought the title gave too much away. Yes I know, the tokens didn't really have names in the game but I had to call them something in the story...