• The following links are links to prior chapters of this story:


    Playing the Game

    Playing the Game-Ch. 2





    Imagine just walking down home from school, minding your own business, talking with your friend, when suddenly, she diasappears as you turn around, and along with that all the other people walking down the street.

    Hard to imagine, huh?

    No kidding. It's not your normal day when everything turns UN-normal. (no duh, really) Regardless, that's how it was for me. And I wasn't sure what to think of it. Suddenly, a voice boomed and reviberated in my ears. I, unfortunately, knew that voice all too well.

    "Surprised?" Needless to say, it kind of freaked me out, given I gave a large Mario jump in the air as I darted my eyes around in surprise.

    "What?!" was all I could scream in frustration, for that was really my question. "What" was going on? "What" was that voice and "what" am I doing? "What" happened to Sarah? "What" happened to everyone?

    "Check in your right pocket," said the omoinous voice, interrupting my different tracks of questions. I salvaged into my pocket, and felt something cold and metallic brush against my fingers. I grabbed it, and drew it up so I could see it.

    What I saw was a black slate of metal about the size of a cell phone, only featuring a small screen and a few wholes for voice. No buttons. The screen made a bloop sound and blinked to life. What I saw on it didn't really surprise me.

    "He-LLOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried the scary-stalker-dude, crushing my ears. "I suppose I should start explaining, hmmmmm?" Yes, I suppose you should.

    "Look around," he continued. "You are in my magnificent game. It's...oh, what's the word...magnificent." Suddenly, I screamed back,

    "Look, shut up! Where's Sarah? Heck, where's anybody, for that matter? What am I..."

    "Wait, I thought I was explaining everything to you," he cut in. "But, if you can interrupt my explanation on something that will affect your life along with you friend's, then that's fine with me. You probably already know the rules anyway, right? After all, you're so smart. So, I guess I'll be off then! Have fun winning the game." The screen came blank, and now I only had one thought in my mind:

    What the heck?

    Suddenly, the screen again made a bloop noise in my hand, and it was back and running again.

    "Surrrrrrprrrissse!"

    "What is your problem?"

    "Heeeey, what's with the long face? Look, I was joking. It was a joke. No hard feelings."

    "Har har. Your a comedic genius, and we all bow down to you," I retorted, because at that point I was getting really ticked.

    "Let's not be sarcastic. You and your friend's lives are on the line, so you really should be bowing to me."

    "Look, please. Just tell me what the heck is going on."

    "Patience is essential. But, let's." He paused, probably trying to build up the drama, and continued, "This, what you're looking at, to be precise, is the same place you were at with Sarah, yet you are not really where you were."

    "What is that supposed to mean?"

    "You are in a virtual replica of your world, crafted by me. Unfortunately, I lack the real power to clone humans and other animals, but I'd say I did a pretty well."

    "'Virtual replica'? What are you talking about?"

    "Virtual replica, you know, like a copy--"

    "Yes, I know that. But where exactly am I?"

    "Another dimension, in a paralell world. To put it simply, and as I said before, you are where you were before, but not really."

    "This isn't making any sense."

    "I didn't really expect it to sink in. Don't worry, you'll probably eventually figure everything out, later in the game. But that's actually what I was meaning to talk about. The game."

    "The game," he continued, "is...well, sorta like a video game, except, not really." This guy really isn't good at discribing stuff. "You will do as I say, when I say it, and exactly how I say it. You do this until I say your through."

    "When is that?"

    "I don't know. When I think everything is...good." This guy's a whack.

    "Anyway," he continued, again, "your mission today, essentially, is nothing. I'm giving you a break to get used to your surroundings." He paused, and then said, "Oh, and one more thing. Do not go inside the houses."

    "Why not?"

    "If I told you, you'd get curious. And curiousity killed the cat." Which, of course, only made me more curious.

    "Just don't go in the houses. Do not." And then the device shut down, this time not being a joke.

    I was on my own now. And I was playing a game...though I really didn't know what I was playing.