• The Curse:

    Bang. Crash. Scream.
    “Mike!” the carnage didn't stop. “Mike! Turn it off!” A particularly loud boom settled it.
    The screen faded, went black. 'Damn! She unplugged it!' “Mo-om, just-”
    “No. No more games. Get outside and enjoy your summer!”
    The grumbling teenage boy left.
    Dinner that night was a quiet affair. Although Mike actually ate with them for the first time in years, they didn't feel like any more of a family. It was actually better when he wasn't there.
    After dinner, Mike went and lay down in his room out of sheer boredom. Four hours later, when his mom checked, he was sound asleep.
    “What do we do with him?” she asked her husband. “He's wasting his life!”
    “I don't know, honey. Maybe he'll meet a girl that'll pull him back into reality.” he joked.
    “I'm serious!”
    “So am I. Give it time.” They left it at that. Two hours later, the crashes began again. Mike's mom got out of bed and went down to the basement. She didn't even bother turning on the lights.
    “Mike Jones, I told you-” she turned the corner and stopped dead.
    Her son sat in front of the TV with their cat in his lap. Instead of petting the cat, he was eating it as he battled some demon from another universe on the screen.
    “PUT THE CONTROLLER DOWN! Put it DOWN! Don't TOUCH it!” she shrieked, losing her mind.
    By the time his father made it down the stairs, she had joined the cat in her son's lap, jusut another snack. His father picked up a controller and joined the game, defeating his son before taking the controller from him.
    Mike came to, dazedly looking around. “What happened?”
    “Son, I'm getting rid of the video games.” his father said seriously.
    “What? Why? No!” Mike yelled.
    “LOOK at yourself!” his father yelled back. “It's turned you into a monster!”
    Mike looked down. “No....” he whispered. “No! Oh my God, NO!” he howled as he collapsed, sobbing.
    “Get some rest, Mike. It's just a nightmare.” his father told him, but they both knew he was lying. That it had actually happened. And would happen again if they didn't act.
    The next morning, he went back downstairs to find Mike lying next to his mother, the power cord tied around his neck.