My Video Game Console Talked to Me

“One more level.” That’s what Jimmy told himself forty-two levels ago.

He ordered his digital character to jump over fire pits, glide over tempestuous tides and flatten deadly turtle henchman. The turtles seemed innocent on the outside, but Jimmy prided himself for noticing they were evil on the inside. “These dastardly reptiles are not going to stop me,” he said.

Several thousand dead henchmen later, Jimmy’s eyes became as heavy as a massive boulder. First one eye closed and then the other stubbornly fought to stay in the game. The boulder soon weighed down both eyes until Jimmy was snoring, drooling and dangling a controller in his right hand. No one know how long he was out.

But the video game console didn’t stop, didn’t sleep. The console magically grew arms and legs and its yellow light split into two bright eyes. This machine unplugged its cord but kept running; it ran to Jimmy and shook him wake.

“Wake up and keep playing. Come on!” it said.

Jimmy somehow shook himself awake. He rubbed his sore eyes open and stumbled into his bed with a thud. The wind whispered through the open window, and he swore he heard the console say “Come and play.”

This dazed man gazed at the console that lay motionless on his bright red bookshelf. There were no arms, no legs and the power cord was still plugged in. The yellow light on the machine blinked at him a couple of times. Was it all dream?