Gamertale

Finally all the last of the boxes had been unpacked. Your family just moved into a new town, a new life. Monsters and humans walked around in the summer warmth, and here you were, sitting bored at the laundromat. The sound of woshing was an effective lullaby. Dragged here against your will due to the lack of a washing machine at home, you look around for something to do distract yourself. You spot an old arcade cabinet sitting near the back of the droning room. The friendly words “BUBBLE BOBBLE” adorn the machine. It seemed lonely there and you decided to indulge yourself. With a little bit of guilt, you snag a quarter sitting atop the machine currently washing your family’s load. Just one.

	The silver ticket slid into the machine, a couple clicks, then a clink, and the machine flashes it’s invitation. “Player 1 START”. Before you could get started you borrow one of the nearby folding chairs. It’s a shame they never make these things with younger kids in mind. After you clamber up, you decide it’s time to get started. The music is enormously inviting. You’ve never played the game before, but the controls feel familiar all the same. You’re bubbling and bobbling like a pro and before you know it, you’ve acquired an audience. Just a single weird looking kid wearing a bandana around his face. It has a big yellow flower on it. Between that and his backwards cap you can’t really make out his face but the white fur around his calculating eyes. It begins to unnerve you.

	“Your’e not bad you know”, he says. It occurs to you that you’re staring before you get back to the game. “But you can be doing better. Try hugging those critters.” The look of confusion on your face invites him to explain further. “Yeah dude. Try giving them a friendly hug. You get more points that way. Yo want to get lot’s of points don’t you?” Cautiously you put his advice to practice. Realling in your deadly power of bubbles you slide your little dino into one of the purple guys. The dinosaur does not hug the little critter and instead gives you the old “X” eyes and falls dead. “Flower” finds this incredibly amusing, his guffaws evident of his true intent. “Oh man, you idiot. Why are you even playing a baby’s game like this anyway? You’re just asking for someone to mess with you. Don’t you know it’s play or get played around here?”

	You notice your grip on the joystick tightening. As the green dino flashes back to life onscreen an older goat looking girl comes by. “Oh come on, are you still doing this? Go back home before you get grounded”, she scolds. Flower throws her a glare before scampering out of the laundromat, his rainbow striped backpack jiggling with unseen swag. The goat lady gives you an apologetic smile. “Hey kid. Sorry about that, the gamer crowd in this town has really gone down hill.” She looks to be an older teenager, her poodle skirt and purple blouse being the popular fashion. “Hey you got two more lives. Don’t waste them. I’ll help you out.”

	With her at your side, you get pretty far through this game even though it’s your first time. Although she’s more than happy to give you tips and cheer you on, she seems uninterested in playing the game herself. You can’t help but think she would be pretty good at it. “My name’s Toriel by the way. You’re a pretty cool kid you know that? You don’t talk much, but I guess I’m used to that.” Her very presence is warm and kind. It seems to carry you through the game until all your lives are eventually exhausted. “Ah well. All good things must come to an end and all that junk. Where are your parents anyway?” As if on cue, they come buy to fetch you, laundry done for the week. Your new friend introduces herself and makes her babysitting services known. With an exchange of phone numbers everyone says their goodbyes. Before you leave, you give one last look at the eventful machine. In the number one Hi-Score spot you can briefly see the names “TOR & GOR”.