My Earliest Memory.
Upon the distant hill, sat the white house. Inside was the prettiest girl in all of kindergarten awaiting her hero’s return. His duty was to finish the quest that she had laid out and return with the treasures to her home, to collect his reward. Though none knew what this reward was as all who had attempted had failed, all those who still attempted the task was eager for this discovery. The idea was simple. To race across the fields dodging the impediments that was strewn across it and to be the first to reach the sheltered cave. There they would collect the trophies in the wooden crates and using a moving trolley to follow the path back to the white house, never deviating off of the path or losing any of the three crates off the trolley.
We the heroes, lined at the starting point. Each with one eye on the cave, and the other on those we were trying to beat. With no perceptible signal we started running headlong. Dodging any obstacle in our path. The sprint was hectic and crazy, yet somehow I made it first. Today was going to be my day, and I was ready. I had a plan. I had watched where the others failed and figured out a way around the obstacle that threw them. I had a secret weapon. One I had been carrying around all that a week concealed in the belt pack I wore around my waist along with other devices that helped me navigate the world of Kindy. All I needed was a chance to see if I was right, and here it was. I pumped my fist in the air as I jumped for joy. I landed and poked my tongue out at the others who I had beaten. Granted not my smartest idea. You see, in this game if you lost the race, then you became one of the monster sent to prevent the hero from completing the quest. To deviate him off the path but unable to stand on it yourself. So mocking them only succeeded in giving them more of a reason to stop me.
The first part of the journey along the path back to the white house was always the easiest. It relied on speed. To put as much distance between yourself and the others, before they could organise themselves into a coherent mob to stop you. I took the handle of the trolley which was already loaded with the three crates, and started the run back. The first challenge came in the form of burning rocks being flung at me. Those I couldn’t dodge, I let bounce off and away from me. I knew they would only sting for a moment and hoped one didn’t knock me on my head. I survived the initial barrage and carried on, knowing they were out of ammo. Strangely enough they always stood on one side of the path and threw. It never occurred to them to put someone on the other side to throw the rocks back.
The second challenge came from an unexpected source. A gaggle of witches stood in my path. All carrying their plastic familiars. They looked from me, to the white house on the hill and back. Their faces turning to a glare, words being uttered from their lips. The beginnings of a chant started softly first one. Then two. Soon the whole giggle started chanting and calling out against me, and the girl who sat upon the hill watching. I knew I only had moments before the newly formed monsters regrouped and cam after me again with fresh ammo, but I also knew I couldn’t physically attack the witches. There rage could last long after the game had ended. Knowing I had mere seconds I pulled out from my bag my first weapon, and showed them. The glitter off the ring, that I had gotten out of a toy surprise shone, and made their eyes widen. I had been saving this to be a token to the girl in the white house on the hill. Yet here I was offering it as a bribe for safe passage. Thankfully it worked and I was allowed to pass.
I took off again along the path and made it to the final and deadliest stage. This is where all others had failed. This is where I knew I could win. The path became surrounded by high wooden walls. Walls placed by the guardians to prevents the deserts from encroaching along the path. On the walls, straddling the path but not standing directly on it stood the meanest monster of them all. One called Nomis. Nomis’s beady little eyes watched me approach and his moth curled into an ugly smile. His giant green chest acted as an immoveable boulder, with his black legs making the pillars holding it in place. There was nothing nice about Nomis. He was bigger than all the other kids. Yet his mouth, nose, and other features always appeared to small for the large round face they were put on. As if some drew a tiny smiley face on a balloon.
“Ya cant cross” he squeaked at me. Did I forget to mention he had a really high pitched voice. Like he had been sucking on helium just before he spoke “No way past, and all I have to do is throw one of the boxes off” His grin grew wider, yet still only covering half his face. This is were the others had failed, and why they hung back now. Everyone was scared of Nomis, It really hurt when he punched you and if he couldn’t get to a box, he punched you till you ran away. With being so big and ugly he was just to heavy to simply heave off and out of your way. He was the Kindy bully, and even at four I was beginning to hate bullies. If you hadn’t guessed by now, I was also becoming a bit of a smartarse. I smiled at him. A grin of triumph, and pulled out the secret I had kept stashed in bag for the last week. His grin faltered, and gave way to confusion as he stared at my toy ray gun.
All games follow a set of rules. You can bend them, but you can’t quite break outright. Not without destroying the game or it essence. However you can add to them. And with kid playing games, they add stuff all the time. We call it cheating as adults. Teachers and philosophers call it thinking out side the box. Kids just simply call it playing. As the toy ray gun was a game changer, it didn’t violate the rules or the essence of the quest. It just added in a new dimension.
“What's that” Nimos asked stupidly staring at the object in my hand
“A gun of course” I replied “The one I use to kill the monsters in my closet at night. This thing, one shot on the right setting and the monster just disappears” I tilted the toy ray gun to show him the switch on the side that allowed me to adjust the settings. Each would, in turn play different lights and make different sounds.
“One shot and all types of monsters just go poof” He looked at me and back to the toy in my hand. I could see him thinking it through furiously, trying to find a way around this new wrinkle. When it came to him his eyes brightened, and smile returned.
“Wont work on me” Nimos stated.
“Why not?” I enquired, knowing full well what he was going to say.
“I’m not a monster, I’m a troll” Nimos the monster just upgraded himself to Nimos the troll.
“Okay” I said as if I didn’t care and flicked the setting button on the side of the toy ray gun. “That was the troll setting. Now do you want to change to something else? Cause whatever you change to I can set the gun to it”
Nimos went back to thinking. I waited, I wanted to give him a chance, to see if he could out think this. He couldn’t and I got bored. Without any warning I aimed directly at his green chest and pulled the trigger. Lights flashed, sound erupted from the toy ray gun and Nimos clutched his chest. He knew I had him and even though I knew he would make me pay for this later he had no choice but to conceded that I had won. He collapsed and in true troll bully fashion fell into the desert destroying the newly built cities of the sand goblins, and listening to there cries of protest and anguish with a happy smile on his face. I had moments before the guardians heard their cries and came to investigate. Wasting no time I tilted the trolley and sprinted the final distance to the hill with the white house.
The others chased me but as they had expected Nimos to stop me none was in a place to prevent me from reaching the end of the quest. I took one final look back before I carried the crates to the top and could see the guardian pick up Nimos and begin to tell him off for destroying the cities. He had been in trouble plenty before, so he kept his eyes downcast and while the guardian lectured. As soon as I turned my back to them all thought left my head except for the destination I climbed to. I short timed I reached the white house, and there sat the prettiest girl in all of kindergarten staring at me. Her eyes squinted, eyebrows furrowed with arms folded across her chest.
“Your late, and now my breakfast has gotten complete cold without the milk you were supposed to have here hours ago” There was no mistaking the anger she was giving off.
“Did you see what I just did for you” I asked “No one else has ever done this, I’m the first” This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. She was supposed to be all grateful and stuff give me a reward. Gosh damn it, there is just no pleasing some people. Her scowl faltered and as the anger passed her face melted into one of beauty. She looked and me.
“You are right” she admitted “You are the first to complete the task that I have asked to be done, and for such you shall receive my reward” That line sounded rehearsed and who speaks like that. While I was thinking this, she moved closer to me and took my hand in hers. Without warning or asking if it was ok, she stood on tippy toes and kissed me on the cheek. My brain stopped working for a moment. I was to stuned to think. What the hell had she just done, and in public. Didn’t she know just how humiliating, doing that would be. Obviously not, because as I looked at her she had a smile on her face, probably thinking that what she had done was the greatest gift ever. Admittedly I didn’t handle it well. I pulled my hands out of hers and started rubbing at my face. A desperate attempt to try to wipe away my shame.
“Gross” I said “that was completely gross” Her face fell and tears swelled in her eyes. She turned from me and run inside the white plastic playhouse that sat on top of the raised area of the playground. Ashamed I turned and stared back the way I had come. The other boys stood holding the red rubber dodge balls. The girls had settled down in a group and were having a tea party with their dolls. The kids in the sand pits which had been watching Simon being told off by the teacher, were like all the others, now staring at me. All of them also with a stupid stunned look on there face. I should of let Simon punch. It would of hurt less, but I knew what was to came and took it as deserved punishment for my actions. With a slow movement Simon raised his finger and pointed it directly at me and began the chant
“Troy and Lisa sit-in in the tree…”
No comments:
Post a Comment