2 minute read
Game Over, Ken Wolfe
KEN WOLFE
Mom says for me to get outside, get off my butt, to turn it off. Mom says I need to play with friends, to kick a ball, to socialize. Mom says my games will rot my brain, stunt my mind, render me friendless. Mom doesn’t know. She doesn’t play. In real life, I run laps. I wheeze, feet fl apping, lungs blazing. I get passed, come in last, collapse. On screen, I run for miles. Heavy armor, massive rifl es, wicked swords. I leap crazy far, crack the pavement with steady boots, Sword drawn, guns locked and loaded, Unleash dire consequences on demons and Nazis, one after another after another. All this without my inhaler. In real life, Mom says where I go and how quickly. My teacher says what I do and how quietly. My coach says how high I jump how many times. My enemies say what hallways I can use and when I can safely pee. My life submits to their whims. On screen, the whole world pauses for me when I move my thumb a millimeter and press a tiny button. then— Bullets hang, sizzling, in midair. Beasts balance silently on gargantuan hind legs.
Swords freeze stupefi ed in the hands of evil villains. Explosions still like fi ery oil paintings while I scratch my nose or get more snacks and settle in again. Oh, yes. I make them wait. Sometimes for hours. In real life, I watch my back. If I drop my guard, wedgies come from behind. Feet hook my ankles and fl ip me to the fl oor. Phantom hands drop wet things down my shirt. No one sees anything. Alibis for all. On screen, I whirl round to face my foes and give ’em what’s coming to ’em, make ’em pay. I punish evil. I answer insult with force. Bloodied, they regret their insolence! In real life, at home, I hide my bruises from my parents. I try not to fold when they ask how my day was. If I say more than “Fine,” I’ll show that I’m not. In life, everything’s dangerous and volatile. The teacher’s bad mood bursts into sarcasm, the bully’s attention pulls into harrowing focus. The politics of friendships, the economy of loyalties, the fragile, shifting alliances. Nothing is predictable. Rules don’t apply across the board. On screen, there are rules there are tutorials there are patterns there are combinations that offer success there are power-ups there are health packs there are checkpoints and saves. In my life, there’s just me.
