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Write a story about a grown-up sharing their favorite childhood video game with their child.

Posted in Funny on Feb 2, 2024

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✍️ 20 stories

Rescuing the Princess

Submitted to Contest #236

Before Link could walk, he could already expertly manipulate a dual analog stick and wield a Wii remote as if it were an extension of his arm. When Link was a baby, I would hold him in my arms, swaddled in a blanket, trying to get him to sleep, while I occupied myself with a late-night session of Legend of Zelda, Skyward Sword. Sometimes I think this kid will bust out an Ocarina and jam out in B major with the number of hours he spent as a toddler dozing off to the Main Theme on repeat. Dun dun dun, dun dun dun, dun-dun-dun-dun. That heroic,...

33 likes 30 comments 30
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And Remember: Drive Defensively

Submitted to Contest #236

I knew this day would come. As a parent, you prepare for the inevitability. I just thought I had more time. One evening at the dinner table, she just drops it on you without any warning, and you have to respond in that moment, whether you’re ready or not. “No. Absolutely not,” I tell her. “Why does a ten-year-old need her own computer anyway?” I hold my breath, dreading the answer. And sure enough, “Because you won’t let me download new programs on yours, and I want to play Fortnite with my friends.” Boom goes the dynamite. I sneak...

21 likes 6 comments 6
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Marble Madness: Reconnecting Through Pixels

Submitted to Contest #236

Kevin tossed and turned in bed, before waking bleary-eyed.“Another one of your dreams, baby?” his wife Clara asked from the other side of the bed.“Yeah, crazy,” Kevin said looking around the room “It was like I was climbing a pyramid, but this snake was chasing me up, and for some reason, I tried to outmaneuver it by going sideways and then down again. We ended up running all over the side of this pyramid, and my feet were covered in some fine yellow sand, so I could see everywhere I’d run.”“Crazy!” said Clara sarcasticallyClara got up to ma...

15 likes 5 comments 5
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Died of Dysentery

Submitted to Contest #236

Thirty-nine-year-old Aaron sat in the minivan, waiting to pick up his ten-year-old son, Noah, from soccer practice. Facing the field, he watched the gaggle of preadolescents practice dribbles, passes, shoots, and an occasional trick shot from the head or chest--just to show off for each other, no doubt. They were an impressive bunch for their age, he’d give them that. Albeit, Aaron was always a more avid viewer of sports than an active participant. Athletics were never easy for him. Noah must get his propensity from either a recessive trait ...

14 likes 1 comment 1
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Lost Media

Submitted to Contest #236

I just got hired for a new job In Atlanta. It's a higher paying job with great benefits and my wife is excited about the move. After finally finding a house about 30 mins from my new job we began to pack up everything. I am an aerospace engineer and this has been my dream job ever since middle school. My dad had this really cool and fancy telescope that I loved looking into overnight after dinner. When high schools and colleges started having space programs and more of those kind of careers started to open up I knew I found my calling. Our s...

12 likes 4 comments 4
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Two-player

Submitted to Contest #236

The place was like one of those rich people resorts you’d see in the movies from the 60s and 70s. You know, the ones with the giant white mansion with the columns and the flowers in pure white, cement garden plots. No gravel roads here either, everything was paved and leveled. Even the slightest incline in the road was smooth enough that you didn’t get out of breath when walking upward. No one wanted to see ladies with sweaty skin or drippy makeup, god-forbid. The building, Ellicott Hall, faced a professionally manicured golf course, or, if ...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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Perspective

Submitted to Contest #236

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I felt my blood pressure rise as I looked at the back of Gabriella’s dark hair, her body leaned into my closet. And not just any part of my closet, I knew exactly what she was looking at.  She was startled by my shout and she fumbled her hands.  “Oh! Uh…. What’s this?” She held up my old Nintendo 64 with the Princess Peach sticker on the top. It looked like a dinosaur next to the brand new iPhone sitting in her lap.  “Who told you that you could go through my stuff?!” I quickly walked over to her...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Simon

Submitted to Contest #236

Simon Grampa and the puppy came into our house at the same time. That was the summer I turned eleven. We brought the puppy--an Australian Shepherd--home from the shelter. Grampa came to live with us from the convalescent home. After the whirlwind of getting Grampa settled and making a little home for the puppy, when I had time to sit down and think about all the strangeness, I remember that my first clear thought was, "They both smell weird." While I knew puppies were supposed to smell weird, I felt guilty for thinking that about Gr...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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Where Is Everyone Going? Bingo?

Submitted to Contest #236

"Son, come here, I've got something to show you," Father said with a grin, his eyes glinting with mischief."What is it, Dad? Another one of your ancient relics?" the son replied, rolling his eyes as he followed his father into the living room."You could say that, but this relic is a masterpiece. Behold, Resident Evil 4," Father declared dramatically, gesturing to the screen where the game was paused."Resident what now?" the son asked, peering at the screen skeptically."Resident Evil 4, my boy. It's a classic. None of these newfangled games c...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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Halcyon

Submitted to Contest #236

“I’ve come to save you,” I declared, projecting my squeaky, high-pitched voice into the quiet depths of our small suburban townhouse.   The front door swung shut loudly, heroically, behind me. A statement to the world I was leaving behind. An invitation to the sanctuary I had entered. A challenge to - I sniffed the air. It was suspiciously citrusy.   “Have you been cleaning?” I accused, louder.  I wiggled off my scuffed sneakers without undoing the laces. They scattered, exhausted, next to a neat row of tiny fl...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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The Word is 'Vintage'

Submitted to Contest #236

“Stop leaving me behind.” “Well, you’re going too slow. Keep up if you don’t want to get left behind.” “You just made me die!” “No I didn’t, you died because you’re not good.”In the kitchen I hear everything. Another afternoon of endless bickering and yelling over video games. “Time’s up in ten minutes,” I yell up to them, knowing it’ll land on deaf ears. I wait for a response that doesn’t come. “You hear me?” I yell, this time with a bite in my tone. “But Mom, Jack never lets me be first player,” Grace yells down to me o...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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The Connection

Submitted to Contest #236

Thud. Dust filled the air, as dad opened a heavy chest filled with old blankets. “Agh, hack!” I coughed, scrambling out of the way. “Dad, did you really bring me up here to show me old rags?” He laughed. “Bring it up to your mother,” he mused. “I don’t know why she still keeps these, but that’s not why we’re here.” He smiled a boyish mischievous grin, then hurled out old garments and blankets in my direction. I screamed trying to dodge them all, but failed as a particularly big one covered me. It was old and smelly, but somehow I didn’t mind...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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History Repeats (and Sometimes It's Great)

Submitted to Contest #236

As a child, and as with most children, I was very curious. And perhaps within a fraction of that—maybe not so big but not so small either—were children like me, who had their curiosities drawn to books and stories. The story in particular was of William Wallace, and the book which sparked my curiosity for it was of the same name. It was something my father picked up at a book fair for reasons I never really did ask about. This led to my father introducing me to a video game, where I could relive not only some of the glorious exploits of Wall...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Old Friend

Submitted to Contest #236

“Daddy! Daddy! This one!” Its seven in the morning and David is jumping and smiling for his father Greyson to set up the old game system. He choose a game earlier and was promised that he could play it today. Unfortunately , Greyson had to wake up so early on his free day to play with his son. In fact, David’s mother was down the hall in her room still sleeping. Greyson, even though he was half asleep, had gone to the attic and brought his old game system and video games down for his son. David was around ten years old so it surprised ...

7 likes 6 comments 6
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That Is Not Pikachu

Submitted to Contest #236

My daughter awkwardly grips the gray, plastic brick in her small hands as she uses the little cross-shaped D pad to move her tiny pixelated self through clumps of equally pixelated grass. The original Gameboy she’s holding is the twin of the one that got me through many a lengthy car ride back when I was her age. I see the telltale exclamation point pop up over one of the NPC sprite’s heads and know she is in for a battle. She frowns at the tiny square screen as the tinny music plays, then turns her quizzical gaze up at me. “What is that?” ...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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