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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

Princess, Pickles, & Pixels: A Super Mario Love Story

Submitted to Contest #236

The Rescue on the Yamanote Line I guess my whole life can be split into two categories: Before Mario and After Mario. Everything that came after jumping on my first Goomba at the age of eight paled in comparison. School? Boring. The real world? Too slow. By the time I hit my thirties, "After Mario" felt awfully stale. I wasn't going to get any taller, faster, or better looking, and video games didn't cut it like they used to. Then, the unbelievable happened. I didn't find Mario; a real-life Princess Peach found me. Tokyo trains are al...

6 likes 3 comments 3
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No School Like the Old School

Submitted to Contest #236

As far as I can work out from Mom and Dad’s stories, growing up in the 1980s was crazy. No one wore bike helmets or seat belts. Candy cost 25¢. And pinball machines and upright console video games were everywhere. You could find them in any public space, from hotel lobbies to gas stations to Pizza Hut. In Dad's hometown alone, there was a Scramble in the Holiday gas station, Centipede at the bowling alley (now burned down), a handful of arcade games in a bar’s back room with a side door on the street, through which Dad and two of his fr...

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I'll Win For You

Submitted to Contest #236

We lived in Tennessee. Despite its obvious beauty, it definitely has its downsides. Tornado warnings, extreme temperatures, some storms. Even so, nothing swayed my parents into changing their minds about this place, especially my dad. They both grew up here, and after my mom died, he didn’t see any reason to leave. To be fair, I didn’t want to leave either. I was only 4 when she passed away, but our house seemed to hold beautiful lost memories of her, and especially remind my dad that everything was going to be okay.  May 18, 1998. A t...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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The Last Summer with Lauren

Submitted to Contest #236

July 12th, 2018  Today, I stumbled upon a Nintendo Entertainment System for free on Facebook Marketplace. It came with the original Mario Bros. game. I drove an hour and 7 minutes to pick it up and another hour and 45 minutes back. Traffic was horrible. Yes, I felt a tad offended when Lauren and Liam called it "ancient". I had one of these when I was 14. My oldest kid is leaving for college in 37 days.  I can’t wrap my mind around it. I don’t know how to describe my feelings. I don’t know what to do with my feelings. I don’t k...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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A New Game

Submitted to Contest #236

“Honey, are you sure she’s ready for this?” My wife, Elizabeth, posed this question as she leaned in the doorway to our living room. She was watching me, her beloved husband of 8 years, attempt to untangle the mass of cords that now covered the hardwood like a pile of spaghetti. “Of course she is.” I said untying the last knot that had entangled a controller to the old Gamecube with the power cord. “Gracie is a Cartwright, and as such she was born to play video games.” “Yes, Mike, but she is also only 5. Not to mention that you can get...

5 likes 3 comments 3
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