Game Night at the Jack's House

Submitted into Contest #34 in response to: Write a story about a family game night.... view prompt

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General

Friday night was definitely Jimmy's least favorite time of the week. While most families hunkered down and slept in, the Jacks stayed up until 12:00 at night playing the wackiest games ever! They played Bug Out!, Space Race and Fishing Trip. Jimmy just wished that he could have a normal family for a day! All seven members of his family were wildly crazy, except for him.

Mr. and Mrs. Jack were history geeks and made their kids recite certain dates and facts every morning like listing facts about each President or World War II. Jerry, the second youngest, was the family prankster. Next in line was Jackson and Johnson, two twins who argued who about who was the best every chance that they were given. Last but not least, James, the science nerd. He may be the oldest but he really shouldn't be naming every element on the Periodic Table. He always uses big words like floccinaucinihilipilification or antidisestablishmentarianism to make others sound dumb. Jimmy was unluckily the youngest of the bunch at nine years old.

Tonight was Mr. Jack's turn to pick the game. He always chooses Knight Fight, Revolutionary Warriors, or HisNerds Battle Quiz. Currently the Jacks were sitting in a circle around Knight Fight. Mr. Jack asked "Everyone have their gear?" Jimmy his backpack along with everyone else. You should always be prepared in the Jack's game night. Daggers, fireworks, explosives, first-aid kits, and other supplies was pulled out of the deadly packs. Every backpack's supplies was different, as Jimmy usually carried a boomerang and collapsible staff.

Mr. Jack leaned forward and dropped the dice on the creepy board. As they all leaned in to see what he got, Jimmy made a sigh of relief. Only a level three out of six, not half bad. As he cracked-up, they were all sucked into the devil-like game board. It created an eerie setting for any board game, especially in the Jack's house.

When Jimmy caught his bearings he opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a lush green field surrounded by rolling hills. He was alone and separated from his family until midnight. In the distance, he saw five nights riding directly towards him upon caramel colored steeds. "At least it isn't level six in Swamp Attack Island, now that was a disaster!" Jimmy reached into his backpack and pulled out a hollow tube and pack of darts. The blow darts that he held couldn't kill a living creature but could easily put them into a deep sleep within seconds. "Survive until midnight and you can win," he muttered. He raised the loaded straw up to his lips and shot a dart at each of the knight's horses as soon as they were in range.

As each horse's eyes went droopy, Jimmy struck each knight with the extendable staff, causing them to fall off. The sleepy horses fell over, crushing the unlucky knights beneath their weight. One horse wasn't shot so he jumped onto the beautiful beast and made it towards the nearby town. Jimmy searched the saddle only to find the usual pouch of coins and cutting knife, but he saved them anyway.

When he put them into his backpack, he saw saw two people dressed in black, sword fighting knee deep in the river. The dark sky let him know that there was only one hour left in this family game night. As he walked over to the two sword fighters, he instantly recognized them. "Jackson and Johnson!," Jimmy called. They waddled out of the freezing water covered in leeches! "Hi broth..." they quivered before falling into a limp pile. Jimmy sighed and pulled out his boomerang and started scraping the leeches off and into a nearby bucket. Then using a syringe, he took the blood from the leeches and back into his idiotic brothers. This is the mundane adventure that happens when you play board games at the Jack's house.

But the adventure only gets better! James glides past them atop a massive green dragon that leaves a fiery trail behind it. They soar up into the darkening sky, creating a masterpiece of colors and flame. The entire forest catches ablaze from the dangerous fire display in the sky.

Jimmy knew what to do. He ran off towards a short, stubby mountain carrying explosives from his backpack. He lit a match with his mouth and lit the stack of potential death in his arms. He tossed them on top of the mountain top and rolled head first down the 100 foot mountain. He stopped at the base to turn around and see the second explosion of the night which was returned by a geyser of water spouting out of the rubble pile.

The flames were doused out by the miraculous water spout thanks to Jimmy's quick thinking. As he drudged through the burnt woods back to the town. He laid on the ground in defeat and sorrow of the treacherous night. It could not possibly get any worse than this. Or could it?

Jimmy felt the ground tremble below his tired body. Quickly approaching from the east was a stampede of mighty horses with catapults trailing behind them. It looked like Mr. and Mrs. Jack had made friends with the king and queen of Heldson again. They were racing toward them for a fight. Rocks were flung towards the weak ghost town. The few residents that remained fled from the attack like Jerry did every time he began to lose at a board game. He was the family's comedic relief.

Jimmy jumped upon a lone horse and galloped towards the enemy lines. He planned his next move, just like in a board game! Jimmy ran towards the catapult line and rammed the side of a catapult causing it to turn ninety degrees towards the villain. He pulled the lever and launched a rock the size of couch. It barreled into the line of defense ending the attacks. Jimmy had saved his family yet again and reminded them that there is nothing quite like playing a family board game with the Jacks!


March 21, 2020 02:57

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1 comment

Ay Jay
16:34 Apr 02, 2020

Interesting take on a family game night. I liked the twist of reality that you added here! I think that sometimes, it felt like Jimmy was telling the story as it happened, and other times it seemed more like someone was describing what had already happened to Jimmy during that Friday night. I really did love the characters and the whole Jack family, though. They were fun, quirky, and relatable. Great work, keep writing!!

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