Team+9

Why Andrew Is Not Coming to the Party

“Rat-a-tat-tat,” sounded the machine gun as the soldiers ran anxiously for cover in the dark of the night. Hearts pounding, sweat stinging their eyes, they try to catch their breath before the someone hears them and makes their hiding place. Andrew held his breath, finger trembling on the trigger. Would he be spotted? How could he get out of this alive without help? He could feel his shirt rising and falling with each pound of a heartbeat.

“Andreew,” mom called from the foyer. “Time to go!”

It was 19:00 and his mother was expecting him to be on his way out the door to his neighbours 9th birthday party. He had forgotten all about it. The new video game he had been playing all night had managed to erase his memory to eat, sleep, and bathe too. He had been playing for fourteen hours straight.

“Andrew, come on now. Markus is waiting for you. You don’t want him to think you didn’t want to attend do you?” mom shouted from the parlour.

“I don’t feel well, Mother,” Andrew called from under the blanket that now felt crushingly heavy to him. He knew he would be letting his friend down, but he just had to level up. He just had to win this round.

Andrew had become addicted to his video games and had been missing out on many chances to play with his friends. He wasn’t doing his school work and he was beginning to find himself all alone on most days. His mother worried but thought it was just what children do. Mom yelled, "Come on, Andrew!" Andrew was so involved in his game that he didn't even hear her. With sweat dripping down his face, his hands moved like a twiddling cheetah. They felt as if they were melting. His life points were within one hundred points of leveling up. He crouched behind a tree, hiding from the enemy. Fifty points. One more shot and he would have accomplished what he had been working so hard to do. He pulled the trigger and ...

...the screen went blank.

His eyes frantically searched between all the possible sources of the problem. The television was still plugged in, the controller was functioning properly, and the console was still on. What had happened? A lump formed in Andrew's throat and his stomach knotted up. Tears began to form in his eyes. The system had crashed. It was over. All of his work was gone.

"I'm not going to ask you again, Andrew!" Mom said as she walked toward his room. Andrew sat still, frozen in place, from the disappointment and anger that now filled him.