Virtual Arcade

The fairground was a fun place, if you were ten years old which meant I had grown out of it by 7 years when my family decided to go to the nearest one. There was everything you expected to be in a fairground of medium size; a large red Ferris wheel that my mum refused to go one because of the heights it climbed up to, a bumper kart circle that appealed to me a bit but after a few goes it was boring again, a merry go round that all the kids were going to, and of course the obligatory donut van that was far too expensive for our meagre wallets. So I was easily bored by the first hour, of course my mum and dad and my sister were playing along nicely I just went around aimlessly trying to find something to do. Which I did.


It was tucked into a clever little alley that no one would notice unless they were actually searching for it, or they had dumb luck. I didn’t really know which camp I was in but it didn’t really matter, I had found this curious place on my own when my parents always told me I had a rubbish finding ability. It was a small arcade like you get in seaside towns when you are going to the beach, they are usually dilapidated buildings with a depressing amount of games and staff that don’t really care anymore. But this one was a little bit different. It had soul. So I went inside to see what kind of games it would have to spend my afternoon, would it be what I thought it was or just another disappointment in this day?


When I went in there it looked small, it was very dingy so it didn’t seem at all appealing, there were only about 2 games on offer so I thought that this is not what I wanted and was about to walk out of the door. Then something strange happened. I had already gathered that no one was there from what I could see but in loudspeakers someone was booming “The next technology to blow your mind and suck you in, these games will give you an experience of a lifetime.” This got me very curious so i decided, what the heck why not spend a few hours playing these games It would be better than the other rides in this fairground. I went other to the first game; it was a simple get out of the maze game, but what was curious was that it had no controls that I could see only a big red button that said ‘START’.


So I put in my 10p and pressed the big red button. Nothing Happened. I pressed it again. Still Nothing. I kicked it a bit and again, nothing was coming up on the screen or anything. So I thought that this was another disappointment and it nicked my 10p so I decided to walk off, then something that I would have never expected would happen in a simple video arcade. I found myself looking in front of a brown wall that looked uncannily like the wall that was on the screen just a few seconds ago. When I turned around to look behind me I saw a pane of glass and through it the arcade i had just left. I must have been sucked into the game. This was beyond my wildest dreams.


So I decided to play the game for awhile, it was a lot harder then it looked on the screen because it is a lot harder when everything is 3D. I came to many dead ends and veering paths that i did not know if I should take or not, sometimes I took them, sometimes not. It was fun at first and then it got tiring, left, right, dead end, go back. Also the donuts that I eat were fading away and I was starting to feel hungry and so I quickened my pace, of course this sent me to more dead ends and I was getting worried because it was getting late and my parents wanted to get home by 4pm. By my watch it was already 2pm and I didn’t know how long this maze would take me.


Things started to become scarier, the walls had not changed one bit, but I could feel an evil presence. The walls, in my imagination, got bigger and the air was going down. I was nearly suffocating. I just wanted to get out of there, I ran and ran, I even cried a little. Not something I had done for many years. This brought me back to many memories where I thought I had lost my mother in a strange area which I didn’t know. Like then I just wanted my mother’s embrace to make it feel all better. Thinking about my mother was kept me going, and not just curling in a ball to die of starvation.


Finally, after what felt an eternity, the walls came down and my breathing went back to normal. I knew I was getting nearer to the exit so I rushed forwards, knowing that it was my mother that saved me from the evil game. The I found the door and opened it and breathed the first breath of fresh air, it was like i had never felt the air in all my life and just got reacquainted with it. My family were outside; they did not look worried, which puzzled me a bit; I just had to fight with my life through a terrifying maze. Then I turned around and my face instantly flashed into anger and embarrassment. The sign on the wall said “The Maze of Eternity, Not suitable for Over 5s.”