Have you ever had that dark shadow looming in the back of your mind. You know something around you is off but you can't quite place your finger on it. What if that off thing was staring you right in the face but the barrier being up kept you from opening your eyes to it?
It was another night I'd spent alone in my bedroom. I had my controller in my hands with a headset on that had an adjustable mic, pointed toward my mouth. I spoke to my friends online as we played one of our favorite game, The Goalie of Soccerville. I know, I hated the cheesiness of the name, but the game wasn't too bad to play against people online.
One of my friends cut me off and scored the winning shot, prompting me to shout at them. Of course I wasn't exactly upset with them, they were new to the game they didn't know any better. We laughed it off and waited in the lobby before another game started. I told my friends I was starving, so I got up and headed to the kitchen to find a snack. My friends said they'd wait for me.
When I got turned the corner to the kitchen, I saw my dad sitting on the couch. I tried as hard as I could to avoid him. I wasn't exactly fond of my dad, he was always boring to be around and if you got a conversation started with him, you'd better be prepared to sit around for a few hours until he stops talking.
Unfortunately for me, after I grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry, my dad stopped me.
"Hey son, what have you been up to?" he asked from the couch in the living room. I could tell he was straining to turn and look at me.
I shrugged. "Not much, just the same old thing. Playing some games with my friends."
"I got a tape from this garage sale earlier today. It says 'Do Not Play' on it." he said, holding it up so that I could see. Sure enough, it was a small cassette tape you'd put into an old tape player and listen to. There was a piece of white tape on the front and in black marker someone scribbled the warning. As he held it up I could see there was something on the back but I couldn't make out what it said.
"Do you want to listen to it?" he asked, lowering the tape. I shook my head.
"That's okay son," he said, the joy in his voice was gone. "You have fun with your friends, I'll let you know if there's anything good on here."
With my bag of chips in hand, I made my way back to my room.
The next day I was awakened to low ramblings coming from outside my bedroom door. I looked at the crack beneath the door to find a shadow before my door, surrounded by the bright light of my hall light. I got out of bed and opened the door. My dad stood outside my door, holding a cassette player out to me.
"Son, you need to listen to this," he said, a shakiness in his voice that resembled that of a mad man. "I listened and I now know the truth. It's a truth you must now understand."
"Dad," I said, pushing the cassette player away from me. "What are you talking about? It's five in the morning."
"This song, I listened to it last night," he explained. "It opened my eyes to the blinding black and white. I now know the truth. Our universe, created to tell a single story, to entertain the God's creatures. The number three keeps standing out to me."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said before shutting the door on him. I felt bad for doing it, but it was too early in the morning to listen to him go on his hour long tangents, no matter how trippy they are.
A few days went by and my father was still going on about the song and everything he's learned because of it. At this point he's convinced we not only live in a simulation, but a simulation inside a book. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, I can see myself and hear my own voice. You can't do that inside a book.
I turned to my friends to ask for some kind of help on how to get my dad to stop talking like this. One of them suggested listening to the song for myself and seeing what the big deal was. I knew if I did that, it would only give my dad more of a reason to follow me around with the information.
One of my friends suggested I should turn the tape around and let him listen to it. There's usually more on the back, maybe it'll put my dad's mind at ease with what it'd have to say. I shrugged and said "Why not?"
I walked to the living room and told my dad to listen to the other side of the tape, for it held the answers to the things he'd been rambling about. He asked how I knew and I said I looked it up online.
He took everything I said to him and grabbed the cassette player. He flipped the tape over and put it back in. He hit play and I could tell by the look on his face he was enjoying what he was listening to. I hoped it would work so our lives could return to normal.
Not too long after, he took off his headphones and looked so confused. He wandered around for a few moments, asking where he was and what day it was. He had no recollection of anything after listening to the tape the first time around.
After explaining everything to him, he had an idea. An idea he didn't tell me about until it was too late. He uploaded the song online.
It was another night I'd spent alone in my bedroom. I had my controller in my hands with a headset on that had an adjustable mic, pointed toward my mouth. I spoke to my friends online as we played one of our favorite game, The Goalie of Soccerville. I know, I hated the cheesiness of the name, but the game wasn't too bad to play against people online.
One of my friends cut me off and scored the winning shot, prompting me to shout at them. Of course I wasn't exactly upset with them, they were new to the game they didn't know any better. We laughed it off and waited in the lobby before another game started. I told my friends I was starving, so I got up and headed to the kitchen to find a snack. My friends said they'd wait for me.
When I got turned the corner to the kitchen, I saw my dad sitting on the couch. I tried as hard as I could to avoid him. I wasn't exactly fond of my dad, he was always boring to be around and if you got a conversation started with him, you'd better be prepared to sit around for a few hours until he stops talking.
Unfortunately for me, after I grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry, my dad stopped me.
"Hey son, what have you been up to?" he asked from the couch in the living room. I could tell he was straining to turn and look at me.
I shrugged. "Not much, just the same old thing. Playing some games with my friends."
"I got a tape from this garage sale earlier today. It says 'Do Not Play' on it." he said, holding it up so that I could see. Sure enough, it was a small cassette tape you'd put into an old tape player and listen to. There was a piece of white tape on the front and in black marker someone scribbled the warning. As he held it up I could see there was something on the back but I couldn't make out what it said.
"Do you want to listen to it?" he asked, lowering the tape. I shook my head.
"That's okay son," he said, the joy in his voice was gone. "You have fun with your friends, I'll let you know if there's anything good on here."
With my bag of chips in hand, I made my way back to my room.
The next day I was awakened to low ramblings coming from outside my bedroom door. I looked at the crack beneath the door to find a shadow before my door, surrounded by the bright light of my hall light. I got out of bed and opened the door. My dad stood outside my door, holding a cassette player out to me.
"Son, you need to listen to this," he said, a shakiness in his voice that resembled that of a mad man. "I listened and I now know the truth. It's a truth you must now understand."
"Dad," I said, pushing the cassette player away from me. "What are you talking about? It's five in the morning."
"This song, I listened to it last night," he explained. "It opened my eyes to the blinding black and white. I now know the truth. Our universe, created to tell a single story, to entertain the God's creatures. The number three keeps standing out to me."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said before shutting the door on him. I felt bad for doing it, but it was too early in the morning to listen to him go on his hour long tangents, no matter how trippy they are.
A few days went by and my father was still going on about the song and everything he's learned because of it. At this point he's convinced we not only live in a simulation, but a simulation inside a book. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, I can see myself and hear my own voice. You can't do that inside a book.
I turned to my friends to ask for some kind of help on how to get my dad to stop talking like this. One of them suggested listening to the song for myself and seeing what the big deal was. I knew if I did that, it would only give my dad more of a reason to follow me around with the information.
One of my friends suggested I should turn the tape around and let him listen to it. There's usually more on the back, maybe it'll put my dad's mind at ease with what it'd have to say. I shrugged and said "Why not?"
I walked to the living room and told my dad to listen to the other side of the tape, for it held the answers to the things he'd been rambling about. He asked how I knew and I said I looked it up online.
He took everything I said to him and grabbed the cassette player. He flipped the tape over and put it back in. He hit play and I could tell by the look on his face he was enjoying what he was listening to. I hoped it would work so our lives could return to normal.
Not too long after, he took off his headphones and looked so confused. He wandered around for a few moments, asking where he was and what day it was. He had no recollection of anything after listening to the tape the first time around.
After explaining everything to him, he had an idea. An idea he didn't tell me about until it was too late. He uploaded the song online.
Comments
Post a Comment