Why Game? 1 - TextFiles.com

petting her, she gives a little growl to announce
that she needs some attention.
While waiting, a mother and her two
children, a five-year-old girl and an eight-year-
old boy, walked by. My dog did her growl and
they turned around and did the “aww” thing.
The mother was loud and suburban. As she ap-
proached she asked, “Is that a Beagle?!”
“Yeah, her name is Popper,” I replied.
“How old is he?” she asked.
“SHE is around four months old. We’re tak-
ing her to puppy class tonight.”
“That’s great! My son got this game yester-
day. Tell him about the game.”
So the son looks at me and I swear to
god he’s got rabies or something. He’s got little
white pearls built up on either side of his lips
and they disappear and reappear as his mouth
opens and closes while speaking. “Its called
Nintendogs, and you can raise and teach tricks
to 5 puppies.”
A smile forms across my face. This could
be my chance to actually use that “bark mode”
thingy. “Hey, do you have it with you? I’ve got it
in my car right now, we can do ‘bark mode’.”
The kid goes, “Really? Do you really have it
in your car?”
“The man is teasing you, honey. Of course
he doesn’t have it in his car,” ending her state-
ment with a nervous laughter.
“I’m totally serious,” I assure them.
“Wow,” the kid says, as the foam that
frames his lips disappears completely for a mo-
ment, only to reappear as the final ‘wuh’ sound
parts his lips.
The mom pets my dog a few more times
and says, “Well, we’d better get going.”
The daughter pets Popper on the head a
few more times, as the mother prods her son on
into the restaurant. As she pats my dog to say
goodbye she notices my t-shirt. “Hey look! Baby
Mario and Big Mario!”
The son corrects her, “No, it’s little Mario
plus mushroom equals Super Mario.”
The family disappeared into the restaurant.
At this point it finally hits me that the mother is
convinced that I was a child molester trying to
coax her son into the back seat of my car with
the promise of video games and I’m thinking of
what I should have said. Maybe I should have
told her that I write for a video game magazine.
Then I think about how terrible it is that I should
have to justify my hobby. Then my dog barked
at another passing couple and I had to calm her
down again.
We ate dinner and went to class then
continued home, played with the dog for a bit,
and hopped into bed. Popper settled in at my
side and cuddled her back into me, sprawling
her legs out as I petted her. Then it hit me. I
forgot about my Nintendog! I threw on my pants
and went down the apartment stairs to my car
to get my DS. On the way back up I opened the
system to check on my virtual puppy. Nope, no-
body had tried to contact me using “bark mode,”
and the batteries were running low from all of
the wi-fi use. I turned off the system and came
back inside. Popper wagged her tail as I came
back into bed and resumed her position next to
me staring up into my eyes. I put my DS on the
bedstand and rubbed her belly until the two of
us fell asleep.
Real Dog vs. Nintendog (Real Dog Wins) 69