PH1-1

It had been a long week that I needed to put behind me. The stress had my gut tied into a ball, and I just wanted to unwind, so on a whim, I called up a friend and set up a day to hang out and play some games. I love video games, but my family never shared my passion for the games I play, and the notion of playing online always evoked the image of being beaten and insulted by people who were as skilled as they were immature.

I walked out from the local supermarket I work at as the day was winding down, and proceeded to start walking past a nearby strip mall. I frequent the used game shop there, so much so that the store clerks and I know one another by first name and PSN tag. I walked up to the door to see the store locked up, it's insides dark. I cursed under my breath when I realized it was Sunday, and far past the store's closing time of six.

Flustered to deal with this trifle in the face of the week I was already having, I wound up walking a little further in dejected frustration to see a new store. The space it resided in was once an old barber shop that had been gutted, and yet, I recalled it from years ago, this same store, in this same place.

'PLAYHOUSE', was mounted at the front of the store in medium sized, uniform, red letters. I could barely read it, as it had been getting dark, and the only light came from within the store. An odd time for any store besides the big name supermarkets to be open, to say the least. Looking inside, I saw a somewhat drab, but unassuming game store. Determined as I was to find some game to alleviate my stress, I headed in.

The store was all but abandoned, the only indication of someone's presence was from the light shining behind the maroon colored curtain erected in the doorway behind the checkout. Admittedly, I did feel a bit awkward. Was the store about to close? Confessedly, I hadn't even noticed any hours of operation sign on my way in.

The whole of the store looked fairly tidy and well managed, as if it had been steadily maintained for at least a few weeks. The front of the store had the typical current-gen fare from PS3s, Wii Us, and 360s, ensconced with posters and promotions for games that were far outdated, releases from as early as 2006 were still being promoted on oversized stands. Toward the back though, I saw an increasingly bloated and cluttered array of games and controllers. Still tidy, but definitely full beyond capacity. Heading back there out of curiosity, I saw games for older systems, from Atari to Dreamcast and PS2. I was enthralled, in spite of my silent worry of overstaying my welcome in this ambiguously functioning store.

Not wishing to stay any longer than necessary, I peroused the shelves with a kind of haste. At that moment, however, a disc case caught my eye. In bold, turquoise letters written with some odd, "edgy" cartoon font, 'MONSTER RACING' looked out at me from the shelf. Pulling it out, I noticed that the title on the spine was all that remained intact of the cover, the rest looked haphazardly torn, leaving scraps of white like a half peeled sticker. On the corner of the front cover was a yellow price sticker of $4.00. Looking at the back, I tried desperately the make out what little I could of this game. I remembered hearing about it as a kid, but the memory was so vague. Given how distant the memory seemed, I could have sworn it would be on an N64 cartridge and not a Playstation 2 disc.

My ruminations were abruptly broken, however, by the gruff sound of a throat clearing behind me. I turned to see a short figure. An elderly man stood before the desk, looking at me as though silently urging me to hurry. I understood. The store was probably closing and he wanted me to finish shopping. I walked up hurredly, checking out the game, and watching him put the disc in a gossamer bag, sans any receipt. The man was taciturn and quick, though never rushing. I felt somewhat uncomfortable being in his presence, in a way I could not really describe. Thinking back on it now, it was not the presence of this small, quiet man that stirred me, but the presence of something greater, more oppressive, the palpable darkness squeezing in on the peagreen light pouring from the cieling. I wanted to move away as quickly as I could, trying to escape this suddenly perturbing feeling.

I headed out to my car, and headed home, the feeling of terror and discomfort hanging over me like a stench. I knew I was being irrational, the stress from work and my exhaustion always had a way of toying with my head. That being said, I couldn't look down at the bag in my passenger seat through all those miles of almost empty road to my house. As my house pulled into view, the comfort of home overwhelmed my anxieties, and I thought nothing of grabbing the game and heading inside.

I showered, I relaxed, I headed to the computer. All of my friends were asleep tonight. Not much of a surprise, all things considered. Maybe one of my internet friends from another time zone might feel up to some chatting later. In the meantime though, I decided to look up this game. Google offered no help. The Wikipedia article on it was a stub, and the only image I could find was a low res cover art of the game, a cartoony kart racer about colorful monsters on tiny trucks and cars. Even youtube offered up nothing pertaining to the game itself, instead opting to random videos loosely related to racing games or monsters. It was frustrating, and I wanted to play the game, just to sate my curiosity, but a game like this always had to be experienced with a friend; a maiden voyage taken together as we learned the ins and outs of a game. That and, to be honest, the notion of playing it brought back that uncomfortable fear. It sat there, a small case wrapped up in a balled up plastic bag, and yet looking at it made me feel apprehensive.

The night wound on. I watched some videos, blogged, and spoke with those internet friends I had come to expect at the wee hours of the morning, before heading to sleep. The next morning I got up, and headed to my friend's house, the game in tow.