detective.

Since I'm trying to concentrate on writing non-fiction this month, this post is kind of a cousin to today's topic. Maybe a 2nd cousin. Consider this a family reunion. 

(Sidebar: I'm introducing the idea of footnotes tonight. Look for the asterisks and thanks for bearing with me.)

When Erin* and I were younger, we would spend hours making up games. One of our favorites was this game we called Detective. Detective was like the reverse of Hide and Seek. One person was the detective and one person was on the run. You weren't allowed to stay anywhere for more than 30 seconds, which meant that you had to constantly change hiding places. Or run. And we ran our asses off. 

Detective pretty much rocked my game-nerd world because you could play it anywhere and with anyone. But there was a dark side to Detective. If the "detective" was feeling like an asshole, they could just go inside without telling anyone. And since Erin and I mostly played by ourselves*, that meant that the runner was on the run. By themselves. Think about how long it might take to figure out that someone you're trying to hide from isn't looking for you. It's pretty much a losing situation.* But it also raises the question, if the game is still just as fun, does it matter if the other person is looking for you? Huh. I'm going to file that away with the rest of the questions I hope to answer some day.

So Detective was mind blowingly fun. But it was also exhausting. Constant running/hiding? It killed your nerves. Sometimes the detective would come out of nowhere and everyone would scream because that's how it was.* You were constantly on edge. Every second was a chance you might get caught. 

And this, wait for it, is exactly what I imagine it would be like to be in the W.P.P (Witness Protection Program). Except you're playing the game for the rest of you life. 

 

* Erin is my twin and only sister. We were born two minutes apart. We can't do ESP, no one's ever gotten hurt and the other person knew about it two thousand miles away, and we never tricked anyone by dressing alike (unless you count my grandmother - but that's a whole other story). 

* We didn't just to ourselves, we were awkward. Erin and I actually avoided other children because we were so incredibly awkward. Take awkward and put it in a unitard (I actually owned a shiny purple one) and put some glasses with no lenses on it. That's what we were working with. 

* Another losing situation is when you play a game where you take turns locking each other in a steamer trunk. I tried to remember why we thought this was fun and I think it had something to do with Houdini. What I remember clearly is that is was not fun and I still have a hard time being in very small, enclosed spaces.

* Speaking of screaming, Erin and I also played a "game" when we were fighting that involved chasing each other with knives and/or fireplace pokers. The object of the game was to kill the other person. What made this game so exhilarating/terrifying was that all the rooms in our house connected to each other.  All you had to do to gain the upper hand was to switch directions, hide behind a door, and jump out with your weapon of choice. Speaking from experience, this will most likely elicit a crazy person scream and scare the living shit out of you. Even when you know it's going to happen.