Fun! Fun! Fun!

Yes! Yes! Every child in his life needs a pastime, a hobby, a recreational activity that distracts them from pondering the meaning of life! What kind of world would we live in without that three-letter word called fun? …Well, I assume it’d be pretty boring. But anyway, these are just a few of the things that I always enjoyed doing in my pastime. You may notice I might have mentioned some of these in earlier chapters.
As a young child of the age of six… or seven… eight, nine, ten and so on, I had a couple things I found were worth my time. One of those, I’m slightly ashamed to admit, was the joy of videogames. One thing I remember, though, as one of the “little peoples” was the old 90’s shows they used to have. Rocko’s Modern Life, Aaah! Real Monsters, and my personal favorite, Angry Beavers! …Yes, let the record show I did not have a life as a child.
One of my most favorite experiences was a daycare center called Playtime Plus (still open if I recall). It had everything! A fort, a Jupiter Jump, a ball pit, and videogames of course. It was always an adventure there, and the Jupiter Jump could keep me busy for hours, even if those hours consisted of running in circles repeatedly…
Then, I grew up to the healthy age of… 9. That’s when I learned I had a riveting imagination! Already, the stories become clear in my mind, and I start to live them out. I’m living with a family in the boondocks. Suddenly, a wormhole opens and sucks me in! Now there’s a weird guy with electric hands! But then I grow up, and become a professional snowboarder! But I get captured by secret service to work to kill the guy with electric hands, who actually dies shortly afterwards by other means. Then I die and come back as a ghost to haunt people. Then I learn how to fly a jet fighter! Well, it goes on from there. I’m fairly certain I have a girlfriend throughout the story, too… Anyway, I decided if I’m going to think of this stuff, I might as well write it! Thus, my career as a novelist began, starting with the adventurous story I just described! Eventually, I wrote and finished my first story in 7th Grade, “The Case of the Missing Turkey”, later dubbed “Holiday Detective: Thanksgiving Theft!”
There were also a few random things that kept my attention. For a few years, I took lessons on the piano. It was fun, albeit frustrating. Unfortunately, I discontinued my lessons, but I did manage to learn Beethoven’s Symphony #5. Duh, duh, duh, duhhhhhhhhh! I also had an intriguing interest in chess, which still stands as my all-time favorite board game ever! At first, I started learning from my family until I could beat everyone except my dad (at least to my knowledge). Eventually, I started participating in tournaments. I enjoyed everything about those tournaments: the long tables, the concession stand, even the smell of the boards coming fresh out of the cases. (You might think it weird, but I liked it!).
Let’s see… Well, my experiences in 8th and 9th Grade tampered with my stories a bit. One I had been working on was supposed to be a sort of funny adventure with a ghost and some petty criminals. Well, the petty criminals eventually turned into vicious criminals; the ghost’s memory of death becomes gruesome, and about 4 of the five main characters get killed off. So yeah, you could say I was going through sort of a “stage” at the time. Let the record show that WCA marked the end of that horrific stage! And now, I usually like to hang out with friends, work on some stories, and yes, I still do play videogames. My active life will always have a little bit of “lack thereof” added to it, so I might as well live with it.