(Inspired by a conversation with Mr. Mike Fox)
The old man was The King; his expression was blank. His muscles did not move. His gaze was locked, his mouth, slightly ajar. All motion was frozen in his realm, save a reoccurring blink of the eyes and a click of his fingers upon the controller. His fingers moved with quiet minimalism in their improvised choreography and in the dim light of the room the fingers seemed almost static. He wore a microphone headset like a crown.
Until:
“You have one video message,” the King’s headphone spoke.
Without breaking his glance, the king replied: “from who?”
“Your granddaughter.”
“Play it.”
A loading bar rapidly filled and the buffering ended with a pop.
“Dear Grandpa,” a twelve year old girl said with a smile. “It’s me! Rachael! I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your life. You see,” the girl said, reaching into an off screen bag, “I watched this documentary on the twentieth century the other day, and even though you only lived 8 years of it, I thought to myself how lucky you must have been to have know your parents and grandparents! Their generations accomplished so much.”
The king’s glance was locked.
“I mean just the things your parents went through! Revolutions in ideas, in music, in culture in general! It’s fascinating…”
Ten kill streak the king’s head set said.
“Like your grandparents! By the time they were twenty or thirty or forty they went through the great depression and a world war! That’s pretty phenomenal. I think what really interests me is that these changes were for the most part all encompassing, almost everyone was effected in one way or another.
Fifteen kill streak.
“And your generation!”
Headshot.
“The technological innovations! The communication explosion!”
From the head set, the sound of Russian momentarily broke into the conversation. The king flipped a switch and it silenced.”
“Want I want to hear from you is…”
25 kill streak.
“How were you involved in the changes?”
2 minutes remaining.
“How did you contribute?”
1 minute remaining.
“Did you make a difference?”
Game over. Winner: king3132.
“Thanks Grandpa! I love you!”
Before he turned his head to catch a final glimpse of his grandchild, the screen turned black. Silence cloaked the room until a voice from the head set broke the silence:
“Number one player in the world for 32 years. Not bad old man. Play again?”
“Yes.”
But before the king pressed the start button, he reached over to the computer and deleted the message. He wasn’t concerned of upsetting his family over the deleted message, they thought he was senile.
But he still hesitated to start due to a 20 year old stomach pain. The doctor said it was stress related; the King knew it was something else. He forced his eyes closed, squeezed the lids, and let out a fractured breath of stale air. The television screen emitted blue light on his eyes as they slowly rose to play the last game of his life at 98.
