One weekend, my mom said she was going to the computer store to get a better monitor. I didn't have anything else to do, so I asked to come along. She said yes.
When we got there, Mom said, "I don't think buying a monitor will be much fun for you. Would you like to play on one of the demo computers?"
"Yes!" I said.
"All right. Don't leave this aisle, now."
With that, I was alone with the computers. I immediately clicked my way to one of my favorite games, Minesweeper. It started me on Beginner. After a few tries, I beat it in 11 seconds. When it asked for my name, I typed my initials, KW.
I went on to Intermediate and got it in 68 seconds. When I was done, out of the corner of my eye, I saw several people standing and staring up at a big screen with great interest. Shrugging, I set the game to Expert.
Now, it was much harder to get the game started, and somewhat harder to keep it going. After many minutes, I still hadn't won a game.
Determined, I started another one. When I opened up an area around which I could start marking mines, I heard a few exclamations from the crowd watching the big screen. What was going on over there?
I moved through the field with ease. In no time, I was almost done. I was going to finish this one, I was sure!
Then I saw it. A dense cluster of 3's, 4's and 5's that could be my downfall. I made myself slow down and be careful. I heard the crowd grow quiet.
After some very long, tense seconds, the game was finished, the smiley face donned its sunglasses, and the crowd cheered. I entered my initials again, pressed 'OK,' and went to the edge of the crowd to see what all the fuss was about.
I could hardly believe my eyes. There on the screen was the game I had just finished. Out of all the demo computers in the store, I had chosen the one that was hooked up to the large screen so that everyone could see what you were doing on it! The crowd had been cheering for me!
Someone noticed me. "Was that you?" he asked.
I was flustered. "Um . . . um . . . yes, that was me."
"Well, great job, kid," said the man. "That was an interesting show."
"You're . . . welcome," I said.
The crowd was breaking up now, and I saw Mom with a large box in a cart.
"Mom!" I ran to her. "Did you see me? I was playing Minesweeper, and it got on the big screen and everyone was watching me and cheering . . ."
"Oh, is that what all the commotion was?" she said. "Did you like it?"
"Yes," I said. "It was really neat. I left my initials in the game, too."
"Well, that's wonderful, dear. Come on, let's go home."
Disclaimer: Minesweeper belongs to Microsoft. No money is being
made off this; I write because it's fun. :-)
