Hey there.

Sorry I've been absent for so long. Lots of stuff going on in real life. Ugh... hate that word... stuff... :)

Kidding. This here is a little piece I wrote over the course of two evenings. It's meant as a stand-alone parody story and as such there will be no follow-up on it (not that there's a need, of course...)

But read it and make sure to read the text afterwards for the lesson learned.

"There you have it" the man who had been talking the past ten minutes said. "That is my story."

"Thank you, Greg" a woman said as Greg took his seat. "Everyone, say thank you to Greg for sharing."

"Thank you for sharing, Greg" we all chimed in. Even I. I hadn't heard a word of his story, but I still acted like a good little sheep and fell in with the crowd. I looked around, as if to remind myself where I was. It was a group therapy session for addicts. I sighed in my mind. How had I fallen so far? The therapist was kind of cute though, to bad I was already involved with someone. Or rather, something.

"Now, who would like to share their story?" the cute therapist asked. She looked at us with hopeful, blue eyes and a smile that could melt ice – but not quite the heart of an addict. Her blond hair fell just behind her shoulders. I looked around at the others. We were a mixed bunch. Men and women, old and young. Some successful, some not so much. No one was particular eager to share their story. Even those that had told it before, still found it somewhat embarrassing. Not that I knew from experience – this was my 4th visit, 4 weeks straight, and the only thing I had said was my introduction the first time.

"How about you?" she asked and looked at me.

"Me?" I asked perplexed. I had hoped to avoid it some more.

"Yes" she said, her bright, white teeth flashing. "I think it's time you told us what's keeping you here."

I debated it in my mind. I didn't want to tell people, didn't want them to think I was weak. But then I remembered some of the few stories I had bothered to listen to. None of them were considered weak, in fact they were considered strong for telling it. And who knew, maybe it would do me good.

I sighed heavily as I rose from the chair. "Very well" I said and drew a deep breath. "My name is Clement Tobias and I shall tell you my story.

And so I did:

"It all started back when I was in high school. Back then, some new fashion thing had only just surfaced, and it wasn't really a big thing. But my friends and I were always looking for the next thing to entertain ourselves with and this just happened to be that next real big thing.

"It all started off casually. We'd go after school once a week to try it and talk about it for the next week. Then we would go again. At the time it was all innocent enough. After a couple of years, about the time we left high school, the trend had settled a bit and wasn't nearly as popular as when it started. We still stuck with it though.

"Over the next few years, our usage just went up. Sometimes, I felt like I couldn't get through a day in collage if I didn't have at least one dose. There weren't many college students who that thing, so our little group mainly stuck to itself.

"But as college neared its end, a few of my friends stopped doing that. The few of us who still did it upped our dosage. I got a job soon after college, but no one there did it, so I kept to myself a lot.

"After a few more years, and more than one career change, I was the only from my group of friends who still did it. The other said it wasn't cool and that it would only lead to bad results. If only I had listened to them. I distanced myself from my family, friends and co-workers, trying to find someone to share my hobby with all the while. I wasn't aware that I was already addicted to it. But no matter where I looked, I found no one with the same interest and as a result, I found myself doing it by myself more and more often.

"When it was at its worst, I couldn't get through a workday without sneaking off for myself to have at least one dosage of that. When my boss found out, he said I needed to get a grip or I would lose my job. So I did. For about three hours. Then I was off duty and went downtown. I knew I needed to control the urge to do it, but I couldn't help myself.

"I happened to come across a gambling hall. I foolishly thought that I might be able to win some money to pay for my addiction, but it only landed me in greater dept. Before I knew it, I had used my savings, sold most of my furniture and pawned the house.

"Then came the underground gambling. I was promised the chance to win great money. I didn't want to go, but being indebted up above both ears, how could I refuse? At first it went well. I won a lot of money, even paid back the house. I was invincible.

"Or so I thought. The kiddie-gloves soon came off and I started losing again. Big time. Before I knew what had happened I lived on the street, had no job, no friends and my family had disowned me. All I had were my addiction…

"And that's when I decided to turn things around – for real that time. I threw away my cards, got a lowly paid job, and I'll get my second salary next Friday. I've hit rock-bottom but I'm finally climbing up again. As of today, I've been clean for 32 days.

"And that's my story. My name is Clement Tobias and I'm addicted to Children's Card Games."

So there you have it folk. People who know Little Kuriboh's work on Youtube will find the above story hilarious. Those that don't, well, you'll probably still find it a little funny, but not as much as if you get the Children's Card Games reference.

Anyway, there's a story learned here. Something about not giving up, no matter how bleak everything looks. Even if you're feeling down and everything is against you, know that if you decide to make life worthwhile, then it will be. That, or I haven't a clue as to what the morale should be...

For those of you who knew me from previous works, please don't think less of me! Gomenasai~~