At NewMans arcade a group of children formed around me and a machine as they watched me beat a new high score. "Yay!" they all cheered as I won a record of 1,881 points on the game Open Flier.

     "Okay kids closing time," said Jake, a kind staff member who loved kids. The group around sighed and exited through the metal doors. "Hey kid, I have a new game I would like to show you," Jake told me.

     "Cool. Where is it?" I asked. He directed me to the staff room and I quickly walked inside.

     "I am going to go turn the power on. You stay here and do not touch anything," Jake instructed. The room was pitch black and felt unusually cold. I could see a flash and then the screen flickered on. I wandered over to the game and stared at it while my hands itched to touch it. At the same time, I could still here Jake saying, "Don't touch."

     On the screen I see fighter jets and war; I could only imagine the scores I would get on this game. I bet he wouldn't mind if I just played one quick game, I thought. My hands reached for the controls and I played round after round of the game. Behind me I heard cheers but my eyes were glued to the screen and the rest of the room was dark. The cheers became louder and the more I played the more I won. The controls started burning my hands like fire but I could not stop playing - even if I wanted to.

     Suddenly, the game stopped and all that showed on the screen was a view of behind me. Was it a camera's tape that showed on the screen? The controls burned even more on my fingers. Zap! I wasn't playing the game anymore, I was stuck inside the screen! Then Jake came in the room and said, " I told you not to touch it." And with a chuckle he left and I was stuck alone inside a video game.