This story is inspired by a PB and Jeff video. I recommend watching it before or after reading this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfjVbyTLNxM
A young man walked into a garage sale. He had heard there were old video games being sold there, and went to check them out. He was an avid collector of SNES games, and had almost finished his collection. At his home there were walls and walls of shelves filled with SNES games, and a few NES games too. They all were very neat, alphabetized by title. When he arrived at the garage sale, he looked around for the games. He saw several racks with clothes on them, some assorted lawn decorations, and a table with a balding man behind it, who was reading a book.
âExcuse me,â he addressed the man. The man looked up from his book. âI heard thereâd be video games here. Do you know where they are?â
âI had a bunch of them, but some guy got here an hour ago and took most of âem,â The man replied. âThereâs still a few in back if you want to check them out.â
His eyes followed in the direction the man was pointing in. There were two folding tables in the garage, with empty shoeboxes on them. Two of the boxes had games in them, one with NES games, and the other with SNES games. He paged through the NES games. He didnât collect them, he just owned a few of the better games. Nothing in the bin caught his attention. He then turned his attention to the bin of SNES games. Games had been taken out of it, and there were gaps in between games. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a list of SNES titles, with some crossed out. After looking through the bin, he didnât find any that were on the list. One game though, had caught his attention. The cartridge read: Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
He didnât remember owning any game with that title, but it wasnât on the list. He pulled his phone out and tried to search for the game. No results. All stuff about Thomas the Tank Engine, but nothing about a SNES game. He now felt he was holding something ominous in his hand, something that didnât belong in this world. He clutched the game tightly and brought it to the man.
âH-how much for this?â he stammered.
âUmmâŚâ The man looked at the game in his grip, and then back at the young man. âLetâs say 10 dollars,â He finished.
The young man pulled 10 dollars out from his wallet, put it on the table, then turned and walked away. He got home soon after. He lived alone, so the house was dark and silent. The faint light from down the hall invited him closer. He found himself in the room where his games were.
âT⌠t⌠t⌠thâŚâ he whispered to himself. His finger traced across the shelf, not finding what he was looking for.
There he saw Tetris Attack and Thunder Spirits, but no Thomas the Tank Engine. He looked again at this mysterious game. He figured the only way to find out more, was to play the game.
As soon as he turned on the game he was greeted with Thomas the Tank Engine, sliding into the screen.
He had never liked Thomasâ face. It always creeped him out, even as a child. The next screen had him chuckle, it read: how old are you? With the options being: 4 or younger; 5, 6 or 7; and 8 or older. As a joke he picked 4 or younger. At this point his nerves were settled, this was just some crappy edutainment game that people had forgotten about. Maybe it was a bootleg, that didnât really matter now.
One of the first things he noticed when starting the game, was how awful the graphics looked. He was familiar with SNES graphics, but this looked more like an NES game. He was brought to a menu for the game. There were different minigames available. A robotic narrator read the options.
âStart Thomas.â âThomasâ Quizâ âLetâs go with Thomasâ The narrator had pauses in between each word it spoke.
He hadnât expected it to speak, and the whole narrator came as a surprise. It was quite eerie how lifeless it read its lines. He selected the first option: Start Thomas.
It brought him to a sliding âpuzzleâ. It wasnât much of a puzzle though, by pressing âAâ twice he had solved it. He decided that maybe he shouldnât have said heâs four. He looked around at the other games, none of them were too interesting. Basic games that youâd expect from an âeducationalâ game. After that he picked the last option: Letâs go with Thomas.
Words on the screen lit up: pick an adventure-. He selected the second option: Thomas Saves the Day. The next screen had more options for the game, and⌠auto? A red box contained the words auto. How would that work? He selected auto. He now realized what this was. It was a story with words and pictures.
The picture at the top unnerved him. It seemed to look at him, though his eyes werenât in his direction. His thoughts were scattered by the sound of a voice. It was the robotic narrator again, reading the story. It spoke the words, but didnât read them. It was cold, emotionless.
âEvery day Sir Topham Hatt came to the station. âHello,â he said to Thomas.â The narrator spoke.
ââDonât let the silly freight cars tease you. You have an important job as a special helper in the yard.ââ
On the third screen, the narrator didnât speak. The only words were âWho is this man?â
In a second, the screen disappeared and the story continued. At this point the narratorâs voice was freaking him out. He didnât hear the story, but listened to the words⌠the voices⌠Then there was silence. He looked back up at the screen that was illuminating the room. Another question was asked to him.
He looked back down at the ground. The narratorâs voice began to fill his head once more.
ââHelp! Help!ââ said the emotionless voice.
ââOn, on, on,ââ laughed the same voice.
ââHurry, hurry, hurry,ââ
At this point, the music had slowed down significantly. It felt sad, and hopeless.
âThey found James in a field.â
ââHelp! Help!ââ
ââServes you right. Serves you right.ââ The voice echoed.
The man was kneeling on the floor. The controller was out of his hand, but the game continued to play. A puddle of drool was forming on the floor in front of him.
The game ended. The screen turned black. The console had reset itself and was playing once again. Thomas slid into the screen and looked directly at him.
ââServes you right. Serves you right.ââ
