Some years ago, I came up with a game to keep my children and nieces from being bored. It was the summer that sitting on the porch late at night without parental supervision and a berretta became an absolute no-no. In order to keep them engaged I devised a game that would call upon their best skills. They’d have to become a master of whispering, tip-toeing, planning, and hiding.
The rules of the game were simple, scare the bejesus out of the other team every chance you get. The only exception to the rules were that you weren’t allowed to scare them in a dangerous situation like if they were in the shower or just came out. Wet feet would cause for a really bad accident. Another example of a situation you wouldn’t want to scare another team member is if they were in the kitchen making a sandwich, yeah that wouldn’t be good if at the time they were scared they were putting mayonnaise on their bread and were using a really big, sharp knife.
With the rules in place we pick team members. I was the captain because of course I came up with the game and since they insisted I play. My niece the next oldest playing the game was the other team captain. My mother was the official tie breaker and rule enforcer. My team consisted of my niece and my son; they were 8 and 5 at the time ok so I seem to be at a disadvantage right? No those little guys played their hearts out. My 14 year old niece captain of the other team consisted of my eldest son who was 11, and my other niece who was also 8. Teams were picked, game on.
The game starts out slow at first since everybody is on the lookout for being scared. Oh they’d jump around corners and you’d look up like, really? Try again. Oh boy the looks on their faces when they would swear they were going to scare someone only to find out their plans failed. Everyone started to lose faith in the game, after all we were playing for a cash prize, oh yeah I forgot to mention. The winners of the team were playing for a cash prize. Each scare was recorded by a tally mark. For everyone involved this was a real game. In order to keep the game going with enthusiasm, I called a meeting. I explained to both teams that jumping around corners weren’t cutting it, you had to plan. Sit under a pile of clothes, sit in the kitchen cabinet and wait for the person to come open up the doors. The bad thing about this was that if you didn’t inform your team mates of your plan you’d run the risk of scaring them and if you did you’d run the risk of exposing your plan (they were kids, LOL). New tactical plan, check, resumes game, check. I wish I had a camera to have recorded what came next.
The game took on a new life. The level of scare tactics was increased exponentially. It was no longer waiting around the corner it now became a game. They’d wait and wait for the chance for me or my team members to walk into a room and open a door. They’d jump out of drawers, out the tub as you sat to do your business which I guess was ok considering it would help the flow. They’d wait and wait for the perfect opportunity. My team did the same only were more successful. The game was so intense that even my niece and son on my team that were afraid of the dark abandoned their fear to win, and we were.
My niece one night waited for up to an hour while my son from the opposing team showered. In his room in the dark she waited, quietly she waited and waited. At one point I had to check to make sure she was ok, she was, and she wanted that scare. Since it was easier to scare them and they were more afraid of my fight or flight response from me, (yeah I fight) they targeted my younger team members. They few times they tried to scare me I anticipated what was coming and didn’t even flinch. Between you and me at one point when they scaled the indoor ladder to the roof and waited for me to pass, even though I knew they were there, that was the only time that my heart still jumped a little. Didn’t matter though since I didn’t visibly jump, they had no clue I almost knocked them silly (fight or flight response).
So back to my niece waiting in the dark, she fixed herself under some clothes and blankets; the good thing about it was my son hadn’t cleaned up his room yet so the pile of clothes on his bed, in the dark was so unsuspecting. At any rate when he came out that bathroom she waited about five minutes which was a good strategy, we knew he’d be expecting it so we wanted to give him time to get comfortable. Boy when she jumped out, let’s just say instead of admitting he got scared he tried to call on the rules and express that we weren’t supposed to scare him because he just got out the shower. LOL Really? No son in the shower. After that meeting we later extended the rules to include anywhere only in the vicinity of the bathroom after a shower; slippery tiles. The rule official, my mom called it and the scare was a point won.
Now my team is leading by like five or six points and the opposing team is losing all hopes of winning the money. Now I’m about to tell you about the ultimate scare that not only ended the game but gave our team the win.
Well trash day for bulk items was on that Thursday and my mother had some planks and a few pieces of chairs to go out propped by the front door. I stepped outside on the porch, I had a nasty habit and smoked cigarettes at the time. As I lit up a cigarette I hear the opposing team members whispering in the living room. They were taking positions and hoping to catch me. What they didn’t know was that I heard them and devised my own plan to counteract their scare. It was classic.
So I finish up the nasty cigarette, (yeah I quit) and prepare myself to go inside. Regardless if I heard, I wasn’t about to get scared for real. I open the first door, no boos, no one jumping out ok. I proceed through the second door, lights out and here comes the booooooo. I immediately grab my heart, shriek and fall against the wall, planks and all (thank God there wasn’t any nails or anything in them) I then slide down the wall taking planks and all with me. I have one eye almost closed and the other one rolled to the corner (perfected from childhood I used to freak my mom out) and lay in the most awkward position while my opposing team screams in horror. I hear, auntie omg auntie, mommy, mommy, inside I am laughing so hard I can’t imagine how I didn’t burst out sooner. After about a minute and right before the tears and 911 calls, I open my eyes and say gotcha.
Now you know they objected right? Auntie why did you do that? That’s not fair, I’m not playing anymore, Yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda. LOL I knew we won. With their objections we take it to the rule master. We explain what just happened. Now the rule master asks the question to the opposing team “Were you scared?” They answer yes. She then asks “Isn’t that the object of the game?” they lose it, no not in that way we aren’t supposed to be scared that way. She then says oh you can’t change the rules now you should’ve established that first. Their excuse, they didn’t know if they could do that, yeah they would have used fake blood and all. Just accept defeat, which after a few long minutes of trying to plead their case, they finally did. They accepted defeat and to this day my 23, 18, and 15 year old nieces, my 21 and 18 year old sons still tell that story and laugh. The money I got to keep (yeah I put up the prize money, in any other game I wouldn’t be eligible to play but they insisted) minus my team members cut, sweet.