A Game of Baskets Topic

bds9992
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Ben, you’ve really outdone yourself with Game of Zones. I’ve been inspired to create a prequel of sorts, drawing from several influences including the actual Game of Thrones.

I’m in the planning stages for Chapter 1, but suffice it to say it’ll take me a while to plan this out. Stay tuned...
10/29/2020 2:47 PM
bds9992
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Chapter I

"Uyur navi......"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11....."

"Uyur navi......"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11....."

"Uyur navi......"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11!"

"1, 2, leap! Turn! 1, 2, leap! Glory!"
He extended his arms towards the sky as he jumped, as if he were reaching for something above him.

"Down, down! Raise! Down, down, raise! 1, 2, leap!"
"Hyaaaaaa!!!!!!!"

"URI!!!!!!!!!!!"

More quietly.
"1, 2, yaaa!"

"Uri! How many times I tell you not to do that?"

"But papa...."

"But papa nothing! Uri, I raise you to be farm boy so we can have crops for winter, and what I see you doing? Practicing this dance? No more dancing!"

"But papa, I don't want to be farm boy!"

Papa slaps Uri across the left cheek.

"You a farm boy! You born a farm boy, you raised a farm boy, you gonna be a farm boy! Now look, I was a farm boy and I turned out good! You gonna be a farm boy just like your papa, and you gonna help me grow these crops so we can eat for the winter. I don't want to tell you again! Now go downstairs and get your papa a drink from the fridge."

"Papa, I want to go to the city! I want to dance the Shakar and serve the gods! All of those fans! They will love me!"

"NO, Uri! They will NEVER love you. You just a farm boy! Stop tricking yourself into things you never gonna have, Uri! Or I throw you out and see how you like the real world! This what you gonna do with everything I give you?"

"We live in a hut Pa! A straw hut? What you want from me? When it rains the beds get wet and sticky, the power don't stay on a month straight and we only eat three days a week! You want this?"

"OPEN YOUR MOUTH AGAIN!"

Uri knew he was going to get slapped, or worse. "Open your mouth again" was less of an invitation and more of an examination. Papa wanted to see where Uri got the nerve, whether it might have been in his gums or behind his teeth. Either way, Uri knew it wasn't going to stop until he said yes papa.

This time, however, a little switch went off in his nine year old head. It was like a nudge that told Uri to do something, and what he did was going to work out fine. Uri decided to try something different.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Uri let out a shriek that notified the whole village that something was about to happen.

He ran out of his room as fast as he could. His feet were already sore from the fields, but the adrenaline rush carried him faster than he thought he could go. This was not an immature outburst from a small child; his mind was made up. He had really had enough this time. Much as he loved his papa, there was nothing in it for him anymore. The world he lived in was post-technological and agrarian. There was no school for kids to go to. This was it for Uri and millions of children just like him. Mama got captured, Papa stayed with the kid until he was old enough to work full time, and you did what you were raised to do. Upward mobility was a thing of the past.

Kids like Uri ran away all the time, but most of them apologized, cried a lot, received their beatings and went back to the corn fields.

Not this time.

Uri was going to run until he got to the city.

After a while, Papa stopped chasing him.

"If you want to come back, you vermin, you come back! I not chasing you! Good luck in the real world! See how YOU like it!" he screamed into the wind.

Uri bumped into people twice his size, past the trader's market. He sprinted past the huts where most of the other children lived. None of them really liked Uri to begin with. He knew he didn't have any friends, but he didn't know why. It was just as well that he was leaving them behind, literally and figuratively, as he bolted to the edge of the village a mile away.

After sprinting for another 500 feet, he fell over. He cried, and he cried, and he cried. He sat there for a while. The soot covered stalks offered him nothing. Maybe this was the time to go back.

To what? Fear? Seven hour days in the field? The days of social services were long over. A long time ago, people just stopped listening to the government. If the people didn't listen to them, the government had no power. They said it would make everyone more free. If you were caught talking to a government agent, you would be mugged and badly hurt. It scared most people into ignoring the government altogether. The taxes stopped flowing in, and freedom was finally free. So was anarchy. The semblance of order broke down, to the point where people stopped keeping track of time. What was the point? Money couldn't buy anything, stores were always looted, and you had to grow food yourself. Maybe someone would trade you some tech for some food, if they liked the food you made. If not, well, nights were long and very cold. Temperatures at night year round were in the 20s. Summers exceeded temperatures of 115, even in the most moderate climates. Everyone knew they had played some part in this nightmare world, but they weren't quite sure what they could have done to fix it. Regardless, everyone was miserable and angry most days. If you had a tech, you could type at some people or make a video, but none of that put food on the table.

In his mind, there was no going back to that life. Uri wanted more. He got up and kept walking. His belly rumbled, his mind raced, and he put one foot in front of the other.

Past his village, there was a forest, filled with night creatures. A flurry of bats passed overhead, screeching.

“EEK EEK EEK EEK EEK EEK!”

“AAAAAHHHH!!!!!”

Uri let out a scream.

After a few minutes of trying to control his thoughts, he got back on his feet and kept walking through the soot-covered wild. The animal population had changed over the last few thousand years. Gone were any kind of mammals. For reasons unknown, rarer animals came, mostly by flight. Squirrels and deer were replaced by ducks, bats and lizards, all covered in soot.

Hours went by. Uri shivered in the darkness. He vowed to find a better life, or die trying. What was the point?

Hours went by - more bats, more soot, more dead plants - and finally he found some sort of open space with grass. He sat for a while to regain his energy. He decided grass might provide some sort of sustenance, so he tore it out and ate it.

As he rose to his feet, he slowly continued walking through the fog. The fog revealed a building. There were some three boys outside who seemed to be about Uri’s age, playing with a white and black ball Uri had never seen before. He approached gingerly.

“Hi.”

The three boys looked at him quizzically. They weren’t expecting anyone else.

“Hi! What’s your name?”

“Uri.”

“Uri! I’m Ferris. This here’s Young and Squid.”

“Good meeting you.”

“Good meeting you! You want to play with us?”

“Ummm…..yeah. What you playing?”

“It’s called football. Try to pass it to each other using only your feet.”

“Oh…..ok.”

The four kids passed each other the ball using only their feet. When it got to Uri, he failed to connect with it, letting it pass his left foot. Just as he went to get it, he fell over. The adrenaline had worn off, and the exhaustion had hit him like a ton of bricks. He passed out.

“Uri?”

No response.

“Is he dead?”

“Uri?”

Nothing.

“Let’s get him and bring him inside. He needs help. C’mon.”

Ferris, Young and Squid grabbed his hands and feet and dragged him into the building.
10/29/2020 10:41 PM (edited)
bds9992
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fair warning: this is going to be a pretty slow burn with a lot of threads. feel free to bail now if that's not your thing.
10/29/2020 10:42 PM
bds9992
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btw, this is shaping up to be something like 17776.

For those of you who are aware of 17776, awesome. For those of you who aren't, well, you might just be missing out on
the greatest sports piece of last decade.

(warning: if you are not prepared for an initial shock and quite a lot of scrolling, do not click on that link)
10/30/2020 12:38 AM
A Game of Baskets Topic
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