A Turn For The Worst

The boy and the girl were twins, and today was their birthday, so they were finally old enough to hear the story. They rushed to the study where their grandfather sat in a rocking chair in front of a roaring fire, reading the encyclopedia all the through for the fifth time that month.

“Grandpapa,” said the girl. “You cannot read your encyclopedias today, for it is our birthday and we demand a story.”

“The story,” said the boy.

Their grandfather closed the heavy book laid it on the floor. Then he turned his chair to face them. “Very well, very well. Sit and I shall tell you. But I must warn you: even though you are a year older, the story is still very, very scary.”

“We’re ready for it!” cried the girl as she and her brother removed their cardigans, placed them on the floorboards, and sat upon them, their eyes filled with excitement.

Their grandfather nodded. “Then you shall hear it. It was some time ago. I was just a young man, not even twenty years old. I lived in a city next to the sea. One day, we were invaded by two monsters. There was an enormous lizard and an enormous moth. They met in the center of our downtown, and after an incomprehensible cut scene that seemed to last twenty minutes, they fought!”

“Oh no!” shouted the boy.

“Oh no, indeed,” said his grandfather. “Many fled the city that day. But I remained behind to watch.”

“You were brave,” said the girl.

Their grandfather shook his head. “I would not say that. I was paralyzed by fear. I could not take my eyes off of them. The lizard would attack. Then the moth would attack. Then the lizard would attack. And so on and so on.”

“Why did they not just attack each other all at once?” the boy said.

“It was a different time,” their grandfather responded. “All fights were turn-based back then. At any rate, it went on for a long time. Each hit was registered by a number of damage points which floated from the monsters’ bodies and hung in the air. We all watching wondered when it would end, when it would finally be over. When the lizard issued a large attack, registering 4-digits of hurt, we thought: this is it. But then, something terrible happened.”

“Did the lizard eat the moth whole?” the boy asked.

“Did the moth turn upon the onlookers?” the girl asked.

“No, something much worse,” their grandfather. “The entire world went dark and in front of us all appeared a message: ‘Please Insert Game Disc 2.’”

“Wait, what?” the girl said, but their grandfather could not respond, for his head was buried in his hands and he was weeping.