First, some historical background…

In the beginning the world was formless. God fiddled about a bit for a few days and made the world. On the sixth day God created Player One in his own image and called him Adam. On the seventh day God decided he'd like to put his feet up and watch Songs of Praise so Adam spent the day cataloguing his X-Box roms collection. God saw that Adam was bored of playing with himself so one night, while Adam slept, God took his shoulder of beef-sized controller and from it made Player Two. God called her Eve and Adam was chuffed to bits. Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony until the Devil, taking the form of a cigarette-smoking snake crawled on his belly towards Eve. The snake deceived Eve, and then Adam into shopping at GAME and God was displeased.

Still awake?

Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight? Can't say I have. Although thanks to a particularly nutty childhood I've seen more than enough of people being slain by the spirit or released from demons. Always the same people; one touch and they're down, convulsing on the floor. Satan, the great deceiver. But not by any means the greatest.

How courageous is love! How bold! How courageous to say I love you today knowing that you can't tomorrow. And how comfort creeps in; how it makes you settle for the lie. How it whispers in your ear from the security of your sofa that you bought together. How it wraps you in the warmth of the house that you paid for together. How it makes you forget your dreams.

People like you and me. People like you and me, Bub; we build our own castles and close the gates on ourselves. We pull up the drawbridge and say we've had enough of searching because we've found each other. We surround ourselves in the accoutrements of love – the comfort and the security – to keep us in love, living the lie of forever.

And Bub, I have some nagging doubts about you. I can't settle for suburban defeat but with you it's always game over, game over, game over. I want the secret room of treasure but with you it's always I can't make it, it's too high. I want every power-up there is but you want to settle for what you have.

We didn't talk about it. Silence is the vacuum that sucks in misunderstanding and ignorance. Young love suffocated by its own immaturity. The truth breaks out of all your boxes, regardless of how well you gift-wrap them.

And for now, I play Bubble Bobble alone.

Player One…

RUSS, December 2004.

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