“CECE, FOR THE LAST TIME, SHARE WITH YOUR BROTHER!” Pam yelled into the living room while she was preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen with a small chuckle, Jim came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“It seems like we made a good move buying Animal Crossing for them, they seem to really be enjoying eating those turnips.

Feeling the slight annoyance of having purchased the game in the first place as it was now causing a near war each night in her home, Pam turned towards Jim to correct him.

“Jim, it’s buying and selling Turnips. It has to do with a stalk market. Come on, hon, get with it! Have you even played it or watched them? They’re so addicted to it, I’m wondering if there are underlying things in the game that are making them so attached to it.” Pam responded, looking up towards her husband with a gleam in her eye, but with a serious tone still.

“Things?” Jim questioned. “Like, messages or something? Doesn’t that rarely happen? Even so, I’m pretty positive we would have heard about that prior anyway. And stalk market? Doesn’t that just teach them about investing into the actual stock market later? Jim laughed at the end realizing how ridiculous this whole conversation was.

“Yeah, you’re right. I just haven’t seen them so into a game or sport before…” Pam turned back towards the sink of dishes.

“Well, weren’t you ever into Super Nintendo when you were in high school? It’s just like that for them.” Jim threw back over his shoulder as he reached for a glass for Pam to fill with water.

Sipping, he continued, “and anyway, I think it’s kind of fun watching them get so invested in a game like this. It’s teaching them a lot of valuable skills.”

Pam laughed, scrubbing a plate with leftover pasta on it, “Yes, but wait until they start trying to chop trees and thinking it’ll break with three swings or eating an apple and thinking they can hulk it and break a rock? Then what’s your suggestion?” She placed the plate in the dishwasher, shut it, and wiped her hands turning back towards Jim who had a look of bewilderment on his face.

“For someone who thinks this game is too much, you seem to know an awful lot about it, Beesly.” Jim replied, his smirk reminding her of all the reasons she was in love with him.

Suddenly feeling flushed, she cleared her throat and a little embarrassed by this useless knowledge, she glanced down and shrugged her shoulders, “I may have played it a few times when the kids were outside or napping.” Her eyes rose up to his and she couldn’t contain her laughter once he started.

“Amazing”, he whispered into her ear as he pulled her towards his chest.

“All I’m saying is that you should give it a try. It’s addicting. I think you’d like it.” Pam replied, her voice muffled into his shirt.

“Hmm, maybe I’ll try it, but for now, I think it’s time for dinner. Kids? Dinner Time!” Jim yelled into their house. Seconds later, their little blessings came running for food and there was hardly any mention of Animal Crossing as their meal was eaten and their days recounted.

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That Saturday, Pam came down stairs to find a sleeping Jim with the Switch in his hand and the all too familiar music of Animal Crossing playing softly, filling up the quiet space as rain pattered against the window pane. It was hardly six in the morning. They’d gone to sleep together so she wasn’t quite sure when he’d made his way down here, but she guessed he hadn’t been out of it too long. 

Smiling to herself at the picture he made, she walked over to the Switch to see her least favorite character, Muffy milling around near her house. The kids had decided to name their character Phipce (a combination of Phillip and CeCe) and their island Chicken Nugget. So even though the villagers had their own homes, the rest of the island was like a chicken nugget/fast food/ carnival wonderland. While Pam had her own motherly concerns of the game, she had to agree with Jim, it did teach them some valuable lessons and it certainly sparked their creativity. 

Picking up the game, she made her way to an opposing sofa and sat down, turning the volume down, and led Phipce towards the fruit trees to collect the fruit Jim had missed out on so she could sell them at the Nook’s Cranny when it opened up at eight. 

She was pleased to see that the bridge that Jim had decided to have built was complete. It was annoying to exchange the axe or shovel out for the vaulting pole everytime they wanted to cross one branch of the river. Pam directed the character towards her home and waited for the game to load before going to the upstairs portion. 

Between the four of them, they’d been able to hit upgrades in the game pretty quickly. They’d agreed, that each of them got a room to decorate, so Pam gave Phipce an art studio. She’d been collecting paint sets, building tables, and other decor to make this her own mini oasis within a video game. To top it all off, she’d been scammed by Redd, the shady art salesman the first time he came to visit and agreed to pay him 453,000 bells for a counterfeit piece of art.

She smiled to herself, trying not to laugh at the scenario...when she’d purchased art from the shady character, her kids and Jim had nearly lost their minds that she’d been scammed. In a video game of all things. By an actual character and not someone she’d let visit their island who could ruin or steal their items. It was comical, but then again so were the whole concept of “bells” which what was the actual conversion rate of those anyway?

Jim stirred across the room and laughed to himself at the picture SHE must have been painting for him. Neither of them had understood the game, yet here they were fully invested in building a park, (rebuilding their) carnival, a tea area, a restaurant, and an art gallery. They even attempted to create different areas of their office where they could. It was tedious work and the kids were getting mad at them for wanting to play all the time. That’s what made these early mornings so fun!

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“Pam, ohmygod, so you just like, dump money into the ground and it grows back 3x what you had before? Can you, like, imagine if that worked IN REAL LIFE?! RYAN, we’d be so rich!” Kelly practically screamed into the phone. Kelly liked to call Pam and Jim every once in awhile to see how life in Austin was treating them

Pam wished she could say sorry to Ryan. She was quite afraid she’d started something. 

At this point, the family had been playing the game for what felt like months. They’d terraformed their island, been able to get the annoying islanders to leave and new, friendlier ones to join. Their little island oasis had become a relaxing, fun game, at least for Pam and Jim. Phillip was getting angrier each day his parents became more involved with the game. The two of them had considered buying a Switch Lite and a second copy of the game so there would be less fighting between everyone for screen time.

Both Pam and Jim had learned new things about themselves while playing the game, for one, Pam liked to change the exterior of the home each day, while Jim liked watering fake flowers. It made them both feel like they had more control over things in their regular lives. Even if it was a false sense of security, it still did something.

“...And then I said, “Ryan, we can’t just have another baby, we ditched the first one, but he says we totally should” Kelly continued on without a breath. Pam hadn’t realized she’d zoned out of the conversation, but this concerning statement brought her back to reality. She didn’t know what to say, but at that moment a very panicked Jim came into the room allowing her a graceful exit from the bizarre conversation. 

“Listen, Kelly, I need to get going, but good luck with everything!” Pam replied kindly, before hearing Kelly’s goodbye and hanging up. “What’s up, Jim?” She questioned.

“We have a problem.” He said, anger on his face as he beckoned her to follow.

They made their way upstairs and the closer they got, they heard CeCe crying loudly. Opening the door, Pam saw Animal Crossing on the screen and a new island was before her.

“What’s this, Phillip?” Pam asked, but afraid she already knew the answer.

“I got sick of everyone hogging the game you bought for me…” Phillip started.

“It was purchased for everyone, but continue...” Pam interrupted”

“...so I decided to start over so I can make this MY island”. Phillip responded, his tiny voice getting louder to drown out CeCe’s crying.

Pam was thoroughly annoyed. She’d created her own painting oasis, spent some much time terraforming the land, planting the perfect flowers, creating her perfect life, and then it hit her.

“Alright, everyone get ready to go, we’re leaving in 15.” Pam said firmly, turning on her heel.

“Wait, Pam what’s going on?” Jim asked following her out of the room.

“You’ll see.” Pam said, smiling to him.

40 minutes later, they pulled into a gravel parking lot.

“Kids, today we’re experiencing nature how it was intended, outdoors. Smell the roses, throw some stones. It’s time we all remember what fresh air smells like”. Pam said to no one in particular as she grabbed out her hiking backpack and put on her hat.

As the family started their journey towards a hidden lake Pam was leading them to she smiled to herself. Who knew a game could have made her family like this. It was funny, enjoyable, unpredictable at times, but wasn’t life usually?