Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Death by... Video Games

Who or what event is portrayed in this story?

Thirteen year old Lin stood atop the twenty-four storey building and looked down. They didn’t look like humans from up there, more like ants. Little bugs that went about their work in the real world.

The real world. Now, that was a concept he didn’t quite understand anymore. He spent more time as a warrior fighting battles in demon-filled lands, foregoing meals and hygiene, than he did studying and sleeping.

Two of his friends had already succumb to the limitations of the real world. And how he missed them. He wondered if they played games in heaven. He wondered if they were at peace. Were they conquerers?

He didn’t have to wonder long, for he would see them soon.

“Save a place for me,” he cried out to the heavens and jumped.

Who or what event is portrayed in this story?


The previous Death By … story is based on:

Georgi Ivanov Markov died as a result of an incident on a London street when a micro-engineered pellet containing ricin was fired into his leg via an umbrella wielded by someone associated with the Bulgarian secret police.
Sources:

33 comments:

  1. I don't have the answer but Dang, What a Great excerpt.

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  2. Congrats Angela, Medeia Sharif, JC Martin, JTWebster and Bev Hankins! Another point each.

    Laura - 17 points
    Bev Hankins - 10 points
    JTWebster - 7 points
    Sarah Pearson - 3 points
    Old Kitty - 3 points
    Cherie - 3 points
    Lynda R Young - 3 points
    Glynis - 3 points
    Angela Brown - 3 points
    Alex Cavanaugh- 3 points
    Nicki Elson - 3 points
    JC Martin - 3 points
    Jan Morrison- 2 points
    Suze - 2 points
    Denise Covey - 2 points
    Sia McKye - 2 points
    Jemi Fraser - 2 points
    Jayne Robin Brown - 1 point
    Medeia Sharif - 1 point
    Youngman - 1 point
    Connie Keller - 1 point
    Pat Newcombe - 1 point
    Susan Roebuck - 1 point
    Talli Roland - 1 points
    Golden Eagle - 1 point
    Cathy Olliffe-Webster - 1 point
    Kittie Howard - 1 point
    Heather Gardner - 1 point
    Richard - 1 point
    Journaling woman - 1 point
    Christie Wright Wild - 1 point
    Gossip Girl - 1 point
    Lydia Kang - 1 point
    Danielle B - 1 point
    Jaye Robin Brown - 1 point
    Michael Offutt - 1 point
    Carol Fleisher - 1 point
    Chuck - 1 point
    Maggie McGee - 1 point
    DL Hammons - 1 point
    Paula Martin - 1 point
    Elizabeth Spann Craig - 1 point

    Let me know if these tallies are off.

    And just a hint: Not all names used in the stories will be the right name. Sometimes if I use the right name, it'll be too easy. I can't make it that easy, can I?

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  3. A great story, Clarissa. It sent shivers down my spine.

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  4. sad, but there were a number of cases in Asia, when young people died from playing games for days :(

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  5. I think you had several choices with the video game death. Too bad all are sad.

    Great writing Clarissa.

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  6. Frightening. I have a thirteen year old video game addict.

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  7. Oooh a boy kills himself after watching too many video games? Was this a suicide pact? Very sad! Take care
    x

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  8. Not sure about this one. I play The Sims and it sounds like something one of them would do though.

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  9. Clarissa - It is creepy how many people are so devoted to the gaming world that it means more to them than real life does. An excellent way to show that.

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  10. Scary to think that this could happen...but I bet it happens (or similar issues) more often than we think.

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  11. I don't know. But it reads like a great novel excerpt.

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  12. See, I told my son when he was still mine, those video games are gonna kill you. :)

    T

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  13. Horrible to see our young people so mired in the game playing world they cannot face reality. I worry about my own teenager sometimes.

    ..........dhole

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  14. Hi Clarissa .. I love reading these - usually after the event, so I get the answer in the next post .. I knew about the Ricin one .. the rest - no.

    Whatever the guy had to the world - he didn't deserve all that polio and being killed by a bed - sounds very Heath Robinson to me ...

    I suppose you get totally hooked .. but to throw yourself of a building is a bit much ..

    Cheers Hilary

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  15. I'm really curious to find out the answer to this one.

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  16. *whining* But Clarissa *still whining* this is so HARD........

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  17. This is a sad one. I'm afraid I don;t know it.

    J.C. Martin
    A to Z Blogger

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  18. I don't know the story, but it's sad when people spend so much time on video games that it becomes their reality. Another nicely told story, Clarissa:)

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  19. I know there were some deaths in China from gamers who spend far too much time obsessed with the games they played eg games like World of Warcraft or Starcraft. It's because the kids play them competitively in tournaments, but then theres also the game farms where they get paid to collect resources in the games too. I think the government may have place time limits on the games because of it.

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  20. Sadly, this is becoming more and more common. So many kids are getting lost in their fantasy worlds and they forget (or never learn) to cope with the real one. We've got to change this cycle!

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  21. This is a depressing one Clarissa. There is a fine line between reality and fiction. I was away yesterday and just caught up on the Umbrella. A well-used plot line in those old spy stories.

    Denise

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  22. This is the only thing I could come up with...Tianjin, China, 2006- A thirteen-year-old boy played Warcraft, the incredibly popular online multiplayer fantasy game, for 36 hours and then jumped from a building to his death in order "to join the heroes of the game" as indicated by his suicide note.

    Hard one! And such a sad story.

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  23. I hadn't heard of this. What a tragic event.

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  24. Sad and very appropriate to the to this era of obsessive video gamer shut-ins...

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  25. Hi! I'm popping over from Alex's! Had to check you out. Totally not disappointed. Excited about your book! That was a great excerpt!

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  26. I also just headed over from Alex's! This is such a brilliant theme for A to Z, and I wish I got here sooner! Congrats on your new book! Julie

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  27. Great Excerpt!! I'm afraid I have no idea. *bows head*

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