My Special Moment of Nerd Zen

It was a board game that I remembered from my youth.  It was designed to simulate the Indy 500.  It was primitive and fun, and somehow I did not retain possession of it.

It was not just an auto race game to me.  As I read and wrote fantasy, it became an inspiration for my own designed fantasy board game.  I wrote a story called To Crown A King (available on this blog and Wattpad), about ten fantasy characters competing to win the crown of Crow Island, set on my imaginary world of Pazoria.  But like many brainstorms of youth, my fiery enthusiasm for it dissipated and nothing came of it.  How and when I lost the game, I do not know.

A few months ago, I saw the game available on eBay.  I could not resist bidding it for it, and without having to go very high (surprise!), I won it.  When I told Benjamin about it and my plans for it, he was very excited.  He started to create character cards for it.  He read my To Crown A King story, one of the few things I have written that he has read.  But just like me, his passion for it soon burned out, and he moved on to other things.

Until last night.

Benjamin had three friends over, to have a get together sleepover now that Spring Break has begun (for him and Alison - not for me....there is no Spring Break in accounting).  Amazingly, they got tired of video games and TV, and Benjamin mentioned role playing games. They wanted to create their own, and Benjamin remembered the auto racing game.  He asked me to help find it, and they got the game out and the character cards he had designed, and they started chattering away about how to create the game.

Then Benjamin remembered the story.  He had me look it up on Wattpad, and he started to read it to them.  Eventually another boy read some, and then I finished it up.  It held their attention!  And I could see them visibly react to it!  For a budding author with delusions of making it bigger, it was a grand moment.  To have your son want to share one of your stories, and have that inspire their imaginations - well, that was a very special moment of nerd zen, and I will cherish the memory of it the rest of my life.

I had to go bed (damn tax season!), as they sat around the table, game out, brainstorming idea after idea.  Now that I am up this early AM, I see that the game is still out.  Will they keep focused on it, and help develop into something special?  I doubt it.  Like I did, like Benjamin did a few months ago. the fires will quickly burn out and they will go to other things.

But that's okay.

I had this moment, and that is a very precious thing.

A precious moment to carry me through tax season and beyond.

Thank you, Benjamin.