A couple of my daughter's friends (they were all about 17) heard that we had an Xbox 360, so a few days before Christmas, after a non-trivial amount of begging and pleading on their parts, we invited everyone to come over and check it out. I powered up our 52" HDTV, cranked the surround sound, and then loaded up the system seller: "Call of Duty 2". While they played I went upstairs to do some work on the computer. It was great fun to hear the shouts and exclamations: "HOLY SHIT!" "Look at that!" "Oh my god, that smoke is amazing!!!" "Okay, that does it. I'm gettin' one of these..."
Then, they fired up a horror game called "Condemned."
Now, I'm not sure what was going on down there but this game scared the CRAP out of these guys. I mean, it totally freaked them out. My wife was reading a book in the living room and when she started to laugh I came out of the office and stood at the top of the stairs to listen.
They were actually getting angry with each other. "Dude, I TOLD you there was a guy over there. Why didn't you taser him???" "I hit the wrong button, okay? Shut up you're making me nervous." As I stood there listening something caught my eye. It was one of my daughter's old textbooks... just sitting there on the bookcase. It was about four inches thick. Hardcover. I picked it up and glanced over the bannister at our hardwood floor far below. A devilish grin spread across my face. My wife shot me one of her patented "don't even THINK about it" looks, but my mind was made up.
I held the book over the railing, perfectly parallel to the floor... and then I waited. It was a good five minutes before I heard the following exchange:
"Now be careful, dude. You only have one more bullet left."
"I know! Stop talking and let me concentrate."
"I think there's someone up there... I'm not kidding... I think I saw someone. Go slow, dude..."
Then it got real quiet. I thought to myself, "... wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... NOW..." I dropped the book.
The thick hardbacked tome hit the floor with a mortar-like WHOMP and instantly I heard a gunshot, followed by three terrified screams and one fear-induced bout of Tourettes, "SHEEZUH FUCK SHIT!" I waited a couple of second and then yelled down, "Oops."
I felt kind of bad for making the kid fire his last bullet into a brick wall, but it was about time for them to go home anyway. ;-) (My daughter later confirmed, between bouts of laughter as she remembered the looks on their faces, that my timing had been absolutely perfect.)
Then, they fired up a horror game called "Condemned."
Now, I'm not sure what was going on down there but this game scared the CRAP out of these guys. I mean, it totally freaked them out. My wife was reading a book in the living room and when she started to laugh I came out of the office and stood at the top of the stairs to listen.
They were actually getting angry with each other. "Dude, I TOLD you there was a guy over there. Why didn't you taser him???" "I hit the wrong button, okay? Shut up you're making me nervous." As I stood there listening something caught my eye. It was one of my daughter's old textbooks... just sitting there on the bookcase. It was about four inches thick. Hardcover. I picked it up and glanced over the bannister at our hardwood floor far below. A devilish grin spread across my face. My wife shot me one of her patented "don't even THINK about it" looks, but my mind was made up.
I held the book over the railing, perfectly parallel to the floor... and then I waited. It was a good five minutes before I heard the following exchange:
"Now be careful, dude. You only have one more bullet left."
"I know! Stop talking and let me concentrate."
"I think there's someone up there... I'm not kidding... I think I saw someone. Go slow, dude..."
Then it got real quiet. I thought to myself, "... wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... NOW..." I dropped the book.
The thick hardbacked tome hit the floor with a mortar-like WHOMP and instantly I heard a gunshot, followed by three terrified screams and one fear-induced bout of Tourettes, "SHEEZUH FUCK SHIT!" I waited a couple of second and then yelled down, "Oops."
I felt kind of bad for making the kid fire his last bullet into a brick wall, but it was about time for them to go home anyway. ;-) (My daughter later confirmed, between bouts of laughter as she remembered the looks on their faces, that my timing had been absolutely perfect.)
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