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From the outside perspective, the Conklin-Fisher family game night every Thursday’s might seem normal… is it really?
It was 8:00 pm on a Thursday, exactly an hour before the kids’ bed time, and they have decided that for this week’s family game night, they would be playing… Charades.
The category was "Movies from This Generation," a rule Jamie had pushed for because he genuinely believed his parents still thought cinema peaked with The Matrix.
"Alright, your turn, Dad," Jamie said, handing Conrad a folded slip of paper. "The timer is sixty seconds. Go."
Conrad stood up, adjusting his invisible reading glasses, completely locked into the zone. He unfolded the paper, read the movie title, and didn't even blink. He held up his hand, forming a circle with his thumb and index finger.
"One word!" Belly shouted from the couch, leaning forward.
Conrad aggressively pointed to his eyes.
"Look! Seeing! Sight!" Belly yelled.
Conrad then began to wave his arms frantically around his head like he was being attacked by a swarm of invisible bees, his face contorted.
"Winds! Swarm! Storm! Twisters! It’s Twisters!" Belly screamed, jumping off the couch.
Conrad pointed a victorious finger at her, mimicking a gunshot. "Yes!"
Jamie checked the timer on his phone. "Six seconds. Are you kidding me? Dad looked like a broken windmill and you got Twisters in six seconds?"
“Telepathy, son.” Conrad said smoothly, sitting back down and high-fiving his wife. "Next one."
Jamie stood up next for the kids' team, determined to claw back some dignity. He held up two fingers.
"Two words!" Ines called out.
Jamie acted like he was riding a giant motorcycle through a desert, then stepped back and pretended to punch an invisible steering wheel while screaming silently.
"Uhhh..." Ines squinted, her little brow furrowing. "A motorcycle man? Fast car? Car boy?
"Time!" Conrad announced cheerfully. "It was Furiosa, Ines. Good effort, Jamie.”
“What? I don’t even know what Furiosa is!” Ines protested.
“Well, there’s always another one.”
It was Belly’s turn to act; she stood up, held up two fingers, and then immediately dropped to the floor, rolling around like a ball before jumping up and pretending to cry while pointing to her chest.
"Two words. First word, circle. Second word, feelings. Inside Out 2!" Conrad shouted instantly.
"Yes!" Belly cheered, doing a little victory dance.
"Seven seconds," Jamie muttered, throwing his head back against the couch. "Mom, you didn't even do the second word. You just fake-cried for like a second. This game is rigged. You guys are reading each other's minds."
"We just watch the trailers during date night, Jamie," Belly laughed, completely fueled by the thrill of victory. "Come on, kids! Keep up! We're up by fourteen points!"
Conrad got up for his next turn. He pulled the slip, read it, and immediately looked at Belly. He held up four fingers.
"Four words!" Belly anchored herself, her eyes wide.
Conrad stood perfectly still, closed his eyes, and gently raised one hand toward the ceiling, looking incredibly serene, before suddenly dropping into a defensive martial arts stance.
"First word, sky? Peace? Space? Quiet?" Belly guessed rapidly. Conrad shook his head, keeping his hand raised but shifting his hips. "Oh! Dune! Dune: Part Two!"
"Yes!" Conrad shouted, clapping his hands together.
"That's three words, Dad! You held up four fingers!" Jamie yelled in protest. "What’s the fourth word?!"
"The colon, Jamie! The colon counts as a word because it’s a pause!” Conrad argued, "We take those!"
Right next to Jamie, Ines crossed her arms tightly over her chest, and let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. Her lower lip protruded into a pout as she slid down into the sofa, looking thoroughly sad and sulky.
"I don't want to play anymore," Ines announced, her voice indignant. "This whole game is totally unfair."
Belly’s competitive hyper-focus instantly evaporated. She dropped back onto the couch, sliding over to her daughter. "Aw, sweetie, what’s unfair?"
"Everything!" Ines grumbled, gesturing wildly toward her parents. "You and Dad have a cheating advantage. You guys have known each other for a million years! You can read each other's brains! Jamie and I have only been brother and sister for five years, so we don't have telepathy yet!"
Jamie blinked, looking down at his little sister. "Wait. Five years?"
Conrad, who was still standing in his Dune martial arts stance, slowly lowered his hands. He let out a soft chuckle and walked over to the couch.
"Actually, sweetie, you and Jamie have been brother and sister for eight years," Conrad corrected gently, reaching out to tap the tip of her nose. "Since the day you were born. Your math is a little off."
"Well, it feels like five!" Ines insisted, though she couldn't help but crack a tiny smile as Conrad rubbed her shoulder.
“How about this, if you guess the next one, you win the entire game. Automatically."
“Really?”
"Really," Conrad promised, pulling a fresh slip from the bowl without looking and handing it to Jamie. "Go ahead, Jamie. Make it a good one."
Jamie looked at the tiny paper, smiled, and stood up. He held up one finger, then pretended to hold a microphone, winking dramatically at his mother.
Ines’s eyes lit up. She jumped up on the couch cushions, pointing her fan at her brother. "The Eras Tour movie! Taylor Swift!"
"Boom!" Jamie yelled, throwing the paper in the air.
“We won! We won!” Ines erupted into cheers, as Belly and Conrad shared a relieved look.