Live the Game

Haider Najmi

Daastan Publishing 2023

First Published in Pakistan by Daastan PVT LTD

House # A-41, Madni Street, Lala Rukh, Wah Cantt, Punjab 47040

www.daastan.com

www.meraqissa.com

Text copyrights © Haider Najmi

Book Design copyright © Rashna Kanwal

Edited by: Mariam Rizvi

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator, and editor have been asserted.

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 978-969-696-795-8

To my younger and elder brothers, who annoyed me till I got the inspiration with whom I cannot live, but at the same time cannot live without.

The Troublesome Brother

I have a goofy devil who likes to prance around,

Well, looks like a clown was found;

They call him the troublesome kid,

He’s always asking for a bid;

My brother drives us crazy,

So much that we almost cry like a baby;

He might look cute, but don’t get fooled,

Run, or else you will be doomed.

When he stomps his feet, it’s like he’s a monster,

I feel like shooting him with a blaster.

His shouting pricks my ears like a needle,

I want to fly away like an eagle;

He’s like a villain in a cartoon,

I wish he would fly away in a hot air balloon;

But wait …. Was I too judgmental?

Cause sometimes that devil is a true angel.

Playing with him, I become like a bouncy ape,

He is the Nutella topping on my boring crepe;

Without him, I am like a zebra without its stripes,

Or a spotless leopard, or hair without spikes! Yikes!

And in the night, when he hugs me tight,

I realize he is my sunshine, shining bright;

Oh no. Is he scribbling on my new science book? I’m coming after you, Silly brat!

  -Dedicated to my brothers

PREFACE

My life was about to explode into millions of pieces when we migrated from UAE to Pakistan! Or that’s what I thought.  I was lonely and homesick at first, so I made writing my friend; I poured my heart out into my diary.

It was a golden chance for me when my teacher appreciated my efforts at writing and asked me to enroll in this ‘Young Authors International Program.’ My addiction to gaming inspired me to choose this topic. I chose the game Minecraft as it brought back memories of my school friends in Dubai from where I moved to Karachi. During my journey, it was very hard to keep up, but luckily, I had one of the best-qualified teachers in my country and a loving mom! They both inspired and helped me throughout, motivating and encouraging me to keep going and to give my best.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

End of Dr. Broccoli

My Day at School

The Unwanted Gift

Minecraft ≠ Reality?

Game On!

Where Are We?

The Nightmare Has Begun!

Achievement Unlocked

Things Are Never Quite As Scary With a Best Friend

Survival

Are You Ready to Fight?

Doomed

It’s Here

Dawn of the Legends

Is This the End?

Happy Ending?

Live the Game!

(Literally)

Chapter 1:

End of Dr. Broccoli

“Two people down, one to go! I am going to win! His health is so low. One last shot. Wait, NOO! What happened? Why has my screen turned blank? Oh, No!!!” My mom had shut down the Wi-Fi connection.

I exploded at her, “I was finally about to win in Fortnite. Now, I have to start it all over again!”

Oh, sorry for being rude. I was so engrossed in my game that I forgot to introduce myself……Hi, my name is Hiro Nortan, and nobody in this world is better than me at gaming.

“I think you mean everybody is better than you in gaming,” teased Benjamin Nortan, my younger brother; don’t mind him.

As I was saying, I think I am the most amazing 13-year-old gamer in the world. I live on the biggest island on Earth, Greenland. I even have the best mother, Ulyana Nortan, on Earth.

“Hiro, do the laundry, rinse the dishes, take the garbage out, and mown the lawn!” ordered mom. Or not the best mom. Well, enjoy my near death experience while I do my chores.

“How dare you yell at me, I’ve been calling you forever, and then you don’t even bother to answer me,” she started.

Oh, my god, she has summoned the speech monster!

“You are the one who’s on the computer all day, but you shout at me as if it is my fault! Everybody else is preparing for the finals a month before, and you don’t even do homework. Instead, you play games. I do not know a more irresponsible person than you. For now, lunch is waiting. Come, quick; we will deal with this later.” She ended. I sighed in relief, finally!

Grumbling, I went, grinding my teeth and stomping my feet towards General Feast, almost crying, recalling my game and mom’s lecture. “I was going to win if it weren’t for mom, and if mom doesn’t know, almost nobody does their homework, and the other kids play games more than me.”

 I walked into the dining room and I knew I had entered the battlefield. But then I saw somebody I had not been expecting, my prolonged nemesis, my worst fear, my only weakness, ‘Dr. Broccoli!’

I had to defeat him once and for all. I gathered my courage and ran towards Dr. Broc; as I was getting closer, he seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. When I reached him, I figured out General Feast was being attacked and was about to lose to Dr. Broc, I couldn’t let that happen. So I quickly took out my sword. And without wasting any time, I sliced Carrot, Broc’s sidekick, which changed spots. Now Dr. Broc was the one who was outnumbered. We both attacked him, leading to Dr. Broc’s long, long sleep on the wall. Now, I’d never eat him.

“Honey, do you have the mental hospital’s number? I think our son has gone crazy.” Mom spoke sarcastically with a weird look on her face.

After years, since I was born, I finally defeated him, my strongest nemesis. It was good while it lasted, “Farewell, Dr. Broc.”