Lava Pit

She has to jump across this lava pit,

The one that I designed to test her timing skills a bit.

I’m in the chatroom with her viewers, cheering,

But some have doubts that she’ll get past the level that she’s nearing.

“Relax, you guys, I’ve practiced this a ton;

Check this, I’ll clear the gap, and make it on try number one.”

She aims herself to minimize the distance,

She jumps!

…and misses, even with her power-up’s assistance.

 

“Okay, this jump is tougher than I thought,

But I will make this jump,” she says, and once more, she leaps off.

She fails the jump; she tries and fails again,

And now she’s on try three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

At this point, we’ve watched thirty-two attempts,

The chatroom’s lost its hope, and things are getting pretty tense;

She gets herself aligned, and takes the jump!

Her character begins to rise,

She’s in the air, and as she flies,

We all forget the other tries,

“I think I’m gonna make it, guys,”

but

It’s looking bad, she starts to fall,

Her chances looking pretty small,

She isn’t gonna land at all,

Her aim was bad,

She hits the wall.

 

But wait, her character’s stopped falling down.

The game has glitched, she’s in the wall, as if there were a ground.

The chat explodes, the viewers quickly type,

The gap is shorter! If she jumps, she’ll reach the other side!

I watch the chatroom flood with cries of joy,

But as the maker of the game, I’m just a bit annoyed.

She hops from there, and easily clears the gap.

…but then she turns around and jumps into the lava trap.

 

The chatroom couldn’t be more baffled at her,

Not furious, of course, but wondering what on earth’s the matter.

And though I’m happy, I’m the most confused;

Why would she make the choice to leave the glitch she found unused?

She calmly says to us, “I ain’t no cheater;”

Her pure determination makes us sure this pit won’t beat her.

Not everybody thinks her choice is logical,

But we support her as she makes her way back to the obstacle.

 

She keeps in mind the times she missed the jump,

And stands at the location where the closest ones were done.

Suggestions keep on coming in the chat;

She carefully considers which are good and which are bad.

Now, after talking through her careful planning,

She’s fairly sure she’s learned the right technique to stick the landing;

She once again lines up, and takes the jump!

From off the edge, she starts to rise,

The viewers watch with anxious eyes,

And quickly type supportive cries,

In hope that there’ll be no more tries,

and

Again she peaks and starts to fall,

The distance left becomes more small,

She certainly won’t hit the wall,

She’s on the ground,

And standing tall.

 

We hear the dropping sound of her controller;

She can’t control the happiness she feels now that it’s over.

While we’re all cheering for her, overjoyed,

I wonder, did they feel this way when making Asteroids?

And if she’d made the jump on her first try,

Would that success compare to what she’s shown us all tonight?

Regardless, having watched this level beaten

Has made me sure that I’m a game creator for a reason. 

This poem is about: 
Me

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