The One About The GameCube

When I was eleven, ALL I wanted was a GameCube. It was the only thing I talked about for like half the year. We’d go to the video rental store and I’d just stay in the GameCube section lamenting games I couldn’t play. I’d say at least once, every night, that I wanted a GameCube for Christmas. I told everyone who had ears just how much I wanted a GameCube, and ONLY a GameCube, to the point that I surely annoyed everyone who wasn’t in my age bracket. I was adamant that I did NOT want a PS2, or an Xbox, or literally anything else in the world. I wanted a GameCube. Period.

Well, on Christmas morning I got a little stack of presents, because Mom liked wrapping and presenting everything super pretty. I knew my GameCube was the box at the back, but you have to open all the little presents that were like clothes and stuff first, right? So I plucked the little package off the top and unwrapped it…it’s an Xbox-branded CD holder. My heart dropped. Like. My whole world came crashing down. I turned to plead to my dad with my eyes, and he just shrugged and said, “The guy at the store said that was the best one.”

And, of course, Mom’s taking pictures and we need to show each present and thank them for it and all that, so I try my best while literally fighting tears. Whole Christmas was ruined. I went through the rest of the presents with all the enthusiasm of doing chores, pretending to like shirts and candy while internally mourning the loss of literally the only present I wanted.

Well, the very last box was, in fact, a Gamecube. My dad just wanted to make me suffer for the months of annoying the shit out of him. I still have that CD holder, it’s where I keep all of my diagnostic discs for PC repair. And I will never, ever get rid of it. —staindgrey