Commander in Chief of the World

by Leighroy Marsh

I am Commander-in-Chief-of-the-world

and I haven’t got time to tidy my room,

Alien invaders need to be stopped,

Only I can save us from doom.

If you give me five minutes,

I’ll stop the attack, and send them all back into space

For I am Commander in Chief of the World,

and everything else has to wait!

“Tidy your room, and take out the trash

I’ve asked you enough times already today”

“Mum – wait till I’ve won,

I’ll be quick as a flash…it’s important to finish my play”

As he gripped the controls on his smart games console,

the spaceship explodes with a flash and a hiss

He was winning the war, with an all time high score.

Nobody nowhere was better than this.

Then the TV.  went blank and the world wasn’t saved – somebody, somewhere,

had turned off the power.

“You need some fresh air, it’s a beautiful day 

Go out and I don’t want you back for an hour”

and so he went out, without lasers or guns,

no spaceship to take him around

The Commander in chief – had to wait for a bus

while his mother drove off into town.

he stood at the stop at the top of his road,

and played with the bus fare he held in his hand.

He was joined by a wizened old man with a bag

That was tied with a thick rubber band.

Politely, The Commander-in-Chief of the World, said “Hello”,

and the wizened old man nodded back.

He ask with a laugh,

“Do you know what I have?”

through a smile that was toothless and crooked and black.

Inside this bag,

Is a game that I’ve made, as he pierced the Commander in Chief with a stare

It’s a game like no other before - that you’ve played,

So real and intense, you could swear that you’re there.

He opened the bag for the boy to look in,

and his eyes opened up as he stared deep inside

A shimmering, shiny ,strange light glowed within,

pulsating and spinning like something alive.

“It's hard to find people these days “said the wizened old man

“who will try out this game that I’ve made”

They’re too busy reading or going for walks,

helping their parents or playing some sports

drawing, or listing to music of sorts nobody wants to play games.

he reached in his bag and then pulled out a disc,

that shimmered and glimmered in the afternoon sun

So…said the wizened old man to the boy…do you like to play games?,

is it your kind of fun?

have you got the verve, and the guile and the nerve

to keep playing this marvellous game till you’ve won?

The Commander-in-Chief of the World was transfixed, 

the hypnotic light sent  him deep in a trance

What would it cost, to get hold of this disc

he couldn’t pass up on this chance.

He stretched out a hand and took hold of the disc, 

then he thanked the wizened old man with a smile.

He bid him good day and returned to his home,

as the wizened old man stood and watched for a while.

Alone in the house,

he looked at the disc,

there was something mysterious, something quite strange

he was sure he heard voices cry out from within, 

but couldn’t work out what the voices were saying.

With great expectation he loaded the game,

and gripped the controls in the palm of his hand,

he patiently watched as the credits rolled by,

strange looking places from faraway lands. 

he gripped the controls on his smart games console,

the spaceship explodes with a flash and a hiss

HE was winning the war, with an all time high score.

Nobody, nowhere was better than this.

Slowly he blasted away all his foes,

while his own battle cruiser escaped without harm

His score mounted up and he gained extra lives

before suddenly, something caused him great alarm.

The mother ship soon moved towards him at pace,

larger than any spacecraft that he’d seen.

And sat on the bridge, was the familiar face 

of the

Wizened old man who looked evil and mean!

from out of the TV his voice could be heard,

do you like to play games?

Is this your kind of fun?

Do you have the verve and the guile and the nerve –

this game is for real,

you can play till you’ve won?

He threw the controls of his smart games controls

and ran to window to call out for help

But all he could see was the sun, the stars,

and the trailing debris of an asteroid belt.

As each missile fired and each missile hit,

the The Commander-in-Chief-of-the-World felt the shake.

plaster and roof tiles fell to the floor. 

and the boy came to realize his fatal mistake.

he fired at the mother ship - without any joy,

the force fields protected, deflected his guns

He looked at his house that was almost destroyed,

he wanted to stop, – this game wasn’t fun.

The T.V exploded, the ceiling caved in,

Nothing could save the Commander-in-Chief

Collapsing around him and trapped deep within,

before lost to the bricks and the rubble beneath.

 A few minutes later, when the dust had all cleared, 

just a pile of old bricks where the commander once stood.

Up  strode the wizened old man with a bag and poked at the bricks with a piece of old wood.

Quite soon the wizened old man heard a cry –

and scooped up the boy who had taken the risk

Without much ado he placed him in the bag –

suspended in time and trapped on the disc

So what of the boy – the Commander-in-Chief?

did his mother not look,

why wasn’t he missed?

No tears were shed,

there wasn’t much grief – the boy wasn’t dead,

he just didn’t exist….

mmm  - well,  hope you liked that little tale
back soon -  until then visit    http://www.hpmmedialtd.com