Acorns

Yes. Acorns. Thus was heralded the downfall of Simone...

It has to be understood that Simone was not a game player. Okay, yes, she played the occasional game of solitaire. Sometimes Scrabble lured her. And at one time, she even completed all the levels in Spider, an addictive iPhone application. Twice.

Still, she did not consider herself a game player. When the going got tough, she pulled out a magazine or a book and retreated to the safety of the written. She left the impulsive, compulsive game playing to others better suited to deciphering the myriad of possibilities and finding the path that led to a fruitful conclusion.

That was the way things stood until Simone tried Ice Age.

Yes, yes. It's a game meant for kids. Perhaps that's why Simone felt so compelled to win: she wasn't gonna let no stinkin' kids' game outsmart her. What's more, how complicated could it be? The squirrel was supposed to find and collect acorns, for crying out loud! Only it DID turn out to be complicated, as several logic puzzles littered the game. And you couldn't overthink it either...

In any case, Simone finished all the levels then, for good measure, went back to get all the acorns she had overlooked on the first go. You want to be thorough, after all... And when she succeeded, a screech (emanating from Simone) ruptured the silence, scaring the dog and sending the beast into a fit of barking that woke little B who'd given up trying to get his mother to pay attention to him and dozed off.

Since she'd collected all the acorns, an until now hidden level was revealed: the expert level!

Sigh...

It's never really over, is it?