Flicker Fade Gone

By: Carl Joe Javier

off. In his right hand he played with the master key,

Motive Questions: sliding it through his fingers. With it he was the master
 Why do people get addicted to playing video of the arcade; with one turn of the key he could become
games? Spiderman or Cyclops, a World War II pilot, an F-1 racer;
 Have you ever felt that the world of the video or he could take up a gun and shoot down secret agents,
games is more real or more significant than terrorists, terminators, zombies, dinosaurs. He played
almost all the games, and the games where there were
the real world? Why or why not?
people to save drew him most.
 Why do some people prefer a video game’s
He felt that he came alive only after a turn of the key,
reality to the reality that they live in?
when he was in a game. He could feel himself fading,
knew that people were looking past him, seeing only the
He brought the pistol up to shoulder level, let his
key that hung around his neck. So he waited until there
right hand fingers wrap smoothly around it, put the palm
was no one left in the arcade.
of his left-hand on the butt for support. The gun was light
He waited until he was alone so that he could turn
in his hand as he swung it from left to right, clearing the
the key and come alive again. This wasn’t the world for
perimeter while he zoomed into the grocery store.
him, and as he turned the key he knew which one was.
He’d been through this before, but he still tensed as
He stared into the screen, watched as his face began
he slid through the store’s shattered glass door. He went
fading away, waited until it had disappeared. And as he
over the mission’s specs in his head: at least 3O perps in
saw the game start and he wrapped his right hand
the store, plus three employees still inside.
fingers around the pistol and put his left hand up to the
Bang, bang, bang, three to the chest. Reload. One had
butt he felt himself coming alive. As he approached the
jumped in front of him as he stepped through the diaper
grocery store and started firing, bang bang bang, he
aisle. Next aisle, canned goods, three perps, one holding
could feel himself gaining substance, not being blank
a knife to a hostage. His arm glided from left to right,
anymore.
bang bang, two in the chest, perp down. Bang, headshot.
In the morning the guard came to find a gun hanging
Reload. Last crook on the right with the hostage: one to
from its arcade machine. A copy of the arcade’s master’s
the leg, hostage runs, bang, headshot. Reload.
key was stuck in the machine’s slot. He figured the last
He went through the rest of the grocery in the same
man working the night shift had forgotten it so he
methodical manner. Bang, bang, bang, reload; bang bang
returned it to the arcade’s owner.
bang, reload: bang bang bang, reload: it was a rhythm
The owner asked if the guard had noticed the late
that he’d developed over the years. Cutting down the
shift worker leave, the guard said he hadn’t. He assumed
perps gave him a rush, but his adrenaline got pumping
that the boy hadn’t shown up for work, shrugged his
whenever there was a hostage to save.
shoulders, and thought to himself that it was time to call
As he went through the cashier’s counters he could
up the agency for another guy. He thought about the boy
hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears and feel the pistol
who’d worked for him these past years. The peculiar
getting slippery from his sweating palm. One more
thing was that he couldn’t even remember what the boy
hostage, he thought.
looked like.
ALL HOSTAGES SAVED. He smiled, put the pistol
Later that week, the owner had to replace one of the
back in his holster and wiped his palms on his pants. He
machines in the arcade. Since that night the boy hadn’t
watched onscreen as his statistics were tallied: Hits
shown up he’d been having a problem with that machine
Taken: 1; Hostages Saved: 3; Shots Taken: 105; Hits: 97;
the guard had found the master key in. It wouldn’t accept
Accuracy: 92%. Not bad, he said to himself.
tokens, and the game would go on start to end, with the
He left the machine and paced around the empty
display following a distinct rhythm: bang bang bang,
arcade trying to decide what enemies he’d face next. He
reload.
took the nylon string necklace that served as a key chain
Questions: Flicker Fade Gone
 Could you relate to the protagonist? Why or why not? Elucidate.
 Why did the boy disappear at the end of the story? Elucidate.
 Did the ending surprise you? Why or why not? Elucidate.
 What does the story seem to say about the difference between living and existing? Elucidate.
 Elucidate why did the boy end up the way he did.
 There are two central symbols in the story. What are they? What do these symbols mean? Elucidate
your answer.
 What is a Toadstool? What does the code name “Princess Toadstool” allude to?
 Elucidate the significance of the title.
 Does the boy in the story remind you of anyone? Does it seem to be a commentary on certain kinds of
people? Elucidate.
 Princess Toadstool does not fall in love with the narrator. What does this tell us about the difference
between fantasy and reality?