Semi Trucks and Video Games

Turns out the mother is a hardcore driver. I watched as day turned into night and we drove across countless state lines. This is just the first time we're stopping all day. I'm sure glad I decided not to get the Big Gulp from 711 before I began this journey. I unbuckle, let out a big yawn and stretch my arms and legs. I glance over at the girl, she is fast asleep. The mother looks at me through the rear view mirror once more. "You wanna get out and explore?" She asks me. "I do." "Go ahead." "I don't know where I'm going or if I'll be back though." "Don't worry, we'll be alright. Thank you for your company." I smile. "The pleasure was all mine." I exit the mini van and I see a crowd of people gathered around a semi truck further down the parking lot. Letting my curiosity get the best of me, I walked up to the Semi truck. It was some sort of video game tour. It was a test audience for whatever this latest video game system is. At any rate, everyone was thrilled. They were all pushing and shoving in hopes that they would be the next one to test out the product. I was not that interested in playing it. I wanted only to see what it looked like. I stood calmly in the back of the line. Guess that was enough to draw attention to myself. "You there!" A middle aged man with a Sonic the Hedgehog shirt shouts to me from inside the truck. "Me?" I say somewhat timidly pointing to myself. "Yes you." He replies. "How you like to be the next one to play?" "Um yeah sure." I say. The crowd begrudgingly parts for me. I hear a lot of "Are you serious?" and "Why him ?" as I draw closer. As I'm about to climb into the back of the truck the man with the sonic t shirt puts a microphone to my face. "You ready to be a part of history?" He asks. "Yes." I reply simply. He takes the mic away from my face. I look around. There are many gigantic flat screens everywhere. All of them displaying what would be considered by today's standards archaic graphics. If this were 1996, it would be cutting edge. But it's 2013 and the graphics look more boxy than realistic. In the center of the truck is a treadmill that hooks up to the screens. "Ok." The man says to me. "All you have to do is get on the treadmill and run." "That's it?" "That's all. This game you are a marathon runner. All you gotta do is run and run fast." I walk on to the treadmill. " I think I can do this." The man goes over to the control panel, throws some switches, and before I know it, the treadmill starts up. It seemed a breeze at first keeping up with my boxy avatar. However, it became increasingly difficult to run on the treadmill. It was as if it was getting stuck and I had to apply pressure just to get it to move. "Go in the opposite direction! It's easier that way!" The man shouts to me. I turn around and run in the opposite direction. For a while it is easier and in fact even fun. But then it becomes increasingly difficult to run. I try and apply pressure like before. No luck. I can't run it's like my leg's don't work. "Stop the machine!" I scream as I jump off the treadmill. The man rushes over to me. "What's the matter? What happened?" He asks me in a panic. I take a deep breath. "I just can't run anymore."