Crane Games

Neon lights and blaring sounds overtook Ellie’s senses when she entered the arcade. Lined up across the center and along the walls were aisles of game cabinets and pinball machines of various designs. They lit up the dark, cool interior which contrasted the afternoon sun’s sizzling heat.

While she gazed from left to right, mouth ajar at admiring the details, a hand patted her shoulder. Walking up beside her was Kate slurping her near-empty slush drink. “See what I mean? Paradise.”

“Haha, no kidding. How’d you find this place?”

“Got invited by someone after tennis practice last week. It was fun, so I figured it’d be right up your alley.”

“You got that right. Let’s go!” Ellie jogged down an aisle, zig-zagging around other arcade-goers, with Kate following behind at a leisurely pace. A wide assortment of games were displayed at each machine she passed; some were recognizable because of popular characters and titles while others made her wish to be born ten years earlier to better appreciate. “This place has everything! Where should we start?”

“I have an idea.” Stopping at a machine with slots for coins and bills, Kate fed it five dollars, resulting in a rushing waterfall of quarters inside a container below. After stuffing the quarters in a small backpack pocket, she tossed one to Ellie, “Yo, catch.” Finally, pointing to a game displaying two muscular characters throwing punches, Kate announced, “Let’s play. Loser buys ice cream.”

Accepting Kate’s challenge, Ellie raised a fist, “Bring it!”

---

“K.O!” screamed the game announcer’s booming voice.

“Heeeeeeeell yeah! Chocolate ice cream on the house!” Kate wrapped an arm around her shorter opponent and hopped in place.

“No way, I want a rematch!” Ellie braced the console to maintain her balance from the victor’s bouncing. She lowered herself from Kate’s grasp and turned to the other machines in the aisle. “Just on a game that’s easier.”

“Yeah, yeah. How about-”

“Hold that thought!” Ellie leapt to a machine across the aisle containing dozens of stuffed dolls. Hands and forehead planted on the plastic window, she stared at what sat at the far-right corner. Atop the pile of plush animals was a cartoon, human-shaped doll. Its black, beady eyes were half-covered by yellow fabric hair over its large head, and it wore a black jacket and sweatpants on its small body.

Kate approached the machine and looked above the stuffed toys. Hanging across from the doll Ellie was eyeing was a mechanism with three plastic claws bent inward. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes!” Ellie cheered, beaming and leaning close to Kate who leaned back. If one were to stare at her widened eyes, the arcade’s lighting made her irises sparkle. “Can you believe it?! Of all the shops in Seattle, I find him here! It’s like a miracle.”

“Hold up, who’s ‘him’?”

“Chen from RISING STARS, the biggest pop group from Korea! If I win, I’ll finally have all four members!” Pulling out her wallet, Ellie rushed to the coin machine with Kate chasing after her.

“Geez, can’t you find it online?”

Ellie laughed, inserting a ten dollar bill. “Are you kidding? My parents would freak if they found out I bought anything that isn’t food, water, or school supplies! After that, I could kiss my allowance goodbye.”

“And here you are buying something not food, water, or school supplies.” Kate scratched her head, watching Ellie shovel the dispensed quarters to the front pouch of her backpack like an excavator digging through dirt.

“Eh, I can always hide him like the others. Besides, this is the only chance I could ever get!” Ellie returned to the crane game and jammed her first quarter into the coin slot.

“Whatever you say. But I wouldn’t underestimate crane games.”

“Just watch me.” A console housing a joystick and yellow button stood before her. Pushing the joystick forward, the crane moved in the same direction at a sluggish pace. In a few seconds, once it hung above the doll, Ellie let go of the joystick and slammed the button, lowering and opening the crane. It slid over the doll’s round head and closed. “Come on…” After a short pause, the crane ascended, lifting the doll. “Got it!” Ellie crossed her arms and turned away from the game to face Kate, “See? No sweat.”

“Yeah, about that...” Kate lifted a finger.

Ellie’s attention returned to the game. Her shoulders dropped at finding the doll face-down, barely moved from its spot. “What gives? I totally had it there!” Meanwhile, the crane continued to a pit at the far-left and opened, as if letting go of an invisible prize.

“Looks like you’ll be here a while,” Kate said, stepping deeper into the arcade. “Just gimme a call when you run outta coins or something.”

“Like that’s gonna happen!” Ellie pouted, inserted a second quarter, and grasped the joystick. With all her attention to the game, sweat forming in her palms, she moved the crane over her target. Pushing the button, it grabbed the doll’s head and lifted it a couple inches from where it laid. But the crane was no match for the doll’s weight, causing it to slip from its grasp and land on the rump of a stuffed giraffe.

“No no no no!” Arms shivering, she reached for another quarter and lunged forward to the coin slot. But upon noticing where the doll rested, she halted. Eyes darting from the corner the doll once sat to where it currently settled, hundreds of different strategies and outcomes flashed in her mind. “It’s not much, but it moved, ” she muttered then peered into her pile of quarters. “Ten dollars to forty quarters... Two used, leaving me with thirty-eight…”

Letting out a short breath, Ellie inserted a third quarter and began another round. Like before, the crane moved and lifted the doll only for it to slip from its hold. But upon dropping, it landed about an inch away from where it was picked up.

Sliding in another quarter, followed by a few more, her actions repeated over-and-over, each ending with the doll shifting closer to the hole. She continued this strategy, watching the reward of her efforts inching towards its destination.

Eventually, her movements became automatic, from her hand pressing the button to inserting another quarter for another round.

But along the way, the doll tossed and tumbled from other toys lying about. When this happened, her automated actions paused for a moment to think of additional strategies to combat the plush, multicolored roadblocks.

By using the crane, she moved obstacles away, making a path for the doll that led to less tumbling. Although this meant wasted coins, and accidentally winning a pink teddy bear, Ellie was relieved she didn’t have to suffer from more frustration while she continued her routine.

The longer Ellie played, the cluster of music and sounds throughout the arcade faded away, as if she and the game were isolated in a separate dimension. Gone were the flashing screens from other games and voices from surrounding players. All that existed were the claw machine, the clicking of coins falling in the slot, and Ellie’s breathing as she watched her prize move about.

However, a part of her feared that many hours had passed since she began. Did Kate wait too long and leave without a word? Would the dark of night outside the doors greet her upon facing them? Ellie shook her head at that thought, confident she would have been shaken back to reality by Kate. But with the lingering dread of being left alone, Ellie jerked back to face the arcade’s exit. Like the blinding rays from the afternoon sun striking her eyes, the arcade sounds returned at full force, pulling her from the void she absorbed herself in. She even spotted Kate firing a plastic rifle at a screen, raising her fist at a pixelated explosion.

Returning to the game, letting out a relieved breath, she gasped out loud. Touching the rim of the hole was the doll. Teeth gritting and hopping on her toes, she reached into her pouch for a quarter. Images of her prize sitting on her bedside flashed. “Come on, come on, so close…” But after a couple seconds of groping every inch of her bag, her imagination shattered along with her heart.

Ellie opened her pouch wider, searching for the silverish glint of a quarter, only to be met with a dark emptiness.

---

I should go check on her. Kate set the plastic rifle in its holder and returned to the crane game. It stood at the end of the aisle, standing out with its rainbow colored animals inside. She found Ellie before the machine, but not in a way she expected. Sitting with her legs held close, Ellie blankly stared at the floor as if all life was sucked out of her body. Kate’s walk turned to a dash after seeing her in this state. “Dude, what happened?!” Kate crouched and shook her troubled friend’s shoulder.

Ellie pointed a finger at her bag; its front pocket was fully open, and sticking out from the back pocket was the head of the pink teddy bear. Kate looked down at the empty pouch then up at the doll in the game. She sighed and inserted a quarter. “All this for a toy?”

After a moment, Ellie woke up from her emotionless condition at a faint thumping from a pit at the bottom of the machine. Peering into the hole, she lets out a loud “No way!” Sitting upright was the doll she spent ages trying to win. She pulled it out and embraced it, “Kate, my hero!”

Kate took Ellie’s hand and pulled her up, “Seriously, don’t scare me like that again.”

“What time is it?” Ellie asked, taking the bear out and stuffing her reward in its place. The size of its head gave the bag a round bulge once it was zipped shut. “I must’ve been here for, like, five hours.”

“You were playing that thing for ten minutes. Let’s get outta here before you find another toy to obsess over.”

When they left the arcade, Ellie held out the pink bear to Kate, “Oh yeah, for helping me win, I present you this!”

“Gee, thanks.” Kate smiled, taking the toy. “I can add this to my collection of bears, or whatever.” While putting it away, she looked up at an older woman in a suit calling them.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Realizing who the call came from, Ellie stopped and murmured a low “Oh no.” She stood in a straight posture and held her hands behind.

“Funny running into you girls.” The woman removed her sunglasses.

Kate waved, “Hey, Mrs. Coleson.”

“M-mom!” Ellie stepped back, her heart sinking like before. “What’re you doing here?”

“I was just finishing some errands. Have you two eaten yet? I can take you somewhere. My treat.”

Ellie frantically waved her hands out, “No need! We were just about to leave for… The Bus! Right?!” She turned to Kate, waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know… If you’re offering, Mrs. Coleson, I don’t mind.” Kate gave Ellie a smug grin.

“Perfect!” Ellie’s mom smiled and extended a hand. “Before we go, how about I take that bag, Ellie. It looks really heavy.”