Play Scrabble Essay

It's a hot day and I hate my girlfriend. We're playing Scrabble. That's how bad it is. I'm 24 years old, it's a blistering hot Sunday afternoon and all I can think of to do with my life is to play Scrabble. I should be out, doing exercise, spending money, meeting people. I don't think I've spoken to anyone except my girlfriend since Thursday morning. On Thursday morning I spoke to the mailman.

My letters are bad. I play BEGIN. With the N on the little pink star. 22 points. She plays JINXED, with the J on a double-letter score. 30 points. She's beating me already. I start chewing on my U. It's a bad habit, I know. All the letters are frayed. I play WARMER for 22 points, mainly so I can keep chewing on my U. As I'm picking new letters from the bag. My rack spells MIHZPA. Plus the U in my mouth. Damn.

The heat of the sun is pushing at me through the window. I can hear buzzing insects outside. I hope they're not bees. My cousin Harold swallowed a bee when he was nine, his throat swelled up and he died.

She plays SWEATIER, using all her letters. 24 points plus a 50 point bonus. It is hot outside and I am getting sweatier. It needs to rain, to clear the air. As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I find a good word. HUMID on a double-word score, using the D of JINXED. The U makes a little splash of saliva when I put it down. Another 22 points. I hope she has lousy letters. She plays FAN, with the F on a double-letter, and gets up to fill the kettle and turn on the air conditioning.

It's the hottest day for ten years and my girlfriend is turning on the kettle.I play ZAPS, with the Z doubled, and she gets a static shock off the air conditioning unit. I find this remarkable. Then I sigh, deeply, and sit back into my chair. The ke...

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...nd final. My girlfriend plays CAUTION, using a blank tile for the N. 18 points. My rack is AQWEUK, plus the B in my mouth. I am awed by the power of the letters, and frustrated that I cannot wield it. Maybe I should cheat again.

Then it hits me. The perfect word. A powerful, dangerous, terrible word. I play QUAKE for 19 points. I wonder if the strength of the quake will be proportionate to how many points it scored. I can feel the trembling energy of potential in my veins. I am commanding fate. I am manipulating destiny.

My girlfriend plays DEATH for 34 points, just as the room starts to shake. I gasp with surprise and the B that I was chewing on gets lodged in my throat. I try to cough. My face goes red, then blue. My throat swells. I draw blood clawing at my neck. The earthquake builds to a climax. I fall to the floor. My girlfriend just sits there, watching.