A World without Play

           The playground was a dream come true. It looked like a village, or a fort, or a castle—made of wood! There was a clock tower, and nine bridges, and eleven slides of various styles. There were ropes and ladders and ladders made of rope. The ground was covered with pebbles— slightly smaller than marbles—that helped to soften a hard fall. But today the pebbles were lava. The game was tag and the rule was simple: you can’t touch the ground!

            With the afternoon sun shining down, Billy made one of the greatest moves in the history of tag. He leaped from the clock tower to an adjacent bridge, some seven feet away, before swinging beneath the bridge and propelling his body into a net that hung between two platforms. Jimmy didn’t even try to replicate the acrobatic feat. Instead, he sprinted across a swinging bridge and slid down a spiral slide. He stopped hard at the bottom and leapt for a set of monkey bars. Barely grasping the closest bar, he powered across the dozen rungs with his strong forearms, swinging his legs onto a wooden walkway. He then continued up a set of stairs where he met Billy climbing up the net. He slapped his unsuspecting foe in the shoulder. “Got ya!” he yelled.

            “Dang it!” Billy replied. “That’s three days in a row.”

            “Guess I’ve got your number.”

            “What now? Teeter-totter or swingset?”

            “Swings! Race you there.” Jimmy took off in a sprint, beating his opponent to the nearest swing by a just a few feet. “I win again!”

            Sitting on the rubber seats, their hands clenching chains, they pumped their legs, gaining momentum and height with each succession. “I was just thinking…” Billy said.

            “About what?” Jimmy asked.

            “What if we lived in a society that didn’t play?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “I mean, what if we just stopped playing?” Billy said.

            “And why would we stop playing?”

            “I don’t know, because we’re too old.”

            “Too old?” Jimmy was appalled. “I’m only forty-six. You’re barely over fifty. Too old? It’s not like we’re cripples or something. I mean, what would we do all day? Just work? Without having a recess? What would be the point of that?”

            “I’d imagine we’d get more done,” Billy answered. “Our productivity would increase.”

            “But what’s the point of working if we don’t get to play?” Jimmy asked. “I mean, what’s the point of life if we don’t get to play? Next you’ll be saying that we should work more than thirty hours a week. And that we shouldn’t get ten weeks vacation time? Is that the kind of sick world you want to live in?”

            “I guess not. It was just something that came to mind. Forget that I said anything at all.”

            “You’d better watch who you say something like that to. A world without play? You’re bound to get yourself thrown in the loony bin.”

            “I guess you’re right. Sorry I even brought it up.” A ringing sound came from Billy’s pocket. He leapt off the swing and rolled across the pebbles before springing to his feet and answering his phone. “Hey Donnie. How’s it going…Yeah, just got done playing tag…yeah, I remember that time…this Saturday? Definitely! Sounds great. What time…No, you decide, you’re the President after all…okay, 3 o’clock, I’ll be there…Can’t wait. See you then.” He closed his phone and slid it into his pocket. “Hey Jimmy, what are you doing Saturday afternoon?”

            “No plans,” Jimmy yelled, still swinging. “Why? What’s up?”

            “Do you want to play hide and seek at the White House?”