Call Me Queen of the Pond

Have you ever played the game, Hitman?

Well, I work at a church and that’s forbidden territory. So we’re playing “Duck & Run.” You get a profile (a wanted poster with the name of your “hit”) and a little rubber duckie. You have to “soak” your target in order to get his profile and keep your standing in the game. We play with almost 40 people and a Vigilante duck known as “The Dark Duck.” The Dark Duck is the wild card. He can get anyone, at any time, anywhere. But if you get him, you get 5 extra profile points.

Anyway, the game lasts a month and there is a lot of strategy and deal-making going on right now. It’s hilarious! There are some clever peopel playing including one girl who gave her wrong address on her wanted poster, a guy who lay in wait in thorn bushes for 6 hours just to get his target, and others who had ducks hidden in armpits to avoid the easily identified bulge in the pocket.

My little Red, the bird lover, is enthralled with the prospect of this game. Though she’s far too young to play, she insisted on filling out her own registration form. She painstakingly filled in her name and presented it to me. I jokingly asked for her fee and she slipped away to beg her dad for $10. He didn’t have it so she creatively pantomimed pulling out the money from her own pocket. I couldn’t resist. I did give her a duckie though she’s not technically playing the “real” game. We played a version at home, just the three of us, that had her giggling uncontrollably and wet through and through.

I have had one or two players ask if they could borrow Red. She inadvertantly warned a player about an imminent soaking when she saw the other player’s duck behind his back. She innocently asked the player if she could see his duck. That allowed the potential soak-ee to bolt!

Ah, well. It’s a fun game to watch! And since I’m administrating the game, that’s about all I can do. But I’d rather be on this side of the pond than that. The players are getting way to paranoid!

For now,

Call Me Queen of the Pond