Louie’s arcade where kids could go to escape their parents. A quiet place filled with classic consoles including pacman, galaga, and centipede. And one more that only one person has played.
The machine was covered in dust. The name scratched out only one letter remained “H”. The corners of the screen cracked, a sign hung in the center of the screen. It read “out of order”
Louie never walked by the machine, never spoke of it, never played it. No one knew why Louie kept it around. Some kids thought it was because he was blind. They assumed he couldn't see the machine so he couldn't get rid of it. 
But something about the way Louie acted near the console made other kids feel like he knew it was there. Louie would never walk near the machine he would always walk the long path completely avoiding the console.
  Kids would often dare each other to stay in the arcade after it closed. Many brave kids would stay but leave within the hour. One kid came home and told stories about Louie.
The child went into detail about how just because he couldn't see doesn't mean he can't find you. The young child said he was gonna stay but that Louie had heard him and told him to get out.
Another kid talked about how Louie almost found him. He said the only way you can “escape” Louie is to hide behind the broken console. 
At recess all the kids would always run to Louie arcade. They only got to play games for about fifteen minutes, but that was more than enough for the kids… except for one.
He was the youngest in the group of friends. He was eight years old and he had convinced himself that Louie was nothing to be scared of. One of the other kids was playing pac man when he had announced that he was gonna play the games for longer than normal.
All the kids seemed to chuckle slightly at the idea they all begin drilling him with questions. Varying from how you plan to turn the games on, and how he planned to stay in later.
While all the kids were pestering him he glanced around the arcade, trying to find which games he was gonna play. As he was looking around the arcade he noticed Louie. His dead gray eyes staring across the room. Louie was helping another kid with centipede, but the kid felt Louie’s eyes staring at him.
The kid tried not to pay attention to him, but he couldn't help but stare at his eyes. The way they had centered themselves. They wiggled in their sockets but stayed fixed on the kid. The gray beady pupils stared deeply towards the kid. And before the kid was able to refocus on his friends, he noticed something about Louie. He noticed that the corners of his mouth had turned up into a smile.
The kid turned back to his friends, but quickly realised that all his friends had already returned to school. As soon as the kid noticed all of his friends had left he ran after them. When he got to the door he felt as if he was being watched. The kid turned and looked around he only saw Louie. His eyes were faced away from the kid and seemed to be directed towards the maintenance room.
After that the kid thought all day about the arcade.  The kid couldn’t help but fantasize about the arcade and all of its wonders. He kept thinking about being able to play whatever games he wanted, whenever he wanted. But the kid also kept thinking about Louie. Something about the way his pupil had focused on him.
After school had ended, all the kids rushed to the arcade. Except for the kid, he went back to his house to finish the assigned reading. The kid sat in his room for hours but couldn’t focus on the book. When the digital clock on his nightstand read five thirty, he decided it was time to go to the arcade.
The kid grabbed his night bag and put his book in it. He hoped to find time to finish his reading. The kid walked out the door and told his mom that he was going to be spending the night at a friends house. By the time he got to the arcade, most of the other kids were clearing out.
The kid boldly walked in the arcade and saw a group of his friends playing a racing game. The kid walked over to his friends and asked them what they were playing. The group seemed to be disappointed that he wasn't there with them earlier. They all informed the kid that it was a new game that was just delivered today, it was called pole position.
The other kids explained that they were gonna go home soon to finish the reading. The kid smiled and went into the bathroom he stayed hidden in there and finally was able to finish his reading. After all the lights had been turned off the kid put the book away and walked out of the bathroom.
The door creaked open loudly as the kid pushed it. He looked out and saw nothing, it was pitch black. The kid ran his hand on the wall and walked using the wall for balance. The kid realized that he hadn’t planned on it being this dark. Slowly his eyes adjusted, he still couldn’t see everything but he could see the outlines of the consoles.
The kid kept walking until he got to the maintenance room door. The kid looked around, his vision had adjusted more. He could now see that all of the consoles were off. Suddenly one of the console screens began to flicker. The kid looked around and couldn’t see which one it was… until he looked into the corner, he saw the console screen flicker as a piece of paper falls off of the screen.
The kid felt something come over him. As he felt his legs walk towards it, as he got closer to it he felt his body leave into a more dream like state. When the kid finally got in front of the console he felt a wave of wonder fill him. The kid quickly reached for a quarter, but saw that there was no “insert coin” slot. The kid smiled slightly as he reached for the joystick.
The kid grabbed the joystick, and when he did the screen light up. The screen was a bright white, it read “welcome” on the screen. Beneath that there was only one option. “Begin” the kid enthusiastically pressed the jump button and the screen faded slowly. He heard an old raspy voice, and felt a cold clammy hand lay itself on the kids shoulder.
“welcome”
That was all the kid ever was able to remember, the next morning the kid woke up and realized his eyes wouldn’t open, he felt his pupils wiggle in their sockets but he saw nothing. The kid attempted to ignore it but it was very difficult to walk to school without being able to see.
He sat in the back of class and did nothing all day. The kid had many questions, why couldn’t he see anymore, why did he wake up in his bedroom instead of the arcade. Just as he was trying to figure stuff out his friends told him it was time to go to the arcade.
Once they arrived they found that the doors were locked and there was a sign on the door. It explained that the arcade was sold to some family diner that specializes in animal mascots. The other kids sighed from disappointment and started to leave.
The kid wanted to be upset that it wasn’t open, but he was happy in a way. He couldn’t tell why but something about the arcade being gone forever made him happy… until he felt the same hand from last night and heard louie’s raspy voice.
“We’re free… I sold the consoles”
The kid was felt many feelings rush over him, fear, unease, happiness. This meant so many things for so many people. It meant that the kids wouldn’t have anywhere to play. Then Louie said.
“And if we’re lucky they will put ‘hell’ in the maintenance room”