Games Invented By Me At Age Nine That You Should Use At Parties, Part One

Parrots Under A Rug

Requires: between four and seven people, one rug
Instructions: Identify the person at your party who is nine-year-old Rachel Fields. She is the one who is dressed like a zebra and is awful to be around. Wonder why you came to this party. Well, you're stuck here now, so suck it up. Send this person out of the room and pick a random number of people to lay under the rug. Make them smush together really close even if it's hot and uncomfortable and the bottom of the rug is scratchy. Make everyone else hide so that it isn't clear how many people are under the rug. Invite Rachel back in and make her guess the number of "parrots under the rug." When she gets it wrong, let her guess again. Have a feeling it will be years before you remember that this happened, which won't make the recollection any less terrifying.