A title this would be, had I the originality.

I was lying awake a few days back and thinking to myself: there is so much I can't remember about my childhood. It's like I muddled through it in a haze of uncertainty, and never asked any questions.

In particular though, the thing that got to me was that I can't remember the plots of any of the games I played.

Now, I had those Star Wars action figures, with their guns and retractable light sabres. I had Action Man. I had Matchbox cars. I had a carrier bag of plastic soldiers. And I spent hours with them. But I can't remember what I did with them. I can't remember the least bit of plot.

Thinking back, I can remember setting up elaborate scenarios with the action figures. But I don't remember actually playing the scenarios out. I'm sure I must've though.

I do remember spending an endless amount of time building stuff. Meccano, Airfix projects, and more than anything else, Lego. I remember any number of complex gizmos I would design and build - I built transformers that would really transform, guns that would fire, things like that.

I remember rampaging and exploring through the wilderness with a big bowie knife and a spear.

But, no plots.

So I asked my sister, who always has a far better memory for these things than I. She wrote:

The games were pretty fuzzy at the time, as I recall.
They were like the NaNoWriMo of games.

How beautifully put! That reassured me. Perhaps, then, I couldn't remember the plots because there were none?

But then she added:

I remember one you were playing with some plastic soldiers and matchsticks in Apolissies. Remember that one?
[Naturally, I didn't.]
On the kitchen floor. You were sobbing away, you were.
The plot was similar to The Walrus and the Carpenter.
These soldiers befriended these bits of wood during some kind of adventure in the wilderness, and night came, and the soldiers were cold. So they decided to build a fire.
The bits of wood got piled up, while they were trying to reason with the soldiers.
The soldiers tried to explain that they needed the fire because they were cold, and it wasn't that they had anything against the bits of wood... and the bits of wood were crying and pleading and saying, "but Why? WHY? We haven't done anything to you. We thought you were our FRIENDS."
And their voices went all high-pitched as you sobbed on their behalf, and the soldiers felt really awkward, but couldn't really get their side across, and eventually burned the wood, which died in screaming agony.
:D
It was very entertaining to listen to.

Do you remember that one we played with Honey in London, that caused such a huge argument we had to get Gareth [our dad] in on it, and he was no help at all because he thought it was hilarious?
Ok, Honey was this rich woman and she was in love with two men. They were very different from each other. I was her friend, who was supposed to be married or something to one of them. You played both men.
I'm sorry, i don't remember most of the details, but think soap opera. Honey was basically running this game.
Anyway, things got really complicated inasmuch as Honey's dilemma needed to be resolved, but both men were great in their own way. Eventually, one guy emerged as being more appropriate, but as both were still madly in love with her, one of them needed to be got rid of somehow.
I then played a doctor, examining you with Gareth's stethoscope, and pronounced one of you to be suffering from leprosy.
That way, you could die off and leave the other you with Honey, happily ever after. Honey and I were immensely pleased with ourselves.
You, on the other hand, were horribly indignant.
Yeah, well, you refused point blank to have leprosy, and we kept begging and pleading with you to reconsider.
We reasoned that you were playing 2 people, so it was ok.
[You could have chosen a different disease!", I pointed out.]
But you were attached to your characters, and, yeah, well, I'd been reading those Thomas Covenant books...
And you kept refusing to lie down and die.
So then we tried to FORCE you to have leprosy.
And we went and got Gareth, saying we'd come up against a plot problem and could he help out. He was all keen and asked about the game,
and as soon as we got to the leprosy bit, instead of using his magical parental powers of persuasion on you, he nearly killed himself laughing and took your side.

Well yeah - he has always been a GOOD dad!

But I remember neither game, nor any similar ones. So I've forgotten a ton of the hopes and dreams and fantasies my childhood. Which is kinda sad.