Dear Pudding Reader,

“Would you like to play a game?” Is what I would say if I was that fella from those Saw movies.

But that’s not me. My name is Russell Samora, and this is my story.

When I was in my youth, my neighbor would give me a quarter for mowing her lawn after church on Sundays. At first, I was only in it for the money. With my earnings, I could go visit the pictures, and have some leftover funds for penny candies and a glass of pop at the local soda fountain.

But what started as a small chore revealed itself to be much more for a little boy with big dreams; after a few weeks on the job, I swore that I was going to be the best who ever did it, the greatest lawn mower of all time.

I spent weeks devising new lawn mowing strategies, puzzling out how I could trim every single blade of grass as beautifully and efficiently as possible. If I had to retrace my steps to fix my work, I berated myself for days on end. I stared at the photos in landscaping magazines, in awe and jealousy; like Salieri listening to Symphony Number 40 in G Minor, I was both disturbed and motivated by the brilliant greens of a perfectly manicured lawn.

I am now a grown man. I never became the greatest lawnmower of all time. But I’ve done the next best thing…

In collaboration with Citizen Codex, I created a short game that will train the next great generation of lawn mowers:

Play the Lawn Mowing Experiment

In this game, you’ll test your lawn mowing abilities and contribute to the progress of one of the great remaining professions. And if you’re anything like me, you might find out something about yourself along the way.

Hugs and kisses,

Russell

Editor’s Note: This was autobiographical fiction ghostwritten by Kevin Litman-Navarro. But the game/experiment is entirely real, so please contribute!