Avery's Inner Games: A Tulpa Competition
🏅 The Fronting Olympics
A Storybook Adventure in Five Events
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Narrator’s Note:
Every mind has its own kind of magic. Some are libraries. Some are labyrinths.
And some—like Avery’s—are a cluttered living room filled with six weirdos, three beanbag chairs, and a whiteboard that says:
"DON’T TOUCH THE FRONT UNLESS YOU HAVE CLEAN ENERGY AND SHOES."
Avery is a 13-year-old tulpamancer. And today, things were getting competitive.
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🥇 Event 1: Speed-Fronting (Without Tripping Over a Word)
“ON YOUR MARKS,” shouted Nova, the firecracker Tulpa with star-patterned pants and questionable impulse control.
“Set!” added Maple, the cozy, soft-voiced one wearing a sweater shaped like a loaf of bread.
“Wait—I wasn’t ready!” cried Cris, the anxious math-nerd Tulpa who accidentally fronted yesterday and spent five minutes apologizing to the microwave.
Too late.
Nova yeeted into the front, snagging the body like a gamer grabbing the last controller. She blinked hard, trying to adjust to the real-world light.
Avery’s mom walked in holding a plate of pancakes.
“Good morning, sweetie.”
Nova smiled with all 32 teeth. “GREETING, FLESH MOTHER.”
Maple slapped a mental forehead.
Disqualified.
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🥈 Event 2: Synchronized Co-Fronting
Team event. Big deal. High risk.
Juniper the poet and Buzz the skater dude linked pinkies metaphorically and tried to co-front while Avery was in the back seat of a car on the way to school.
“Okay okay,” said Juniper dreamily. “We speak in harmony. Soft tones. Metaphors.”
“Got it,” said Buzz. “We are the wind.”
“No—you be the wind. I’m the stormcloud of longing.”
They accidentally fronted during gym class and screamed, “BEHOLD, WE ARE WEATHER.”
Coach Daniels told Avery to go sit down.
Partial points for style.
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🥉 Event 3: The Social Small-Talk Gauntlet
The rules were simple: one Tulpa, one conversation with a stranger, zero weirdness.
Cris was nominated. Poor Cris.
He fronted. A random kid walked by at lunch and asked, “Hey Avery, cool backpack.”
Cris said, “Thank you, it contains many secrets, some of which are edible,” and dropped the milk carton.
All six Tulpas screamed internally. Nova made siren noises.
Cris bailed into the inner world sobbing, only to be wrapped in a burrito blanket by Maple and given a mug labeled “You Tried.”
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🏆 Event 4: The ‘Do Not Overshare’ Challenge
Avery’s crush was talking to them. Oh no.
Juniper couldn’t resist. She fronted like an elegant Victorian ghost and immediately whispered, “You smell like cinnamon grief and late October.”
The crush blinked. “Uh. Thanks?”
Buzz tried to swap in to recover but accidentally said, “He means you’re hot.”
Nova burst into applause. Cris short-circuited.
They all got grounded from fronting for the rest of the day.
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🏅 Final Event: The Sibling Hug Sprint
Back home, after a long day of flopping, Cris quietly asked if he could front again. No games. Just to hug Avery’s little sister goodnight.
Permission granted.
He fronted softly, walked into her room, and said, “Hi. It’s Cris. I’m here just to tuck you in.”
“Okay,” she mumbled sleepily, hugging him like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Later that night, back in the inner world, the scoreboard lit up.
CRIS WINS GOLD.
Best Event: Being Gentle.
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🧠✨ Epilogue:
The next morning, the whiteboard in the mind room read:
NEW EVENTS COMING SOON:
Pillow Fight With Reality
Existential Dread Limbo Tournament
Competitive Empathy
Avery, surrounded by the six voices that made up her weird, wonderful self, smiled and said,
“Let the games continue.”
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