Past Day 4

Today, while out on a late night seed run, I spotted some children playing on the sidewalk. This struck me as being most unusual. Generally a child should be in bed by this hour, that is what I thought. I am unsure how late it was, I was still a bit giddy from the joy of feeding my pigeons, but it was surely past the devil's hour.
I approached the children and told them if they weren't in bed post haste the Dervish-o-Neterry would abduct them for its stew pot. Ignoring their accusations of sanity deficiency, I looked down at the sidewalk. They had drawn a strange symbol on the ground, a pattern of unusual, numbered, interlocking squares.
A fear entered me. I did not know the meaning of this ritual, but somehow I knew it was deeply satanic. They were clearly possessed. I began commanding the dark one to leave these children, shouting forcefully and angrily.
The children, now more scared than I was, explained that this was not a satanic ritual, but rather, a harmless game. What brazen children these are, thought I, to consider their eternal soul nothing but a mere plaything. They went on to tell me that the object of the 'game' was to hop on the numbered squares to retrieve a tossed stone. A strange method for summoning a demon, I reasoned, no sacrifice or incantation required. Modern conveniences have truly reached every corner of society.
Lord help me, I was curious, so I invited myself into one of their sessions. My old bones are not as accustomed to hopping as they once were, but my mind is just as sharp as it ever was, and I was able to hop on the appropriate numbers as well as any of them. The children claimed they were playing a 'variation' of the game where, if you committed an error, you had to take a shot of scotch whiskey. This gave me extra incentive to play properly, as I had no desire to partake of the devil's drink.
I lost track of time as we played. Eventually, during one of my matches, the children informed me that they were tired and were going to go home and rest, and that if I won this match, I'd win.
Knowing this was code for the summoning of the dark one, a great fear filled me. The reality of what I was doing hit me with an unmitigated ferocity. I ran away screaming, praying feverishly and crossing myself until I reached the safety of my tower.