"Cause Grandpa's getting senile and forgets them every time,"said Tom.

"They repeat them because they're so proud of having thoughtthem up themselves," said Grandpa.

The game was pretty complicated. They used plastic children'stoys -- little robots or dinosaurs -- as their playing pieces. The idea ofthe game was to roll three dice and get around the board. Each timethey passed Start they were reborn as the next higher life-form, fromslime to newt to emu to human; the winner was the first human toreach Start and therefore become supreme god.

"Then the supreme god turns over his karma cards. If he's gotmore good than bad karma, then whoever has the most good karmacomes in second. But if the supreme god has more bad karma thangood, then whoever has the most bad karma comes in second," saidDouglas.

"So bad karma can be good?" asked Rainie.

"Never," said Tom. "What kind of person are you? No, if thesupreme god turns out to have bad karma, it's a terrible disaster for theknown universe. We all sing a very sad song and cry on the wayhome."

"The last time bad karma triumphed, Meryl Streep and RoseanneBarr released that movie She-Devil," said Douglas.

"So you see, the consequences can be dire," said Tom.

"She didn't even get to do an accent," said Cecil, his tonemournful and hushed.

"And ... and Ed Begley Junior had to play Roseanne Barr'shusband," said Raymond.

"Only John Goodman is man enough to do that and live," saidCecil.

"So you see," said Tom, "our game isn't just a game. It hasconsequences in the real world."

Douglas continued with the rules. Every time you landed on ateardrop or a heart, you had a chance to pray to either the Baby ofSorrows or the Baby of Love, depending. In order to pray, you had tomake an offering of as many beans as the number shown on thesquare. "So beans are like money," said Rainie.