The hot air emanating from the ground seemed to move in waves. Lawrence sat on top of a pile of blankets slowly being consumed by the lava. He made the jump to the couch effortlessly.
Lawrence wore a space invaders t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans. His shoes flashed as he tapped his foot, waiting for Joseph to make the jump. His hands were soft from never having to do any physical work. Joseph was the same height as Lawrence, but because Joseph was so shy, he always seemed much shorter.
Joseph jumped as the last bits of the blanket disappeared beneath the glowing red floor. “This was never a problem at my house,” said Joseph snidely. Lawrence’s house was two stories, and the stairs were almost an impossible obstacle, one they had only been able to overcome by sliding down the banister. Even then, Joseph had almost lost it on the way down.
“Yea, but you don’t have any games to play,” I added, knowing that his parents didn’t let him have any video games.
“Shut up, we’re almost there,” Joseph said as he pushed the end table out and creating a bridge into the kitchen.
They crossed easy enough, but now they would have to somehow make it across the kitchen floor without anything to help them.
“I told you this was a stupid game,” said Lawrence, “Why couldn’t you just be happy playing Mario Kart?”
“Why did you keep using that goddamn blue shell, Larry?”
“It’s not my fault I kept getting the blue shell, maybe if you were just better at the game, then it wouldn’t matter.”
“Says the person who didn’t even make it to first once.”
Their argument abruptly ended when the end table they were standing on jolted forward. The front legs had cracked under the weight of both of the boys. Joseph was sent flying forward into the lava. He immediately started yelling for help, but there was nothing Lawrence could do.
Lawrence saw his opportunity. He jumped from the broken table unto joseph’s back. He let out a distinct thud and Lawrence jumped to the fridge. As Lawrence touched the fridge handle, the lava drained away and left linoleum. Before Lawrence could celebrate, Joseph began to cry, and Lawrence’s mom came running into the kitchen. “What the hell are you two doing?” she screamed.
“Um…Nothing,” said Lawrence.