Backyard Serenade

two - cinderblock garden by all time low

"I'm falling! Falling!" My twin brother Brandon shouts out.

"That's cause I knocked you off the road!" I grunt.

"What possessed you to pick the hardest level in Mariokart history? Everyone knows Rainbow Road is impossible!" Brandon complains.

"I like the pretty colors!" I yell, making a sharp left turn.

Brandon yelps out in pain because I did my "sharp left" into his shoulder. This reminds me of when we were kids, always so competitive at Mariokart. But I would always win and prove that even tiny Toad can be badass. Mario may have his name in the title of this game, but Toad runs the course while I'm here. Especially Rainbow Road, the course that spits out anyone who shows signs of weakness.

"YES! Yes, yes, yes! In your face Brandon! In your face!" I shout as Brandon drops to his knees.

He's screaming, "NO!" He drags out the word.

"Idiot you can still finish in second place, just get up and finish the race before anyone else comes along," his placement on the floor is quite amusing. If I put a bunch of tape around him, it would look like one of those tape outlines in murder movies.

Brandon looks up at me for a moment before hitting his head against the carpeted floor. "No," he says, his voice muffled. "I can't. I've lost all will to live."

"What about you and I go get some ice-cream? How bout it?" I ask sweetly. "I've already asked Mom and Dad if we can."

"Fine," he grumbles.

Such a sore loser.

***

"I'm telling you, she has a crush on you."

"You're a blind bat, you can't even see ten feet in front of you!"

"Really?" I snort. This guy is crazy, saying I can't see when he can't even tell you the colors of a stoplight.

He nods and takes a bite of his disgusting vanilla ice-cream. Chocolate, my opinion, is way better than that plain piece of trash, and he knows that. He just chooses not to believe it.

We are talking about a girl from school named Allie, she's nice enough to me, but it's clear she's overly nice to Brandon. As much as I hate to admit it, girls at school find Brandon cute, so, he always has girls flocking him.

After Brandon sees my face, he waves his hand, basically saying I should stop thinking about it. That might mean he likes her back, likes someone else, or he just doesn't care.

We're sitting by the park, lights are illuminating the area but the stars shine the brightest above. Green hills are spotted with plaid blankets, everyone having picnics or just laying down and watching the stars. Peaceful melodies were played by guitar somewhere around. It always is beautiful, and I thank the Lord for this every time I get to come out here and see it.

"Do you want to go take a walk?" Brandon asks. I nod and lick the dripping ice-cream that was running down my fingers.

"So, have you written any new stories lately?" Brandon walks in the direction of the soft music, which I can now hear singing coming from.

"Not really, I'm kind of in a slump to be honest," I comment.

"Well, there's no problem with that baby sis. In fact-" he starts.

"Hold up. I am two minutes and thirty-eight seconds older than you," I hit his shoulder with mine.

"Those are just details. Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. Sometimes slumps lead to something amazing. You never know what could come out at the end of this," he finishes off his ice-cream and starts picking at his cone.