Trick

A sunny morning in the backyard.

Jones emerges from the zombie cave. Groaning, he limps after me, branches in either hand. When he strikes the ground with one of them, the earth trembles. Terrible sword fights ensue and characters shift. Jones is a zombie shark, I am Thor, God of Dentistry. Jones is Captain Amerifart, I am skinny Hulk. And on it goes until Jones finds a pretty leaf which he must immediately take inside to show mommy. When he returns he finds three ferns and places them in a box on the ground. He looks up at me, “One is for mommy, one is for daddy, and one is for Jonsey.” He closes the lid on the box, his solemn ritual of beauty and protection now complete.

And then the voice of one of his friend’s shouting from behind the fence. They can’t see one another, but it doesn’t seem to matter. They just call to the idea of one another. This language they speak, so urgent, so honest. Their hearts are fire, their words glowing things. And then the sound of a distant train comes rolling over us, and when it passes there is silence for a moment. Within this pause Jones looks at me, “This is over now and we will play a new game called Who Will Win. It is a trick game.”