Incinerate

Chapter 8 - The River

The following days are spent mostly within the walls of my room, shades drawn as melancholic songs make a custom soundtrack to my video game binge. Gotta clock in some good hours before the school year starts anyways, so why not k two birds with one stone and distract myself? The music provides a comfortable blanket for my broken heart, the melodies and lyrics proving to be . Cujo keeps me company when he's not off napping elsewhere or chasing squirrels in the backyard. Mom doesn't bug me much; she's busy with work during most of the day, and so far she hasn't argued about me eating dinner in my room. I'm pretty sure she's picked up on what's going on and, for one reason or another, doesn't want to engage that topic. Maybe she's waiting for me to bring it up. Joke's on her; she'll be waiting awhile. The extensive gaming sessions have been doing their job thus far.

The path I carve from the mountain is dark until I hang up some torches, lighting up my mineshaft as I dig deeper and deeper. My iron pickaxe's health bar flashes a dangerous red in its few remaining pixels as I break through the final block of stone. A cavern waits before me, complete with a lake of lava and a nearby waterfall. And, lo and behold, glinting on the far edge of the lava is a gorgeous shade of light blue. Rushing to the diamond block, I pray that my pickaxe has enough life left in it to mine the ore. With each strike, the block cracks a little more, and the red bar grows smaller. I hold my breath as I mine, wishing for the best but expecting the worst. Something jingles, and the block disappears. But the sound of metal snapping accompanies the bright little bells of success. My iron pickaxe disappears from my screen, and below where the block once sat now taunts its twin.

"Ugh!" I groan. "That's the worst timing!"

Cujo glances up from his bed, head cocked to the side in confusion.

"It's nothing," I tell him with a sigh. "I can make a new pickaxe. No big deal. Just annoying, is all."

Either understanding or not caring, Cujo returns to his relaxed position. I, on the other hand, place down a crafting table and prepare to create a replacement tool. If there are more diamonds to mine, I'll be damned if I don't grab them. After all, how else am I going to later make an enchanting table?

The hiss of a lit fuse comes from nowhere. In a quick 180, the green quadruped monster appears. A hideous and victorious black smile flashes before the explosion comes. The screen goes red as a crater forms in the ground, my items scattered about in the absence of my body.

"You died," the text on the screen teases.

Holding the Xbox button on the controller, I shut off the console with a heavy, exasperated sigh. I set the controller down and sit back against Ole Petunia. Cujo gets to his paws and waddles over to me, resting his head in my lap. My fingers go to work and give him scritches, sending his tail into full wagging mode. I have to admit, giving him this little bit of attention and affection calms my annoyance. I convince myself that it was his intention all along, and it just by chance happens to be a win-win.

From the open seat next to me on Ole Petunia, my phone vibrates and rings. Cujo huffs his disapproval at the interruption as I pick up my phone. Leah's name and number flash on my screen. Part of me wants to just let it ring; socialization isn't high on my to-do list at the moment. However, considering my frustrations with the video game world, perhaps being around people would be beneficial. I swipe up and answer the call.

"Hey Leah," I say, my free hand continuing the attention for Cujo to keep him happy.

"Wanna come down to the river?" she asks right away. "A bunch of us are hanging out down here. You should join us."

"Oh, um," I falter, "I don't know, maybe?"

"Don't worry, we're not drinking or anything," she assures me. "No cops this time, pinky promise. Come on over."