Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Lockdown

Saturday

I would usually spend my weekends playing video games, but even that has become boring lately. It would be way better if I could actually go down the street to visit Rowley, but yeah, good luck trying to get permission for that.

The lockdown was cool at first, but things went downhill after about two months. About a week into the lockdown, I noticed that Mum didn't put a stop to my extensive video game sessions that could last up to ten hours in one stretch and I wondered why.

Well, I guess I have to give her credit for figuring that one out. After about a month, I finally began to get bored of the games I was playing and when I tried to purchase new games online, I found out that my password and username had been changed. The local store, Game Hut wasn't really an option either as it closed down earlier last year when the owner moved out of the state.

I guess Mum had hoped that I would use my free time now to read or study or in general do something 'beneficial' but nothing could act as a surrogate for games, although I must admit that I had studied a bit more than usual. Still, as far as Mum was concerned, mission accomplished. However, I guess that I should still be glad that the lockdown didn't screw me up as bad as it did to Rodrick. Now that he can't hang out with friends from his band, he's stuck in miserable mode almost everyday and spends most of his free time sleeping.

So, I decided to go down for breakfast and found Rodrick up surprisingly early, grinning like he'd won the lottery.

He told me that his band had been selected to play in an online concert and that he would be spending the rest of the weekend rehearsing.

At least that means that Rodrick would leave me alone and keep to himself instead of moping around the house irritating everyone with his negative demeanor. During breakfast, Dad told me that he was starting a new project and wanted me to help him later at 10AM, which was fine with me.

I called up Rowley after breakfast and asked if he wanted to go on a bike race.

He agreed and after promising to Mum three times that I was going to social distance, I headed out to the porch to get my bike. Rowley was right there in front of my house, with his ridiculous extra-safety helmet strapped to his head.

Someone seriously needs to explain to Rowley what a proper bike helmet is supposed to look like. His bike helmet is about two times thicker than most others and is painted neon green, making him look like he has a giant ball cupped over his head.

I decided that we were going to have a bit of fun this time and try cutting through the dirt trail next to the highway to get to Whirley Street. Rowley then said that he was banned from going that far but I reminded him that there was no way his parents were going to know anyway.

I cycled as fast as I could down the hill, letting myself accelerate to my maximum velocity, getting a massive headstart over Rowley. Honestly, Rowley could never work up the courage to not use his brakes to decelerate his descent from a hill and win a bike race, which is why I win most of the time.

We went our usual route down Surrey Street, bolting right past Fregley's house where he was busy doing weird stuff like trying to gnaw through twigs. It turned out to be much muddier than I remembered, partly because it had rained last night. I got off my bike and waded through the mud, pulling my bike behind me. In fact, I was going so slowly that Rowley was now right behind me despite being way behind me earlier.

Just when we thought that we had enough, we found ourselves on the lip of a chasm with only a steel bridge built across it. I dared him to cross it first for ten bucks, but he took one look at the deep, gurgling river and chickened out, leaving me to be the first guy.