let's light up the sky ☆

Chapter 26

"Would they have food trucks back then?"

I watched Mom's screen-lit face change from a serious and focused expression to a slow and cheesy smile. We hadn't said anything in almost half an hour because we were too deep in our separate activities to chat. She was busy with the first draft of her new manuscript for her agent. She was stuck on how she wanted to end the mid-story climactic battle between the rival kingdoms. I was busy winning a war in Sid Meier's Civilization 6, playing as Tomyris of Scythia against neighboring Gilgamesh of Sumeria.

In a way, the tracks of our parallel play still managed to intersect.

Mom took a deep breath and cocked her head. "I hadn't thought of it but you do have a point. Let me finish ripping the band-aid off this chapter, then we can revisit that thought."

I waited patiently, but not quietly, as Gilgamesh demanded another peace deal. "I demand your SOUL, old man!"

Mom furrowed her eyebrows. "That game turns you into a warlord, doesn't it?"

"Only when I'm playing Scythia, Mongolia, or Gran Colombia."

"Well can you try playing as a civilization that turns you into the angel that I know and love?"

"Let me finish wiping Sumeria off this map, then we can revisit that thought."

Mom playfully pushed me, knocking me off balance. With a few more strategic moves of my horse archers on the capital city, all of Sumeria's former territory was mine. "I win! Do you want me to tell you how I did it so you can finish that chapter?"

Mom genuinely contemplated it for a second. "I have ten more chapters in this book to write. Maybe later."

"You know, I think it's kinda wild how you can keep up that storyline for seven books. Do you ever get bored with it and wanna move on to a new universe?"

Mom hummed. "Writer's block, yes. Boredom, no. I've been thinking about getting a new universe started, but every time I try to move on, I can't seem to let this one go."

"Well, when you need to find the perfect ending, I'm always here to listen."

These nights when it's just me and my mom together are the best. We've had an iceberg video on YouTube playing as background noise for the last couple hours. We weren't really interested in the lost media side of YouTube until we needed something to listen to. Now I'm fascinated by the mystery of why there's so much SpongeBob lost media out there to find.

Mom groaned into her palms. "Why did I pick this career?"

"Because you're a great storyteller?"

She put her laptop on the coffee table in front of us and slumped over into one of the couch pillows. "I'm gonna lay here until the end of this chapter writes itself."

"I'm telling you, my writing services are free."

She shot back up with an epiphany. "We can always write the next one together."

"With the food trucks?"

Mom clapped excitedly. "Yes! You know what? This chapter can wait. Now I wanna hear more about these medieval food trucks."

I saved my game and closed it out. "Well," I started, lounging back against the couch arm behind me. "So, what if a trickster god sprinkled his mutton chops with an enchanted powder that makes his food crazy addictive..."

"... And that's how he beats out the competition?"

We high-fived when our two sole brain cells finally met in the middle. "So he's all like, abracadabra I run this bazaar."