“So...Very...Bored!”
As I was laying on the couch once again, video game controllers and portable game systems strewn all around me, I just leaned my head back in frustration. Staring at the Xbox 360 main menu that was up on the living room TV.
I had just finished trying nearly every single game I had. Well, at least the ones that were fun anyway. It wasn’t so bad as I thought originally. Some of my games were still playable even with hooves.
Viva Piñata? It was the first one I tried out to ease into using the controller and it wasn’t so hard actually. I tried Rock Band, and the mic was pretty easy. As well as playing the guitar if it was on easy mode. Every iPad game like Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, even that My Little Pony app-hey, it was free!- were all pretty easy. I even managed to beat my Fruit Ninja high score again! On the laptop, turn-based games and even Minecraft and TF2 was great to an extent!
But for every game that I could’ve gotten used to, there were my favorite games that were now impossible! Halo? Didn’t have a chance! Call of Duty? Even if I went with the sniper class or Leroy Jenkins class, what I like to call me with a shotgun and akimbo pistols, was difficult! Only seven kills and I got killed a good 20+ times! Most of them from players who were running up towards me!
Uncharted, Sly Cooper, Brütal Legend, Scooby Doo, Madden, Assassin’s Creed, Katamari...Okay, I was bad at that game before being Button...Mass Effect, Sonic, Link, Mario?! Nope! Died on the first level, took forever on tutorials, and Rage Quit on most of them!
At this point, I was playing XCOM on my laptop while trying to figure out what else to do. I was losing my mind, and all my failures weren’t helping me. I needed to get out of here.
My Mom had left in order to get supplies. And with how she said it, she sounded as if we were making a bunker for Fallout.
So with how nuts she was acting right now, she told me to stay put inside and just play video games until she got back. Normally, I would be perfectly fine with that, but I needed a reason to get outside right now.
I didn’t really like outside since we literally had nothing to do and my friends never came over except for the games. But I did like walking around the street or something whenever video games weren’t cutting it for me.
And this time was no different for me. I needed to go outside and run around or something. The dogs were locked up so I didn’t have to worry about them. And the clock read 2:30, so I had a good hour before the bus made it from the school to this street. Meaning, I had plenty of time. And even if I took a walk, what were the chances Mom would get back before me? Especially with a grocery list that would put Twilight to shame.
“Alright then, that’s exactly what I’ll do!” I said outloud to myself. So, knowing what I was going to do, I made a few precautions. I opened the message box on the Xbox system and started typing a letter. I wouldn’t send it to anyone, but it would be up on the screen so Mom could see it right away.
Mom- Went for a walk around the neighborhood. If you get back before I do, don’t freak out again, I’ll be back soon.
-Zeke Mash
After going over it, I saw that I put the end of Button’s name on my own. It was confusing, but I l guess it didn't matter anyway. I mean, it was annoying enough picking every single letter since I couldn't use the keyboard that plugged into the controller. She would get the message either way.
So going the extra mile in case she somehow did get back before me, I swept up my iPad and 3DS. Both of them along with their respective chargers since they were already plugged in. She might ground me and take away the first games she spots, so hiding them with me was the better plan.
Having that all taken care of, I went into the kitchen and latched the refrigerator handle with the Gamecube controller’s cord. I opened it and saw that I could only get a few things from the bottom half of it. So I sighed and got a few Caprisuns and bag of two apples. In case I got hungry or something on the walk.
Once I got more than enough of what I needed, I closed the door and put away all the stuff. Deciding to go ahead and put the bag of apples on the cheese side of the saddle bag since they were in their own secluded bag.
“Bye Gremlin! Bye Apollo! See you when I get back!” I told them as I went to the door. Using the cord once again to open the front door. Luckily Mom didn’t lock it since she knew I couldn’t help her open it.
I then simply pushed the screen door open and went through. I took in the fresh air, well as fresh as the air in the suburbs could get, and started running up to the sidewalk. Getting on and running even further down towards the end of the road towards the main part of the suburbs.
I looked around the empty streets. Seeing how it was all pretty silent. Which was pretty obvious since the busses were still making their way here. I heard a dog bark every few minutes as I kept running, Button having way more stamina than I did. He was almost as fast as I was, not saying much though, so I made some pretty good headway too.
I got a good three minutes away from my home before actually getting a little tired, and that was from actually following the confusing roads and not cutting through yards. It wasn’t a problem though since I was watching where I was and saw the signs. I knew the exact way to get home, and there was no way I’d lose track of where I-
“Is that an ice cream truck?!”
“What?! Where?!” I asked myself, my attention now only focused on the sound of an ice cream truck in the distance.
There was no doubt about that familiar jingle! It was an ice cream truck driving around! Probably trying to catch up to a bus stop so they could make some easy money. I swear, those ice cream trucks were as smart as business tycoons!
“Wait...I don’t have any money…” I frowned in self-pity, realizing my problem. Those darn ice cream trucks may have been as smart as business tycoons, but they were just as evil!
“Who cares! You’re a pony now! Some kid’s bound to lend you something!”
“Oh yeah!” I said, realizing that little bit of information. Mom said all this pony stuff had been going on since Sunday! So there had to be either some kid Bronies or someone who was willing to help me out going after the truck too! And now having a way to catch that ice cream truck and get the ice cream, I started sprinting for the sound. Nothing holding me back anymore.
I cut the corners on the side of the road, crossed through people’s backyards, scared some big muscular man that was walking the girliest chihuahua on Earth, and I may have run through a flower garden or two…
But in the end, I made it! I turned the corner and saw ice cream truck driving off at the other side of the road. Having just given some treats to a few kids that were either too young for school, or weren’t at school for some random reason.
“Hold that ice cream truck!” I yelled out, running like mad as I started going running again.
The younger kids that were with their parents saw me and started laughing at ‘The cute Doggie’, while the out of place teenager with a skateboard just stared in awe. Really dude? You not in school and you’re riding around on a skateboard? At least do something that won’t get you caught by the neighbors!
But I ignored that group as I kept on running by. After the world’s most oblivious ice cream truck driver.
“Hey, wait up!” The teenager called out, coming after me with a phone at the ready.
“And lose the ice cream?! Yeah right!” I called out, not even looking behind me as I kept on going. I was so close. “ICE CREAM MAN! STOP!” I yelled out as loud as I could, Button’s high whining voice helping me to be louder than I usually would. Only, this guy had to be deaf or something because he still didn’t stop! If anything, I think he just drove faster!
“Just…Wait a minute!” The teen said, catching up to me on his skateboard. Since we were going downhill a little bit, it wasn’t too hard. As he caught up to me, he took a picture of me running and skated closer. “Here, let me help!”
This moron wanted to help me?! I didn’t even know this dude, let alone trust him! Why should I even consider letting him help me chase down a truck?!
“Uh...The ice cream?”
...O-oh yeah...I said, actually going over it again. I looked towards the guy, thinking of just how there wasn't a problem with this when my common sense started kicking in and telling me, 'this is the worst idea you've ever considered.'
That's what made me get a little confused though. Usually my conscious and common sense were like this...Imagine that I twisting my fingers around...Or hooves...You get the point, they always thought the same. Most of the time, I didn't even need my conscious to tell me what was a good idea and what was plain out moronic.
But now for some reason, my conscious was telling me something different my common sense was. This made no sense, so I had to figure out some way to-
"You want my help or not?!" The guy asked, snapping me out of my train of thought. Since we were on a very small hill, he was started too pick up more speed than I did with running. And of course my running wasn't exactly perfect so I was still going a little slow at it.
“...Okay, fine!” I called out towards him. And seeing him get ready to catch me, I decided that it was the only way I was catching the truck. I had to be less than twenty-five pounds, counting my saddle bag of stuff, so it shouldn’t have been too hard.
So not giving another thought, I stopped in mid-run and jumped towards him. Putting all my trust into hoping he would be able to catch me. And of course, the most ‘surprising’ thing happened…
No really, it was surprising what happened next. He actually caught me. He was able to catch me, and while the skateboard swerved to the side, he got it back on track and only picked up the speed with the added weight down the hill.
Coming up towards a fork in the road, the truck turned right. “Okay, hold on! I’m going through the yard!” He told me, turning to just ride his skateboard through the grass to slow down so we could get to the ice cream truck without hitting it.
Too bad he didn’t look down in time to do an ollie.
“No, wait! ST-” At that moment, his skateboard ran into the sidewalk that came before the yard. Getting caught and sending both of us off his skateboard and forwards from the momentum. He let go of me and sent me even further into the air.
Before I could even try and bearings, I flew face first into the grass below me. Making me start to lose consciousness from the fall. The only thing I remembered before blacking out was that stupid ice cream man stopping directly ahead of us. Opening the door and looking around to see who was trying to catch up to him.
Yep. Ice cream trucks are evil.