"Mark! Lucas!" A woman's voice was heard down the street, and two young boys perked their heads up at the sound. They glanced across the street and spotted the one who had called, a woman in her mid-30s standing near the front end of her lawn. "Come on! It's time to eat!" The boys had been playing all day so far and had not yet eaten much, so once the woman had said this, the two were making a mad dash for the door of her house, laughing the whole way.
Once inside, the woman brought in some food from the kitchen.
"So, Mom, what's for lunch?" Mark piped up as she was carrying in the plates of food. Mark was young, only ten years old. He had messy brown hair cut to about halfway down his forehead, and a smile always seemed to be on his face, which his light green eyes seemed to exemplify. Lucas, whom Mark had known since kindergarten, was a bit more introverted than Mark, but he still found a smile on his face whenever he was with his best friend. He was ten as well, and he had sandy blond hair that spread out from his crown in a loose swirl. His eyes were a brilliant shade of blue. In response to Mark's question, his mother, Jessica, lightly chuckled.
"Grilled cheese and tomato soup," she replied. Turning to the other boy, she asked, "Is that ok with you, Lucas?" Slightly startled at the mention of his name, he looked up at Mark's mother.
"Oh, yeah, that's fine, Mrs. Parks. Thank you!" Jessica smiled as she laid the dishes in front of the boys.
"Oh, Mom?" Mark piped up. She turned her head to face her son.
"Yes, honey?"
"We're going to play one more game before Lucas has to go back home. Is that ok?"
"Yes, that's fine, but let's not go out into the street again, okay? There's plenty of space for you two in the backyard." Mark nodded, and Jessica smiled once again. Afterwards, she turned and left the dining room, going back into the kitchen. As passed by the counter, she inadvertently knocked over a small shaker. When she went to set it up again, however, she noticed something strange.
"Transpice?" she muttered in confusion, reading the label. "'Guaranteed to change your life forever'.... Hm, must be a new thing I picked up at the store. Funny though, I could've sworn this was salt...."
After Mark and Lucas had finished their meals, they went outside once more, Mark having just enough time to let out a fleeting, "We're going back out! Love you!" before he crossed through the door into the backyard. Once outside, the two wondered what they could play next.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Mark asked, hyper as ever. Lucas simply shrugged.
"I don't know. Do you have any ideas?" Mark looked skyward as he thought about what they could play. Sports, maybe? That sounded like fun. Or how about an adventure-type game? He had always loved a good adventure. Or maybe they could play a calmer game this time around? There were so many options, but eventually he found one he really liked.
"I got it!" he shouted, snapping his head back down to look at Lucas. "Let's..."