A Match Into Water

Finlay was walking around on the walkway outside the castle, stomping around on the damp stones and trying to kick up the puddles there. He was alone since Sawyer was busy, and he sighed. He was so bored without Sawyer there. Playing in the rain would be so much more fun with his friend there, but without him the drops landing on his cloak were slightly annoying. Even his happy yellow rain boots weren't much fun if he couldn't show them off to his best friend. He sighed again and kicked up a big spray of muddy water. Suddenly he heard squishy footsteps behind him and spun around to look.

It was a rainy, ugly day but August didn't mind. He enjoyed a little rain but he liked the sun better. But he was cheerful with the weather and was ready to play in the rain. He walked with a pep in his step and a bright smile on this face.

He carried a bright teal umbrella to spare his messy hair from the rain. He was always worried about his hair and how it looked. He didn't want his hair to get wet from the rain. "You can stand under my umbrella!" He sang a bit too loudly, but he wasn't all that bad. He was actually pretty good.

Behind Finlay walked a boy with bright pink hair. The boy sang loudly and slightly off-key, some muggle song that he didn't recognize. He wondered if the boy would want to play with him in Sawyer's absence. He skipped back to where the other boy was walking, splashing up water everywhere. "Hi, my name is Finlay. What's your name? I like your umbrella. It's a nice color. Do you want to play with me?" Finlay was a little more reserved than he was with Sawyer, but he still had mountains of questions, especially the first time talking to someone new. He hoped the boy was nice and didn't get mad at him for so many questions like some people tended to.

August didn't expect anyone to talk to him or approach him. He had been so lonely this year even though his cousin also attended school with him. But when a boy came up beside him, August smiled. Maybe he was gonna make a friend. "Hi! I'm August. I like your name! Thanks, I like the color too!" The boy asked if August would play with him, he was so happy. "I like playing!" He hadn't much fun because of his classes and school work. "Uh, what do you have in mind?" August hoped that he would have tons of fun.

"I like your name too. What should we play? Um, do you want play in the rain? I got these cool rain boots." He pointed down to his seriously awesome rain boots. "We can splash around and stuff. Or play tag! Tag is so fun. Or we could make paper boats and sail them in puddles. Or just run around. Or we could do what you want to do." He hoped his suggestions were good and that August still wanted to play with him because he was so, so bored. Maybe August would want to play with Sawyer too, when he was less busy.

August liked the sound of all the games that Finlay suggested. They all sounded so good that he wasn't sure what to choose. "Hmmm..." He used his free hand to scratch his head, like he usually did when he was thinking. Instead of saying what game he chose, he jumped from a puddle to another. "Puddles are the save zones! The rest is lava! Only just in the puddles!" August's shoes were going to get soaked but he didn't care much. His mom would probably send him some if he really needed a new pair. "Let's go!" He sang a song about jumping from puddle to puddle, he made up the song as he jumped. "Jump, jump, jump. One puddle to another, careful not to get burned!"

The game that August suggested sounded so awesome! He immediately jumped into a puddle, narrowly avoiding being singed. "Careful! If you die we can't be friends." Finlay warned the other boy seriously. He quickly jumped into another puddle, water splashing up to cool him down from all the lava heat. This was a much more exciting game than tag. "This is fun!" He jumped again, wobbling a little when he landed but straightening out before he fell to his death. He thought that Sawyer would probably love this game, and Finlay would totally protect his best friend from the evil lava.

August pretended to feel the heat of the lava, it was getting intense. He didn't want to fall and get burned alive so he tried his best to not fall. He jumped to a puddle, water splashed everywhere. August laughed and jumped again into another puddle. "I'm trying not to get burnt! Falling into the lava would be terrible!" He went to jump to another puddle, but he accidentally let go of his umbrella. "Oh no! My umbrella!" He covered his hair with his hands. "My hair!" It was too late for his umbrella, it was already destroyed by the burning lava. "I'll miss you umbrella!" He called back to the poor umbrella. He decided not to worry about his hair anymore, so he uncovered his messy hair.

"Oh no! You're umbrella was so cool. It sucks that it's gone." Finlay bowed his head in mourning for the super cool umbrella. "At least you didn't die though. That would suck more." He said very seriously. He laughed at August worrying about his hair and splashed some more water at him, trying to mess it up even more. "You're hair looks totally awesome, don't worry." Finlay really did like the other boy's hair though, regardless of whether it was dry or wet. The pink was awesome even though it was kind of girly. August made it look cool though.