My fingers slip off of the smooth gray plastic as I jam it into the machine and turn it on. It didn’t work, so I take it out and blow onto the 25 year old computer chip. The dust comes off and I can smell the scent of years and years of good times. Times of no worry and innocence flood my memory. I drive it back into the entertainment system and boot it up. It works! I release my hands from the cartridge, grab the controller, sit back, and start to play and reminisce.

The steamy hot weather outside makes me and my neighbors tired as we start to wonder why we are hanging out in the sun. Since nobody is enjoying it, we all decide to go inside where it is cool to play some games. Footsteps crunch on the road as we run toward my house. We finally reach the house to feel cold air as we start our way down to the basement. I am eagerly the first to grab the controller as I run down the stairs and try to keep it for as long as I can. As everyone else is arriving to the basement, I plug the game in and press the “Power” button. My barcode looking hair splashes on my head as I slam my body onto the floor. I can hear my neighbor yap “That’s unfair, it was my turn to play,” when their brother grabs the other controller. My blue eyes are glued to the screen as I try to memorize the patterns of the levels. When I see a game over screen I become tilted as I have to hand the controller off to someone else.

All of us gather around the big tube TV as we yell and laugh in enjoyment. Popcorn and other snacks fill the nostrils while chiptune music floods the ears. The wooden walls make us feel like they’re in a cabin in middle of the woods, but actually we’re in the basement of a suburban neighborhood. The black tube takes us away to a different world from which we knew. Instead of being in a basement with a couch and television, we’re on a beach driving, or in the jungles swinging on vines. we soon snap out of it when mom says “Come up, it’s time to eat dinner.”

As everyone runs up the carpeted stairs, the smell becomes more and more distinct, we are greeted by boxes upon boxes of pizza. We all run into the kitchen, grab a white paper plate, and form a line to eat a delicious slice of the pie. After getting a piece, I walk over to the brown table and dig in. The warm, sticky cheese, mixed with the mouth watering pepperonis makes me want to cherish this moment. After eating, we decide to go back to playing games. While learning new tricks and talking, I receive some memories that will stay with me. Everyone grows up and moves away, but the cartridge still brings me back to the days of no worry and innocence.