Luke Peke concentrated on the board he propped up in the yard behind his house. He drew back a hand like he was pitching a ball, but his hand held nothing. The air stirred in his fingers. He brought his arm forward. A ball of lightning smashed against the board. It jumped in the air. Smoke rolled from the wood as Luke nodded.

He thought he was getting better. He hit the board three times in a row. He had hit the yard and trees the rest of the time. The grass would be happy not to burn up from his lightning now that he could hit where he aimed.

“Luke!,” called his brother, Elliot. “We're supposed to go down to the grocery store.”

“I'm in the back yard, Elliot,” called Luke. “I'm coming.”

Luke looked around. Nothing burned. One time he had forgotten. His practice had caused a small fire. He didn't want another call to the Fire Department and a lecture about being careful to put out burning leaves instead of just assuming he had and walking away.

He walked around the house to where his brother waited. He was about two years older, but Elliot liked to try to boss him around. He put up with it most of the time. He just refused to cooperate when he didn't want to do anything with his brother.

“Do you have the list from Mom?,” asked Luke.

“I got it right here,” said Elliot. He held up the list. “I got the money too.”

He held up a twenty in the other hand.

“Let's go,” said Luke. “You hold on to the list and money. That makes you responsible for everything.”

“I don't want to be responsible,” said Elliot.

“Don't be a crybaby about it,” said Luke. “It means you can't lose the money, or the list. If you do, you're the one that's going to be in trouble with Mom.”

“You take them,” said Elliot. He held out the papers.

“I don't want to take them,” said Luke. “They're not my responsibility.”

“I want you to have them,” said Elliot. “I don't want to be responsible.”

“All right,” said Luke. He took the papers and put them in his pocket. He started down the street toward the grocery store.

Luke and Elliot looked so much alike there was no arguing they weren't related. They both had brown hair and hazel eyes. The older boy stood taller, but if the rest of their growth kicked in, they should stand at about the same height. The only major difference between the brothers was Luke's lightning bolt scar on his arm.

His parents told him it was from an animal bite from when he was young. He didn't remember being bitten, but the scar had been on his arm for as long as he could remember.

Luke tried to ignore his brother talking as they walked down to the store. He couldn't ignore the jets overhead. They blasted across the green sky over Saturn City. He wondered what adventure they were on while he handled the mundane task of getting groceries for his mom.

“Hey, Luke!,” said Elliot. “Let's go exploring.”

“We're supposed to be responsible,” said Luke. He looked in the direction his brother was pointing. “We don't have time to go down some pipe. Mom will blow her top.”

“It'll be fun,” said Elliot.

“Let's get the stuff for Mom first,” said Luke. “We can look at the pipe when we're done with that.”

“I don't like being responsible,” said Elliot.

“If you want to go down that pipe, go ahead,” said Luke. “I'll be home eating whatever Mom cooks. I'll tell her you can't be trusted and shouldn't be allowed out of the house.”

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“You wouldn't,” said Elliot.

“I sure would,” said Luke. “I'll even eat your part so when you come home, you'll have to go to bed hungry.”

“You're mean,” said Elliot.

“Being responsible means you have to do what you're supposed to do,” said Luke. “You don't get to have fun when people are depending on you to get things done. Anybody can run down a pipe. We're the only ones that can get dinner and help cook it.”

“Can we explore after dinner?,” said Elliot. “We won't be responsible then.”

Luke didn't want to do it. He looked at his brother's face. He nodded.

“As soon as we're done helping Mom, we'll come back and look at the pipe,” said the older brother.

He wondered what such a big pipe was doing sticking out of the ground, but didn't say anything. The city wouldn't leave anything unsafe uncovered. He and Elliot should be able to handle anything that came up.

“Yay!,” exclaimed Elliot. “It'll be great.”

Luke shook his head as he walked. Even if the pipe was safe, he wasn't sure he wanted to be at the bottom looking around for an exit.

Elliot loved digging around for adventure. If he could chase it, he would.

The boys talked about the advent of school as they finished their walk to the store. They entered. Luke pulled out the list. He got a buggy. He sent Elliot after things as he walked around the aisles. When he had marked everything off the list, he got in line behind a family of kids and one beleaguered parent.

Once Luke paid, he split the bags with Elliot. He tried to keep the heavier ones for himself. They walked back home to their house. He smiled at the light yellow paint as he crossed the front yard.

Elliot will have forgotten that pipe, he thought to himself. They could stay home and practice their music instead of running around in the dark.

“Thanks, boys,” said Mrs. Peke. “Let me get dinner ready. Go clean up and then come and set the table for us.”

Elliot ran to the bathroom. He splashed in the sink. He ran back to the kitchen. Luke walked to the bathroom. He washed his hands with care. He walked back to the kitchen.

The boys set out three places. Luke had to handle the plates while Elliot arranged the silverware. They got glasses and filled them with milk for themselves, and iced tea for their mother. They set the glasses by the plates.

“The table is ready, Mom,” said Luke.

“Excellent,” said Mrs. Peke. “Give me five more minutes, and we'll be ready to eat.”

Ten minutes later, she brought a pan of chopped hamburger to the table. She portioned the meat out so they all had equal shares. She went back into the kitchen and brought sliced potatoes to the table and split that. She went back to the kitchen a third time and returned with a bowl of macaroni and cheese. She split that out between the three plates. She carried the bowl back to the kitchen.

Mrs. Peke came back and sat down in her place. She looked at her sons. They had forks in hand.

“Is something wrong?,” she asked.

“We forgot the ketchup,” said Elliot. He stood and jogged into the kitchen. He rattled in the refrigerator. He returned to his seat with a bottle of ketchup in hand. He twisted the top off and poured the sauce on all of his food.

“Don't you think that's too much?,” asked Luke.

“Nope,” said the younger brother. He twisted the top back on the bottle and placed it in the center of the table.

Luke shook his head as Elliot dug in. He picked at his food, working his way to the center of the plate from the edges. He glanced over at his brother. The other boy was one step away from picking up his plate and just squeegeeing the food into his maw.

“It's not going to run away, Elliot,” said Mrs. Peke. “Slow down.”

“This is great, Mom,” said Elliot. “So great.”

Luke realized his brother wanted to rush through dinner so they could explore that pipe. He should have known his brother wouldn't forget something like that.

He ate slowly so he could enjoy his mother's cooking. That pipe would still be there. There was no reason to vacuum your dinner up instead of taking it easy.

Elliot jumped up when he was done and took his plate and empty milk glass into the kitchen. He rinsed them off in the sink and left them sitting there to be washed later.

Luke finished his plate under the impatient eyes of his brother. He nodded a few times between bites to show he enjoyed the meal. He caught his brother rolling his eyes and glared.

He didn't have to wait if he wanted to go that badly. Rushing into things was a sure way to get hurt.

Luke carried his plate into the kitchen. He washed it off. He went back to the dining room and got his glass. He went to the refrigerator and poured himself another glass of milk.

Elliot looked at him in amazement. He started fidgeting in place as he watched the slow drinking of milk in front of him.

“Ahhhh!,” said Luke, when he finished drinking. He washed the glass out and put it in the sink. “Milk is awesome.”

Elliot looked ready to explode. He glanced at his mother, and then Luke, for some seconds.

“Can we go now?,” he demanded in a low voice. His mom wouldn't approve of them exploring.

“Hey, Mom,” said Luke. “Is it all right to go over and see what Jess is doing.”

“I guess,” said Mrs. Peke. “Don't let him set your hair on fire again.”

“That was Elliot's fault,” said Luke. He glared at his younger brother. “If he hadn't touched anything, nothing would have happened.”

“Be that as it may, don't let it happen again,” said Mrs. Peke. “I don't want to rush you to the hospital again.”

“I got it,” said Luke. “Let's go, hairburner.”

“I told you that was an accident,” said Elliot. “I didn't know it would do that when I picked it up.”

“That's what all they say,” said Luke.

The brothers walked out the back door and circled around the house to the street. They headed back down the road to the pipe. The sun faded as the evening wore on. The lights of Saturn City's towers kicked on to dull the stars above.

“There it is,” said Elliot. “I wonder why it's so big.”

“Maybe some kind of storm drain,” Luke said. “I don't see a grate on top of it.”

“It's pretty tall too,” said Elliot. “Where do you think it goes?”

“I don't know,” said Luke.

“Let's find out,” said Elliot. He pulled himself on top of the pipe. He braced against the inside and started down. At one point, his grip slipped and his yell of surprise could be heard echoing up the pipe into the clear air.

“What have you done?,” asked Luke. He climbed up on top of the pipe and started down after his brother.