Their games earlier in the afternoon had provided plenty of entertainment, muddy knees and sunburnt foreheads attesting to the fun they’d had.

Sitting around, the sun starting to set, they’d already played a couple of rounds, but she invited Joey to join in. Stoked to be included in their game, he gladly accepted. The band practice carried on without them, not noticing their hands being dealt.

He started at the bottom, the lowest player in the game, but slowly managed to work his way up to President, a mix of luck, aces and strategy working in his favour. A few quick rounds later, he decided to get back to what he was meant to be doing, finding the words for the well-played songs in a massive, messy database.

Songs sung, message preached and reflections pondered, they dug in to the ice cream. Chocolate, Hokey Pokey, Cookies and Cream, all the classics were soon devoured. The land of the golden arches served to warm their bellies after a long day.

The car ride home was a quiet affair, discussing the weekends events and the coming week. As Joey was about to get out of the car, she unexpectedly complimented him. If he didn’t feel good before, he sure did now.