They met on Legends Of The Hidden Temple. They met on network TV. They met on Nickelodeon. They met when they were twelve years old. They met in a world that still had Toys ‘R Us. They met in between Saturday morning cartoons and advertisements for sneakers with lights in the heels. They met when their bedtimes were at eight, seven central. They met before cell phones, before Facebook. They met when the world was bigger. They grew older. The world grew smaller. It couldn’t keep them apart. They were the Orange Iguanas. They were up against the Purple Parrots. His favorite sport was soccer. He liked to watch TV. He wanted to grow up and be a doctor. Her favorite subject was history. She liked to ride horses. She wanted to be a singer. Olmec put sixty seconds on the clock. That was all it took, They had found their Pendants of Life ... They were at Walmart, shopping for groceries. He hadn’t been shopping for groceries with a woman in years. “Do you remember Wild Berry Pop Tarts?” she asked. “What?” he said. “Wild Berry Pop Tarts,” she said. “They made them when we were kids.” She had been staying up at night, watching old episodes on YouTube. The grainy commercials had her hungry for things that no longer existed. She had done this every night since he had added her on Facebook. How many years had it been? She had been a child. She didn’t know this person, and yet, she did. It wasn’t difficult. That was something different. … They had smoked the Purple Parrots. He crossed the moat. She answered Olmec’s questions at the Steps of Knowledge. They had amassed Pendants of Life at The Temple Games. …
His friends always gave him shit for being on Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was like being a child star, and also, not at all. There was no fame, no lingering wealth. There weren’t even reruns. The show had ended years ago. Kids today didn’t even know what Legends of the Hidden Temple was. “What ever happened to your teammate?” one of his buddies had asked him. “I dunno,” he said. “Wasn’t that the show that always had boy/girl teams?” someone said. “Yeah,” said another, “Where’s that girl at now?” He looked at his phone. It was full of information now. It was so easy to find someone. Why had he never tried? It had been twenty years. … She had been at lunch with her sister when she got the notification. She didn’t know the name at first. It was familiar, but it wasn’t. “What’s up?” her sister had asked. “You remember when I was on Legends of the Hidden Temple?” she asked. Her sister just laughed. “How could I forget?” her sister said. Forgetting was easy. Remembering was hard. …
“Do you believe in love at first sight, soul mates, any of that stuff?” he said. She turned her head. She smiled. Something shone in her eyes. “How could you not?” she said. He looked at her. What was he thinking? What was she thinking? Isn’t that what love stories are about? … They had advanced to The Temple Run, the final challenge. If they completed Olmec’s gauntlet they would be rewarded with fabulous prizes. She was up first. It was her job to rush through the temple and obtain the Helm of Sir Gawain. She was to run up the stairs, grab the sacred book from a skeleton’s bony hands, move through the King’s Storeroom and into the Chamber of Ancient Warriors. He was up second. If she was nabbed by one of Olmec’s Temple Guards he would run in her steed. He was ready. If she failed, he would not. … They were driving away from the Walmart. They were going back to his place. This was her last night in town. How did it go? Neither of them was sure. They passed a car with one headlight. One of them yelled Padiddle. The other started crying. Which one was which? Did it ever matter? ...
She made it through the Chamber of Ancient Warriors. She moved into The Shrine of the Silver Monkey. She assembled the statue with ease. She was a child, on a game show for children. She was completing tasks meant for children. Life is harder than assembling a statue of a monkey on a kid’s game show. … She asked him what was wrong. He said nothing. He turned the car around. She asked where he was going. She didn’t know what was going on. For a second, she was afraid. She felt the breath of the Temple Guards on her neck. She hadn’t felt that in so long. … She moved through the Quicksand Bog. She roamed the Dark Forest for the hidden key. In real life, there are no keys hidden in trees. But in Legends of the Hidden Temple, there are. She found it. She claimed the Helm of Sir Gawain. She had won. She had done it all on her own. And he had been there, waiting. ...
He drove to KMart and Kroger and Giant Eagle. He scoured every grocery store. She began to catch on. “They don’t make them anymore,” she laughed. He just shook his head. There was always a way to make things right. …
They were handsomely rewarded with Huffys, Magnavox televisions, a trip to the Bahamas. She had done it all on her own. He had waited. He never got the chance to try. She didn’t even need him. … He found Wild Berry Pop Tarts at Big Lots alongside reams of other out-of-production food. It was a cemetery for novelty food. There were Pumpkin Pie Pringles and sodas in flavors nobody would ever want to try. She couldn’t believe it. They bought three boxes. They tore into them in the car. The Pop Tarts were old. They had been in that Big Lots since they were children. They weren’t very good. They weren’t like they remembered. ...
They had won the cruise to the Bahamas. They went that summer. It seemed like a long time since Legends of the Hidden Temple. He asked her if she had been riding her horse. She didn’t have a horse, she said. The only horse she had ever ridden had belonged to a friend. The friend had moved away. She asked him if he had been playing soccer. He didn’t play. He didn’t have any friends who played. He only watched it on tv. ... The cruise to the Bahamas happened, and then it stopped happening. They went home. They didn’t see or talk to one another for twenty years. And then they did. They ate old Pop Tarts in a Big Lots parking lot. It wouldn’t have mattered very much if they hadn’t.