The ground moved enough over the years to break the 

concrete

. And now the grass grew in between these divides. His father lamented that they didn't go for the 

cobblestone

driveway look instead. He made him come outside and pick out the crabgrass using their glass, and they'd spray 

vinegar

in between the cracks to keep them from growing back.

He remembered his father saying that it wouldn't be until next year before they'd be able to get the driveway re-done, which confused him because his father was just complaining about how he should've gone with cobblestones.

Cobblestone or concrete (clean or cracked) it didn't really matter to Sam. All he cared about was hanging out with Tommy who's driveway was in a bit better shape than Sam's but not by much. Regardless, Tommy and Sam never talked about their driveways but their fathers incessantly spoke of them.

This day Sam went over to Tommy's because he had just gotten the new 

Mario

game. It was 

3D

instead of the sidescrolling game that they had grown up on. When Tommy told him over the phone about how you could just run in any direction you wanted, Sam struggled to imagine what that might be like. He could only imagine running left and right. Jumping up and down along a 

2D

landscape. How could you control Mario in 3D?

He rode his bike, excitedly over. Soon he would see.