Knight in shining armor

"Wow! What a beautiful day today. The sun shines so bright, that I can't believe it. It was about time for a change from the usual, rainy spring days", says the boy excited, as he looked outside the window in his fairly big room. He was an only child, so all of his parents attention was spent on him. He thought about what to do on this sunny day and went to his trunk under his bed. While looking through his stuff, ranging from simple wooden toys to expensive electronic toys, he found his old cardboard armor that his father made for him. He remembers how his father would tell him bed time stories about brave and mighty knights, fighting evil wizards and abysmal monsters. Just by looking at his old armor brought a smile to his face and at that moment an idea came to his mind. He immediately run down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab the telephone and call his friends, because today they shall be mighty knights in shining armor.

"Hey Davis. Hi Laura", the boy greeted his friends.
Davis was the boy's best friend. A 10 years-old boy with an athletic physique. He was taller and stronger than the boy, even though the boy was one year older than him, but he was not as confident as the boy. They met each other in 2nd grade, when he just transferred to the school. At the beginning, it was very difficult for him to get along with others, as he lacked the courage to start any conversations and would it not be for the boy, he would still be in his shell, alone and misunderstood. Since then both of them were inseparable and would stand up for the other one if needed.
Laura is 8 years-old girl and she knew about the boy because of her older brother Mark. Mark and the boy are the same age and were friends and neighbors since Mark's family moved in, two years ago. The boy and Mark would frequently play football together in Mark's garden and when they were exhausted, they would go inside his house to drink some lemonade together.
"Please come inside. I want to show you something", the boy said in a silent tone, while looking for any kind of unwanted guest outside the house before closing the front door. As they walked inside the living room, the boy closed all doors very carefully, closed all windows and turned off all lights. Then he came back to the room, lit a candle and put in on the table in the center of the room. To his friends surprise he was wearing a cardboard armor, resembling that of a knight's and a wooden sword in his one hand and more cardboard in his other. "My trusted friends. I'm very glad that you could come to this meeting. Our table is still missing a lot of its members, for only you two, of the nine knights I contacted, could make it. I'm afraid, that the evil forces might have taken our fellow knights prison and we are their only hope of rescue. So I ask you, are you ready to rescue them ?"
Davis and Laura look at the boy confused. Davis then stood up and asked: "I thought we came here to play some games in your garden. So what is this here ? Why are you dressed like this and why are you holding more cardboard in your hand ?"
"In the past, when I couldn't sleep my father would often tell me some fairy tales. About knights who fought for righteousness. About knights who were brave and strong. About knights who were symbols of hope and would never give up no matter how dire the situation was and would always put the lives of others before theirs. I was so fascinated about them that I asked my dad, if I could have an armor on my own and that is what I'm wearing right now. This is the armor, that my dad and I have made. It's true that I contacted you because I wanted to play knights with you in my garden, but because only you two came I had another idea. I'm still planing on playing knights, but now we are going to go out and rescue our friends from the claws of evil, so I ask you again, are you with me ?", the boy replied with confidence and a smile in his face.
After an awkward moment of silent David grinned and said: "Way to dramatized your answer. A simple, 'yeah, we are playing knights', would have been enough". The mood lifted in the room and both, the boy and Davis, break out in laughter.
"I don't know about Laura, but I'm definitely in. Playing as mighty knights could be fun."
"I'm also in. Your story was long, but still interesting", said Laura with excitement in her eyes.
"Great. Thank you guys. The cardboard here is for making your armors. Don't worry. It's really fun to craft this and I will show you how easy it actually is." With that said, the boy blew out the candle and opened the windows again for some sunlight. He laid the cardboard on the table and left the room, only to return with some craft utensils. He showed them how to make the armors and they all had a laugh together. Once they are done, they closed the windows and lit the candle again.
"Now my fellow knights, state your name and oath."
"I will start. My name is Laura Hiccubson and I swear to protect my beloved ones with everything I've got as a knight."
"Now's my turn. My name is Davis Jhones and I swear to be always courageous and stand up for my friends whenever they need me as a knight."
"I swear that no evildoer shall escape my sight and that the light of hope will prevail over the darkness, for I'm a knight", said the boy while holding his sword up.
"Wow. This is already so much fun", laughed Laura. "So who's the first knight we're going to rescue ?"
"The first knight we need to rescue is your brother, sir Hiccubson. Your castle was cursed and now your brother is imprisoned in it. While you left your castle, you surely must have witnessed foul magic surrounding your brother right ?", said the boy.
Laura gasped and said shocked: " You are right. Now that you mention it, I truly saw some smoke clouding my brother's eyes. He was somehow fixated on some kind of screen. I believe, that he was cursed to play, what they call, 'video games'. Now that I think about it, it was a miracle that I wasn't affected by the curse."
"Maybe it's not to late, but we have to hurry. Who knows how much time we have left until the curse is irreversible", said Davis.
"Then let's move out and put a stop to the curse that befell you castle and your brother, sir Hiccubson", said the boy while packing his backpack with more cardboard and the craft utensils.
"We are going to nee these to break the curse. Now my fellow knights, we don't have much time so let's get going."
The boy and his two friends went out of the house and into the neighborhood. What they saw, was not the ordinary neighborhood with cars and so on, no, what they saw was a world filled with dragons, black magic and many more dangers awaiting them.
"My friends, our destination is the castle of sir Hiccubson.", the boy said pointing at the direction of Mark's and Laura's house.
"Now this is where our adventure starts", he screamed and all of them then screamed together: "Yeah !" And with that they run towards their adventure.