"Bring me the pizzas, humans!"
Then he switched back to his heroic narrator voice.
"We will never surrender!"
He jumped onto a cushion, slipped slightly, and landed harmlessly in a sitting position.
For a second, he looked surprised by his own performance.
Then he made a ridiculous face.
And suddenly, he began to laugh.
It started as a giggle.
Within seconds, it became something much bigger.
Mateo threw his head back.
His shoulders shook.
He tried to speak, but every attempt produced another burst of laughter.
He laughed at the monster.
He laughed at the imaginary squirrels.
He laughed at the absurd idea of invisible pizzas.
Then he laughed even harder because he could no longer explain why anything was funny.
His laughter was completely unguarded.
There was no self-consciousness in it.
No effort to impress anyone.
No awareness that his family had been emotionally exhausted for months.
He was simply happy.
