I wanted to like this piece as it shares so much with my own childhood but it’s hard to connect with in the third person, especially as it’s confused between poetry and prose. Its first person title “My time in Arcadia…” doesn’t prepare you for the arms length, peering-through a window at the subjects in the third person that follows. What I assume is actually a personal reminiscence doesn’t come across until you later switch person to the first.

Also, the repetition of “Arcadian Youth” was fatiguing. I think I’d read Arcadia 7 or 8 times in a few paragraphs and, especially since “Arcadia” connotes; idyllic, quiet, peaceful, oneness with nature, splendour, harmony. Up late, killing buddies on the Xbox doesn’t say “Arcadian” to me which I think is the crux of why I don’t think this piece works.

Perhaps you’re using “Arcadia” as it sounds similar to “arcade”? Arcadia is from Greek, after a province In antiquity known for its unspoilt wilderness, named after a nymph who was a hunter and king of the area. Arcade is from Latin, “arc” as in archway, since in France arcades were indoor streets with vaulted, arched ceilings. I think both words have deeper roots in meaning “bow” but in a modern sense, they’re very different. It came across as a tenuous, poetic verse being forced upon me every few sentences that added nothing but a touch of confusion. And the Latin section titles regarding the Greek location, given this piece is hardly Virgil, is somewhat pretentious.

You write well and I honestly think you could turn this into something compelling by renaming to “Arcadian Youths” if you’re attached to it, dropping all other instances of that phrase, perhaps bar one near the end, dropping the Latin (as it serves no purpose to the text except noise), change the first half to first person from third (and stick to it!), tidy up your tenses (and stick to past tense!), then you can bring us to present at the end while you reflect.

As a Bildungsroman, the psychological and moral growth that stems from the fear and relief of finding Jake is a transitional moment; when Arcadia turns to Arkansas; when the simplicity of life fades into reality and all its complexities. You could lean on that; the fact the story is what you remember so well from those nights of gaming, and how you yearn to return, perhaps before Jake was lost, makes for a compelling and insightful read.