Maps

Chapter 5

Callen fell onto his giant bed.
*It's dark outside* he thought.
The moonlight was so bright, that it lit up the entire room. And it was pretty big. Sometimes Callen felt like it was too big. It felt so empty.
He turned around rolling in his bed.
"But that guy..."
He started talking to himself.
"I think I really took a liking to him. Probably more than I should." He said with a smile on his face

The next morning

Luca opened the windows of his room.
The air was nice this morning.
The birds were flying up high in the sky, and you could hear the beens and other animals enjoying the beautiful day. Luca went to the kitchen to eat something for breakfast, there he saw his dad preparing something on the counter.

"Good morning father"
Luca said while rubbing his eye.
"Oh, you're up. Good. I was just about to tell you something. First, take this."
He handed him a bowl of chopped fruit slices. It had apples and pears In it. Probably from their garden.
Luca sat down at the table and started eating his fruit.
"Listen, in a few days I will have a meeting with a really high ranked person. They want to make me an offer to provide food for the army.
If I do a good job they might take us. That's a great opportunity, you know?"
"Oh wow! That's really good news dad!"
"You too will have to prepare yourself. Make a good first impression and I'm sure we will have a good chance to take the offer."
"Yes. I will try my best."
Luca answered with a big smile on his face.
"Okay...that was it." His dad walked to the front door.
"When you're done with breakfast, can you take care of the sheep for me?"
"Yes, I'll do that." He replied.

His father left the house and Luca ate up. He put on some boots and went outside to the stable where they kept their sheep.
Carefully he opened the gate and guided all the sheep outside.
Then he started walking towards the fields where they usually take their sheep to eat.

Once he arrived there with the sheep, he put them all in order, so that he had a clear view of them. Beacuse they were to poor to afford some kind of dog, he usually went alone and looked over the sheep. That really was exhausting but it was the way he had to do it.
Sometimes the cat would come with him, that would make his job a lot easier.

The sun was high up. It was really warm and Luca was sweating a lot. Today really was an exhausting day.
He noticed that his body was getting really tired, and because he had the cat with him, he decided to take a quick nap. So he went to a nearby tree that gave him a bit of shadow and leaned at the side of a rock standing under the tree and then slowly, he closed his eyes.

Little did he know that Callen, that had to take riding lessons today, was riding nearby.
So when he was passing by the fields Luca had his sheep on, he noticed him and came up to the sleeping Luca.
"Hey, you're not supposed to get off the road, you know that Callen."
Another student yelled after him as he was approaching Luca together with his horse.

"Don't worry, it won't take long. You can go ahead. I'll catch up to you soon."
"No you won't..."
The other student whispered.
Not that he cared what Called did. So he went along with the others and left him behind.
Callen got off his horse and walked closer to Luca.
"Hey, you alright?" He bowed over him as he did once before.

"Mmmm..." Was what Luca replied.
"Haha! Sorry that I woke you up!" He laughed and sat down next to him.
"What are you doing here?"
Luca said with a sleepy voice.
"Just passing by. My dad forced me to take riding lessons again because he said I 'got bad' "
"Oh, I'm sorry about that..."
He answered a bit surprised.
He still hasn't got used to callen approaching him out of the blue.
He didn't have many friends in the past, so he didn't know how to handle situations like this.
"Nah, it ain't you're fault. Well, I see you were watching over the sheep? Well, your cat did!"
Callen laughed again.
That put a smile on Lucas face.
He liked it when people around him laughed. He likes to see people happy.

"Today really is a beautiful day. Can you hear the birds tweeting?"
Callen looked at Luca with a smile.
"Yeah, I can..." He answered.
They both looked at the blue sky above them.
"The sky really is endless, isn't it?"
Callen said.
"One day I'd like to fly high, just like the birds and be free. As if nothing bound me to the ground. Fly away and never come back."
Callen leaned back on the rock.
Luca just sat next to him with a plain expression.
"But one day a cat will catch you, and you won't be able to fly anymore."
Luca said looking down to the ground.

Callen looked at him surprised.
Then he laughed.
"Haha, why would you say something that dark? You really are something Luca..."
Luca smiled. It's nice to be able to talk to someone like this. But what he said was right. There's always someone that will be better or stronger than you in the future.

Luca closed his eyes again. He could hear the birds so clearly. They didn't care about anything but their selves.
They really are free.
"I wish I could be like them too..."
He whispered without noticing.
He didn't even notice, but he was still really tired, so he fell asleep before he realized it.

Callen noticed that he had fallen asleep, but he staied by his side.
He didn't have anything better to do anyways. He liked it here.
"I wish I could life a simple life just like yours Luca..."
He said and looked at his sleeping face. The fact that he could just fall asleep like that, without having to worry about anything else...
No one expecting anything from him...
Callen wanted a life just like that.

He closed his eyes and sighed.
Suddenly he felt something at his shoulder. *What's that?* He wondered.
When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Luca that had fallen to the side and now was resting his head on his shoulder.
Callen was surprised. This never happened to him before.
*That's weird* he thought. But he didn't stop it from happening. He thought it was cute how Luca just didn't care at all who Called even was.
He smiled.
"Maybe I'll stay a bit longer."
He said and closed his eyes as well.

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