Wherever Souls Fly - Luke's Story

6 Modern people

In the parking lot of the strawberry farm, Luke displays another perk of being a spirit. He opens the trunk of my dad's Mercedes and takes out a pair of red speedos and a large colourful beach towel. So when we get to the small nudist beach, there are four naked guys, whereas Matt and Luke have put on speedos. I think that's a good idea, because I remember that Luke looked gorgeous without any underwear, which might have made his little brother think of things he shouldn't think of.

As the water is a little muddy near the beach, we swim a hundred metres to where it is clearer and cooler. Later we lay down on the grass of the beach and let the sun dry our skins. Luke's towel is big enough for himself and his brother, and I'm getting a little nervous when I notice them whisper.

Pete sends me an alarmed look when Luke asks him for his mobile phone and shows Matt a video clip. I can hear "Kilometer Zero", faintly, but loud enough to recognise it.

"What the hell is he doing?" Freddy mumbles.

"I guess he has chosen the short and painful way," replies Muhammad at a low voice.

We are all staring at Luke and Matt, but they don't notice anything outside their own small world which is the colourful beach towel. When the song is over, Luke obviously tells his little brother his story.

"I knew it," says Freddy when Matt jumps up, runs down to the lake and dives into the water. He does a 150-metres crawl at top speed, while Luke is standing up, watching him.

"He's overdoing it," states Pete who is our best swimmer. "He's been lying in the sun, and the water is cold out there. His leg is bound to cramp."

He has jst finished his sentence, when Matt starts shouting and wildly waving his arms. He disappears for a second, but then we can see him again. Pete runs down to the waterfront, dives in, and crawls towards Matt who is struggling to keep his head above the surface. He is still waving his arms, and disappears several times, fortunately only for a few seconds.

Now Luke dashes down the beach, too, and Pete wouldn't stand a chance against him in a competition, because he is so much faster than him. When he has almost reached his brother, Matt disappears again, and this time he doesn't come up again. Luke is diving now, and after some seconds he comes back to the surface, dragging Matt with him.

Then Pete joins them, and as far as I can see, he helps Matt to straighten his leg in order to stop the cramp. He appears to be successful, because a minute later they are slowly swimming back to the beach. When they have reached the beach, Pete shouts at Matt:

"Are you crazy? Did you wanna kill yourself, idiot?"

Matt is crying now.

"Sorry, I didn't want to worry you. But what Luke told me was a little bit too much for me. You may be used to have s spirit in your house, but for me, this was quite a shock. I just wanted to get away from everything and clear my head."

"Guess you've achieved that," replies Pete dryly. "A cramp can be really painful. Are you still hurting?"

"Just a little," says Matt and forces himself to smile at Pete.

Then he retreats to the big beach towel with his brother's spirit, and both of them are crying now. Matt hugs Luke and kisses him, on the cheeks first, but then the French way which doesn't exactly look brotherly.

The kiss doesn't seem to end, but when it does, it is Matt who makes a long speech. He looks serious, and determined, and in the end he must have convinced Luke of whatever he has told him, because Luke is nodding, and they shake hands as though they are sealing a deal. Then they come over to where we are and sit down with us.