The Dream

Chapter 1

"I'm fine."

Somewhere within a set of weeks, days, months or years, a mother's simple "How are you doing this morning?" took on a new meaning. Of course, Cruz noticed this but never put much thought into the matter. As usual, the child gave his mindless response. Sometimes Cruz would mix it up a bit with words like "good" or "ok", just to let his mother know she wasn't being ignored.

"No need to gobble up your breakfast, cariño! Take your time, I want no more Cheerios under the table."

There was a little splash of milk beside the child's bowl. With nothing to swipe up the mess, he chose to dab it with his shirt. Cruz swore he caught a pair of judging brown eyes, but decided that he was just being paranoid.

It was seven o'clock in the morning- too early for the regular commute to school. But that didn't matter, you see, as Cruz was very excited to step out. Cruz was excited, because like any other ten year old, he felt that one of the greatest feelings in the world was getting a new gift. Whether it be clothes, drawing pads or games, a kid would want to make use of it right away. In this case, it was a pair of bright red sneakers. They weren't expensive or of amazing quality, but Cruz loved them over how red they were, and the way they squeaked against the linoleum floors.

"Bye mama, I love you!" The young one reached up on tippy toes, planting a kiss on his mother's cheek.

She wrapped her child up tightly in her big arms before giving a little wave and a "Love you, sweetie!"

With a hum and a smile, Cruz strolled down the park path with his rattling bicycle, making sure to soak in the morning scenery. Within the blocks of shade, patches of grass glistened with frost at their tips. While it was surely strange to see frost in early September, he paid no mind to it. This was the country of igloos and moose after all; A little thing called global warming just added another layer of unpredictability.

"Morniiing!"

A rosy nosed boy raised his hand in a wave, throwing himself off balance and barely stopping his bike in time from toppling over.

A smile tugged at Cruz's lips while the two friends enjoyed their regular ride to school.

"Notice anything?" A set of brown eyes glance at a set of green, soon guiding the boy's gaze to a pair of nicely dressed feet.

Ethan tore his eyes away to look at his best friend's bright red shoes. "Those are aweso- WHOA!" The short brunette nearly hit the ground once again. "Those are awesome!" He carried on. "An early birthday present?"

In a week's time, Cruz would be turning eleven. Like every year, his mother would give him an early gift, force him to talk to relatives over the phone, and then share a chocolate fudge cake with his two best friends. It wasn't over the top, and there was nothing ever new about it, but that's the way Cruz liked it.

"Yeah. The last of this colour apparently," the kid nodded lightly, the two coming to a halt at their destination.

"Ughhhhhh. It's only been a week and I already want to leave this place," Ethan groaned.

A shadow lingered over their heads, revealing a tall and slightly rounded boy.

"Gaaaaggggeeee, save meee!" Ethan whined, easily latching onto the giant's back like a tiny koala.

The three hollered and wrestled, meanwhile fanning over their favourite video games and the newest flavour of slushie at Johnson's Corner Shoppe (Razzle Dazzle, which is really just blue raspberry). It's the regular mornings like these that made coming to school worthwhile. But it was that shrill ringing of a bell that never ceased to speed up Cruz's tiny little heart.