If he hadn't woken up late due to forgetting to set his alarm clock, Arthur would have been overjoyed about the perfect weather outside. The trees were moving to the desires of the breeze and the sun warmed the skin of those passing underneath its reach.
It had been a two-month stay in the hostel and Arthur decided it was well past time to move on to the next.
He shook the arm of the room’s other occupant. Tom responded with a groan and slowly rose from his slumber.
“Its time to move," Arthur told the younger boy.
After a few seconds, Tom responded, “But it's only been like two weeks” before slamming his head back into his pillow.
Arthur rolled his eyes and responded, “It’s been two months and if you don’t hurry, we'll miss breakfast and an early start on the trip.”
Tom slowly rose and began assembling his earthly possessions which didn't consist of much more than bedding and some knick knacks. When he was done, he placed his stuffed hiking backpack beside Arthur's.
Arthur began listing items off of a written checklist, which was responded to with multiple affirmative grunts from Tom.
Once finished, they picked up their bags before leaving the room and saying goodbye to the other members of the hostel. It was summer and the number of people in the building was increased due to school groups and vacationers looking for a cheap place to stay.
The boys then headed out the hostel doors in search of breakfast and a new home. After some debate, they decided to keep it simple with a quick stop at a local restaurant for something fast and filling.
Arthur paid for the food while Tom secured a table and some ketchup for the battle to come. They each devoured three sausage biscuits, an apple for health and a shared five hash browns for everything except health.
They finished the meal and headed out the door to the post office.
Once outside, Tom asked, "Why not switch up how we travel this time? Something new sounds refreshing. Maybe a plane or a train?"
Arthur thought for a second and responded, “You know why we travel the way we do. But I'll give you two extra good reasons beyond that. The first is that it saves money…”
Tom interrupted stating, “We have plenty of money though. That’s why we both work pretty much every day.”
“Just because we have money does not mean we can just spend it on whatever we want. We need to save up to buy food and hopefully a more permanent living space.”
Tom smiled, “At least if we spend the money and both turn out as deadbeats on the street, we'll be comfortable. Every time we travel it kills my back for a week.”
“Maybe if you practiced more, your back wouldn't hurt as much and I wouldn’t have to pick up your slack for that week you’re off complaining about your back.”
“But practicing for something would mess with my no effort lifestyle," Tom stated self-assuredly.
“Speaking of practicing, reason two is that the longer we go without practicing, the harder it is to travel. If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
Their argument had carried them all the way to the post office.
"Where are we going this time?”
“I’m thinking somewhere further south. These winters are getting on my nerves,” said Arthur.
“But snow rocks.”
Arthur chuckled, “It would rock more if we didn’t have to work in two feet of it. Anyway, how does two hundred miles south sound? That should put us about here."
Tom’s face paled and he said, “Wait 200 miles. But that’s like 10 hours of traveling!”
“Now you know why I wanted to start earlier this morning. We’ll probably arrive by 8 pm and will still have to find somewhere to sleep unless we want to snuggle up in some bushes for the night.”
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“Maybe we get lucky and find a bench. I can see it now. Splinters everywhere and rotting wood for a pillow.”
“I’ll leave you to your bench fantasies and go turn in our stuff," Arthur replied.
Arthur walked over to the window in the wall and asked the old man behind the counter for a large box and enough postage to cover sixty pounds of gear.
The man gave Arthur a large box and a few minutes later Arthur returned a full box taped and stamped appropriately.
The man smiled and took the box along with stating that it would likely take a week for the package to arrive.
Arthur thanked the man and walked out the doors to meet up with Tom. They were headed two blocks away to the nearest park.
After dropping off their packs, each had almost nothing left on their person beyond the clothes on their backs. Beyond those clothes, Tom had a needle and a feather, while Arthur wore a wood bead necklace with a large canine tooth, and had an animal claw, a feather and another needle in his left hand.
Both walked into the forest where they figured no one could see them and made sure to look over their shoulders for anyone nearby.
The boys then pulled out the needles and with practiced precision poked themselves in the forefinger of their right hand.
With their other hand, each pulled out a feather and took a glance at the other with Arthur offering a “Good luck.”
“Luck is for losers.”
They then placed the feathers in the blood from the needle prick and waited.
“I bet that I’m first,” said Tom.
“We’ve done this like twenty times and you still think you have a chance to break your losing streak?” responded Arthur.
Both waited and one minute later an American goldfinch stood in a pile of cloths.
Tom looked down in disdain and five seconds later a robin stood a few feet away from the goldfinch in a similarly sized pile of clothes.
The goldfinch gave off a resounding victory tweet before flapping its wings a few times and preparing to take flight.
The robin immediately jumped in the air and flapped its wings in order to gain distance from the ground.
It promptly plummeted from the air and hit the ground with a thud.
The finch tweeted even louder while the robin stared up at the sky from a sprawled position on the ground.
The robin removed itself from the ground and joined the goldfinch in the air where they both took flight together after a few more practice flaps.
At the start, both flew with some difficulty due to a lack of familiarity with their avian forms.
Outstretched branches from the tallest trees served as their resting spots while they struggled to find their rhythm.
After around ten minutes of practice, both the robin and goldfinch grew familiar with their muscles once again and were taking turns circling each other to prove aerial dominance.
The landscape below their eyes fluctuated between suburbs, rural farmhouses, heavily wooded areas, and empty plains.
The hours passed slowly at first, but began to fly by just like the sun over the birds’ heads.
The sky began to darken when they finally saw the lights of a city a few miles away.
The robin and the goldfinch were weary, but continued on until they spotted a secluded patch of woods that was far from sight but not too far from the town.
Both the birds landed with a crunch in the leaves of a magnolia tree. They then stuck out their respective right wings and plucked the longest feather on the limb with their beaks.
One minute later, a naked Arthur stood up wearing only his wood necklace and looked down at the robin with a grin.
Five seconds later, a naked Tom stood up and said, “Man my back is killing me,” as he slipped the feather from his lips to behind his ear.
Arthur grinned harder and said “Nice subject change slowpoke and I’m sure your back will feel fine by tomorrow morning.”
“Just hurry up and go get some cloths so we can find somewhere to sleep," Tom grumbled.
Arthur placed the feather in the rim of his ear and pulled out a pointed canine claw from behind the other ear. He put the forefinger of his right hand in his mouth and bit down to draw blood.
He then placed the claw into the growing droplet of blood and waited.
A minute later, a sheltie stood where Arthur once had.
Tom looked at the sheltie and said “Try to find me some underwear this time instead of just shorts and a t-shirt. Actually scratch that and please get some cloths that are not from a dumpster.
The sheltie gave an affirmative woof and Tom climbed the magnolia tree’s low branches to stay out of sight.
The sheltie ran off towards the city and upon exiting the tree line, began looking for somewhere with clothes.
He walked towards a bus stop and looked for a map to get his bearings in the city.
After looking at the map for a few minutes, he located a cheap hotel that they could stay at after getting something to wear.
The sheltie began walking towards a dumpster to begin his clothing search, but remembered Tom's request. Now that he thought about it, wearing dumpster cloths might not be completely safe. He remembered with a shiver the rash he got once from an especially smelly sock.
He redirected towards a convenience store and began to formulate a plan of action while waiting for someone to enter the building.
Once a woman appeared and began approaching the door, the sheltie quickly darted into the opening door with her.
He then ran towards the clothing section, hoping to avoid the store clerk’s detection long enough to find some clothing.
Once there, he grabbed two t-shirts, one pair of shorts and a pair of jeans in his mouth.
He heard screaming and turned to see a clerk running towards him leaving just enough time to grab a pair of underwear before turning to leave.
The sheltie ran towards the exit, careful to keep the cumbersome load gripped between his teeth without dropping anything.
Thankfully, a man entered just as the sheltie ran out of the building.
He rounded a corner and could still hear the screaming clerk before eventually crossing a road and heading back to the magnolia tree in the forest.