The sun was still high in the sky when Lucas arrived back home. School days ended early on Fridays, which would usually be a blessing if you wanted to laze around after finishing a grueling week of studying.

But it could be very inconvenient if you didn’t actually want to go home early.

Lucas didn’t even bother opening the fence gate, aware that the rusted hinges would wail at the slightest movement, preferring instead to just walk through one of the broken metal posts, trying his best not to make any unnecessary sound as he stepped into the slightly dry and noticeably overgrown grass that covered his front yard.

He walked over to the front door and opened it as slowly and silently as he could.

The curtains were drawn close, resulting in the house being almost entirely dark, only the sound of the TV coming from the living room filling the empty halls. Lucas entered the darkness and closed the door behind him.

His mother was asleep on the couch, empty cans and bottles scattered around the dusty carpet in front of her. The TV, unaware that it wasn’t being watched, still played reruns of old TV shows.

He wasn’t sure if the bottles were new or old, but he was sure of one thing, this wasn’t a new scene for him.

“Jesus, mom.” He whispered. “You could, you know, clean up a bit after yourself.”

He picked up a can from the floor on his way to his room without paying much attention to it and placed it inside an overfilled trash bin next to the kitchen’s open doorway.

He walked up the stairs, past his sister’s closed door and into his own room to change. He wasn’t planning on staying for long, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving while still wearing his uniform. He rummaged through his pile of clean-ish clothes and threw on a yellowed t-shirt, a gray hoodie that didn’t have too many stains on it and a pair of jeans that were almost too short for him.

He carefully hung his uniform on a clothes’ hanger so they wouldn’t wrinkle too much before over the weekend and then proceded empty the contents of his backpack on top of his bed. He wasn’t going to be working on any homework today. As Mr. Garriga had said, he needed some rest, and as everyone knows, the best way of resting is to get some reading done.

He looked at the pile of books on the corner of his room and picked a couple from the top. He had read most of them, but the week before he had managed to sneak into his late father’s office when his mother wasn’t looking and borrow a couple of books for himself.

It wasn’t like anyone would notice them missing anyway. As long as he knew, the only person coming and going from that office nowadays was himself, late at night, using a bobby pin as a key.

He placed his backpack on his back and began to walk out of his room, but he was stopped by the sight of a book he didn’t remember placing on his nightstand.

As books go, this one had nothing remarkable about it. No title shone in golden letters on its deep, black cover, nothing gave away any authorship on its spine and there was no signature anywere that could give away its original owner, yet, he couldn’t help feeling like he had seen it before… he couldn’t help but notice the chills that ran up his spine as he looked at it. Had his mother placed it there? Had she gotten into some weird cult and was trying to rope him into it?

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

After a second that felt like a year, Lucas took the book and put it into his backpack. Whatever it was, he would have to check it later, his mother could wake up at any moment.

He moved quickly through the silent house and soon enough was back in the living room where his mother slept. He walked past her and started to open the door. A streak of fresh air entered the living room, making thew hairs at the back of his head to stand up. He looked at the clouds that had managed to completely cover the previously clear spring sky and then he turned towards his mother.

Next to her armchair, on the floor, lay a crumpled blanket she used to stave off the cold during the winter nights after his father’s death.

She hadn’t been able to sleep on her own bed since.

He hesitated for a second before quickly moving towards her. “You should look after yourself a bit more.” He said. “It wouldn’t be good if you got sick, you know?”

Laura moved in her sleep, beginning to wake up. “Lucas?” She mumbled. “Are you back?”

Lucas grimaced as he placed the blanket over her. “I’ll be back later.” He said. “I’m going out with a friend.”

Her mother looked at him and began to close her eyes again. “Be safe.” She said, a faint smile appearing in her face. “It might rain later…” She whispered, falling once more into unconsciousness.

He looked at her mother and the empty cans on the floor next to her and walked away towards the door. He had lied, he wouldn’t be meeting anyone today.

Not like he had anyone to go out with these days.

But she didn’t need to know that.

She Didn’t need to know.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

He left the house the same way he had entered, through the broken post, and walked up to the tall wall that separated the cul-de-sac he lived in from the small forest on the other side.

He threw his backpack over the wall and was preparing to jump it himself when something pressed against the back of his leg. “Hey Cano, how you doing buddy?” He said as he knelt next to the old white dog that had come to greet him.

Cano was an ancient dog that had once looked like a mix between a Siberian Husky and a lion.

But those years were long gone.

There still was some lion-esque energy left on him, but what once was a proud guardian dog had been turned into a senior that spent most of his days sleeping and barking at the strangers that entered his street. “I can’t take you with me today, dude.” Lucas said. “You are too big to carry over the wall.”

The dog licked his face as he pet his head. Lucas smiled. He had always liked the old dog and the beast had always seem to like him in return. “I’ll get something for you out of the fridge later, okay buddy?” He said. “But now, there are some books that are itching to get read on that backpack I just threw, so I need to get going.”

He tried to stand up, but the dog bit on his hoodie, almost as if trying to stop him. Lucas smiled. “You don’t want me to go?” He said, petting the dog’s head. “Sorry, Cano, but I really need to unwind for a while, so we’ll play later, buddy.”

As he stood up, the dog tried to stop him again, but it wasn’t strong enough to do it.

The young man turned around, looking at the wall. “I promise I’ll get something for you later.” He said as he wiggled his way on top of the wall. “Cross my heart…”

As he jumped onto the leafy forest ground and walked into the trees, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there had been a sadness he had seen only once before inside his furry friend’s eyes.

But he chose to ignore the faint yelps at the other side of the wall.

He took his backpack from the ground and threw it on his back. “It’s going to rain soon.” He whispered and pulled his hoodie over his hair as he began to make his way into the forest.