"Wouldn't it be nice, if things didn't change?" The question was a sigh of contentment as we looked up at the sky.
I craned my neck to look at the speaker, my friend, my companion, to see how serious he was. I turned back to look at the sky, not really able to see his face. It was an amazing shade of blue, a late summer sky, with a couple of puffy white clouds dotted here and there, intensifying the blue. The day itself had been amazing. I played it over in my mind while I considered his question.
We'd woken up early, plans for a big day already brewing in our heads. We were going to run away, even if it was only for the day. Any longer, and they'd actually look for us, which would not be any fun. We'd already hidden food and supplies for the day.
Everyone was still asleep as we left our room, still dressed in our pajamas because we didn't want to waste time. The longer we took to leave, the more of a chance there was we'd be caught.
The sun was just starting to show at the very edge of the horizon, most of the sky still dark, when we got outside. We had to stifle our giggles as we put on our shoes. Being caught this early would spoil all the fun.
We'd been planning this for days. We'd found a hole in the fence that would let us through if they got out before it was fixed. They were going to fix it the next day so this was our last chance.
We crossed the yard silently. Well, mostly silently. Giggling doesn't count. Not today. We're through the hole in the fence and up and over the hill behind the house before the sun is fully up. There's nothing really out here. Just empty space and lots of sky and some trees.
Near and I arrived at almost the same time. I think I was here a day or two before, but not much. He's a little younger than me, but he keeps up, so it doesn't matter. We've been here almost a year and decided it was time for an adventure. Well, I decided and he agreed, but it's the same thing.
The hardest part of getting everything together was getting his sunscreen. He was white white and had to wear very strong sunscreen. They said he was albino, but we didn't care. It didn't even matter that we were in the same class even though he's just a baby. It was easier for us to be together, anyways, since the other kids were a lot older than us. We heard them talking about moving us to a special program. Another reason we had to have our adventure. We were both sure that we wouldn't be able to when they moved us.
It was weird when they talked about us, too. They used letters instead of our names. I guess they didn't think we were listening or something. They talked a lot like we couldn't hear or understand them. They were pretty stupid.
The sun came up and it was all reds and peaches. Even Near looked normal colored in its light. We watched it for a while, until the sun was all the way up. Then I remembered, "Hey, we gotta put on your sunscreen."
Near sighed and he sounded old when he did. "Fine, Mello. But, I don't like it. It feels icky."
"It's better than turning all red and hurting, isn't it?" I asked, pulling the tube out of my bag.
"I wonder," he mumbled even as he takes it from me.
I waited for him to squeeze some into his hands and then took the tube back. "I'll get your neck and stuff," I offered.
He made a face and began rubbing the stuff between his hands. I moved around behind him and he applied it to his arms. "Don't forget," I started.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, my face," he finished. "I hate this stuff."
After I applied the lotion to his neck, I wiggled my fingers. "It doesn't seem that bad," I say slowly. But, he's really picky about things.
"It makes my skin feel all heavy and slimy, almost like I can't breathe or something," he said, disgust in his voice.
"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. "Well, just for today, because we're outside," I finally decided on.
He turned around and looked at me for a long time. He nodded slowly. "Just for today."
Somehow, it seemed like we've made a promise or something. I nodded and shoved the tube back in my bag. "Then, let's make it worth it!" I took his hand and we ran to the nearest bunch of trees.
It was fun, climbing trees and hiding from each other. When we got hungry, we just sat down where we were and ate.
"You were supposed to get more than chocolate, Mello," Near laughed at me.
I pouted. "It was what I could find. They hide everything else." The chocolate was melty, sticking to the wrappers in soft globs.
He grinned. "It's fine. Just for today, right?" There was chocolate on his face, his cheeks and nose.
I grinned back at him. "Yeah, for today."
He looked tired after we eat our chocolate, so I asked, "You wanna take a rest here?"
He shook his head. "There's water over there. It'll be cooler there, won't it?"
I got up and gave him a hand. "Do you know how to swim?"
"No. They said I was too little yet. You?"
"Yeah, but if you can't, I won't. But, if you want, we can wade, right?"
Near thought about that. "I'd have to put sunscreen on my legs," he finally said, "but, I think the water would feel nice, even through the ick of the lotion."
"Do you remember…before?" I asked softly
"Before? Before I came?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I only remember a little. I remember being all alone. I didn't like it."
He looked away from me, at one of the trees. "I remember they were scared of me. That's all."
"I'm not scared of you," I said firmly.
He turned a smile on me, just a little one. "And, you're not alone."
I smiled back at him. We finished our chocolate as we walked over to the creek. I put the lotion on his legs for him and we waited a little bit for it to sink in before we waded out into the water. The water was so cold it almost hurts but it felt good against the hot of the day. It felt good on our faces when we washed off the chocolate.
Near was getting tired, though, so we found a big tree that cast a lot of shade and sat under it. We sat under the tree and he put his head in my lap while I reclined against it. That made me happy. I played with his hair a little, twisting it around my fingers because it stayed curled when I do. He giggled sleepily and started playing with his hair, too.
"It feels good," he mumbled.
"You're weird," I grumbled but I think he was already asleep. I let myself fall asleep, too.
By the time we woke up, the sun was starting to show under the trees. I shook him a little. "C'mon, let's go play a little more before we have to go back. And, you should probably put on more lotion."
He made a face at me as he sat up. "You think we're going to be able to get out again?" he asked seriously.
I handed him his lotion and watched while he put it on. I still hadn't answered when he turned his back to me so I could get his neck.
"Well?" he demanded.
"We can try, but they did say they were moving us. I hope," I whispered. "I hope we'll still be together."
He leaned back against me. "We will. We can say we won't do what they want if they don't let us be together. And, then, they'll have to let us be together."
I let him stay a little while before pushing him away. "It's hot," I complained.
"You're mean, Mello," he pouted. He stood up and turned to face me. He grinned at me. "Bet you can't catch me!" He bolted, jumping over tree roots and out into the field.
He wasn't very fast, though, so I took my time getting up and ran after him. We played tag until he fell, landing on his back, out of breath. I flopped down next to him and we looked at the sky. That's when he asked about things not changing.
"I dunno. If they didn't change, then we wouldn't have done this, right? And, we wouldn't have memories and stuff." I looked at him again.
His fingers were tangled in his hair. "I guess so," he sighed.
We stayed where we were until the sun started turning orange with the sunset. "Let's go turn ourselves in," he said, pushing up from the ground. "I'm hungry."
"Me, too," I agreed.
Hand in hand, we went back to the house. The sky was turning purply by the time we arrived. Roger was waiting by the hole in the fence like he expected us to be there. He wasn't angry at us, too. We were taken into the house, but to a different part of it than we'd been in before.
"Starting today, you boys will begin working harder. You have been chosen for a special program. You will have a new room and," he added, smiling at us, "it won't be so easy to get out."
Even with his nap, Near still fell asleep soon after we ate. I crept out of the room. It didn't feel like ours yet even though they'd moved our furniture into it. I could hear voices, Roger's and one I didn't recognize.
"They're ready to begin. Their escape and return today proves that. Though they only took chocolate as food, they did remember Near's sunscreen and it does look like it was applied," Roger was saying when I stood by the door.
"Good. They have sense enough but are still young enough to train. I think it is better that they were given time to adjust. Maybe this time will go better than with B and A," the other voice said. I peeked around the corner and couldn't see anyone else in the room.
"We try to keep them separated now, but B is entirely too good at picking locks. Even supposedly unpickable locks don't stop him. And, we move A after each attack, but B always finds him."
"Mihael, you should get back to bed," someone said behind me.
I jumped a little and turned around. "My name is Mello," I whispered. I didn't want to get caught sneaking again. Roger might get mad at me. And, they said my name was Mello. Mihael was alone. Mello was not.
The man had red eyes and he smiled at me. I didn't like that smile. It scared me, reminded me of being alone. "Fine, Mello," I hated the way he said my name, "you should get back to bed. You wouldn't want to get caught, would you?"
I made a face at him but went back to my room anyways. It took awhile to get that man out of my head, and when I slept, I had dreams with lots of red in them.