William waits until his parents are asleep. He knows even without opening the door of their room. How? well he sometimes feels like he just knows. He whistles as quietly as possible, calling Pequod, his Golden Retriever, to follow him. He sneaks down the stairs on his socks so as to make as little noise as possible, he knows his mother will know he was up doing no good when she goes to wash the clothes, but by then it won't matter. He walks across the kitchen and opens the back door, holding it so Pequod can go out first. Once he's out he eases the screendoor into place with the delicacy of a surgeon. He's very careful not to make a sound, he likes the solitude, only Pequod is allowed to go with him but that is just because he's Williams best friend.
In front of him, washed by pure moonlight are his parents vast cornfields, the ones that have been worked by generations and generations on his father's side. He knows it's expected of him to work those fields too when he grows up, but he somehow feels he never will. Not only does he not want to, there's also something deeper in his heart that tells him being a farmer is not what he was born for, that he's supposed to do much greater things. William doesn't know what those things are, but he's almost certain is not really much of a choice wether he does them or not, it's more like a prophecy come true. Sometimes he also feels he shouldn't even be considered part of these generations, neither by his father's side nor by his mother's. William doesn't know why he feels this, but he's long stopped trying to make those feelings go away.
He stands on the edge of land where the fields start, far away enough from the house so that making sounds won't create him trouble anymore, and orders Pequod to sit next to him. "Ready?...OK, go!" he tells the dog, as both of them run into the fields. If someone were to look at them from above they could see the boy and the dog are running in opposite directions. William runs as fast as he can, he feels his socks getting muddier and muddier but he doesn't care, here he is free. When he feels he's far enough he stops and calls for Pequod, from far away he hears a single bark. It is their own form of hide and seek, trying to find each other by their calls. William calls for Pequod half a dozen times more, and everytime the dog answers with a bark. He hears the rustles of the corn plants a few feet away from him and he knows he's won the game. It doesn't matter if the dog can find him by smell, William always wins because when Pequod is close enough William just knows where to find him. Sometimes William thinks about this and is comforted, he has the feeling that if Pequod ever ran away or got lost he could find him by just knowing. He hunches down and moves with careful steps, between the plants he sees Pequod's tail. He gives a gentle pull on it and says "Gotcha!". The dog turns around and happily lays its paws on William's shoulder pushing him to the ground, and begins to lick his face. William knows that if someone else were to pull on Pequods tail, even in a friendly manner, the dog would respond with fierce aggression. Pequod is considered by most people a grumpy dog, and he is, but he's always showed respect to William. Most animals do.
He lies on the ground laughing, ruffling his dog's head. When Pequod stops and rests his head on his chest William's face goes serious as he stares into the open sky. This is the part he loves most about his night adventures, the real reason why he does this almost every night, just looking at the night sky. The secludeness of his father's farm, the one he abhors most of the time, actually helps here. He can see so many stars. He sits up and looks for something in the pockets of his pajamas, and pulls out a small bag of sunflower seeds. William likes the seeds so much, he believes no great moment is ever complete unless you're enjoying a few of these. He takes the first one out and as he bites it the *crack* makes Pequod raise his ears, the dog is familiar enough with the sound to not raise them again for any of the following cracks.
William sits in the dirt of the cornfields, eating sunflowers seeds and looking up at the sky. He wonders about the universe and all the amazing worlds it may contain. He wonders about the creatures that inhabit these worlds too. His mother loves to fight him on that but William is possitively certain there is intelligent life somewhere up there, and even though the idea fascinates him, William doesn't agree with the people he sometimes sees on TV, opening their arms to the sky and yelling to their space brothers that they are welcome here. William doesn't think they should welcome them, he's always wanted to believe the others would come in peace but the thought just doesn't seem to fit on his mind. William has the idea the "space brothers" would not treat humans like friends. For no reason he can come up with this tought of life in other planets connects with another thought that often haunts him. One that tells him that no matter how much he loves his parents and Pequod, this is not his home, that somewhere else some one or some ones expect him, love him, miss him. It is ridiculous of course, he knows he's lived in that farm since he was a baby, but still the feeling stays. And sometimes, but only sometimes, William even feels like he expects, and loves and misses those faceless figures right back. He spends almost an hour pondering about all these things, and like everytime he does this, the feeling that everything will be addressed and faced and sorted out at some point in his life fills him. It's an overwhelming feeling but it's also surprisingly relieving.
He takes a look at the plastic UFO watch he bought in a toy store in town a long time ago, and the time tells him he should probably get going, he's got school tomorrow. He gets up and as he walks back to the house he lets the tips of his fingers brush the stems of the corn, he may not want to work those fields but he really likes being in them. When they reach the door he once again holds it open for Pequod to go first, then he removes his dirty socks and goes in barefoot into the house. He walks up the stairs, enters his room and drops flatly into his bed. William looks around and when his gaze meets a copy of a children's version of Moby Dick he stares at it and imagines he can lift it and move it around with the power of his mind, when the book stays in place he covers himself with his blanket and thinks "Heh, wouldn't that be fun", and soon he's asleep.
William is awakened by the tremble of his bed, he sits up and sees the whole room is shaking. A weird bright light enters the room through his window, and William knows it is not sunlight, this is artificial light. He looks at his UFO watch and sees the hands aren't moving anymore, it gives him the impression that time has stopped. His fears and wonders take over him again with a strenght he's never felt before. William is only ten years old but he now knows his destiny has finally caught up with him; it is, as they say, his time to shine. A euphoric relief washes over him. Once again there is something that William just knows: he's supposed to fight back.