Traveling

Opening the door, he walked inside the hut and over to the basin. His mother was by the wood-stove, tending to the fire. His father was sitting at the small kitchen table in the middle of the room, going over some lists of items that we needed. There was one window in the kitchen, centered right above the basin. It had a view of the edge of the woods that grew behind the hut and the tip of a mountain that was a part of the chain that surrounded the valley he lived in.  He had roamed the woods that covered the eastern end of the valley many times.  At the eastern edge of the woods, there was a pass that led down, out of the valley, and toward the Falls. They cascaded down a cliff, and ran into the Lumo River. He was not allowed to pass through there, not even to go near it, his mom said, but neither his mother, nor his father knew that he had been hanging out in a cave that sat near the edge of the cliff....every time he traveled through Shear Forest lately. His parents said that it was a dangerous world beyond that pass.....but he wanted to see it anyway. It gave him a glorious feeling, to be sitting there in his cave.....thinking about the lands and adventures that would surely be there. Unfortunately, it also gave him a sinking feeling every time he had to turn away from it...to go home...probably never to have those adventures............

   “Avien, hurry up would you; you’re blocking the sink...I need it to wash this meat off....” his mom said.

   He shook himself mentally, and moved over to dry his hands. He noticed his father looking at him curiously, and he looked away, considering the daydream he was just having. I need to be focused....

   “Are you alright, Avien?” asked his father.

   “Yeah, fine......Dad?” he began. “I was wondering.....”

   “If you could go with me?”

   “Wh-what? How did you know I was going to ask.....?”

   “You've had a pained look on your face ever since you walked in.” He chuckled. “Come and sit down, so I can talk to you.”

   He walked over and sat down, worrying what was coming next.

   “I’ve known you’ve wanted to go with me for a long while…..I happened to see a journal entry when I went into your room, looking for my hunting knife; the one you barrow a lot.” he told me.

   “Oh….then, well……can I go?” Avien asked.

  His father looked at him, studying him. “I have to say your mother and I don’t really like the idea….but that’s because we care about you and your safety. However, we both know you’re plenty old enough to go with me.”

   “Really!?” he said with excitement.

   “As long as you take care to be on your best guard, and stick to me like bees to honey, then yes you can go with me.”

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   Later after super was finished; he spent some time going through the things that he would need to bring on the journey. He felt so exited at finally being able to go with his father that in his emotion, he skipped over most of the items he would need the first time he packed. After he checked the bag, he realized that it didn’t even have his knife in there….so he decided to go over the whole thing over again. He went to bed an hour later. Laying there on his cot he daydreamed about the next morning…and what adventures it would bring him. It made it hard to go to sleep, and he spent a whole two hours trying before he finally drifted off restlessly to sleep.

   It seemed that he was asleep but a short while when his father woke him the next morning. “Had to shake you to death before you would wake!” said his father. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. After that he was awake and alert in practice for the hours to come.

   Both father and son were ready by sunrise and headed out the door and to the old stable to saddle up the old horse they owned. On to his back went both of their bags and they climbed on the saddle themselves.

   There they were, in a broken down stable on an old horse that nickered every few minutes. He expected nothing more but to ride until they reached the town; however, his father looked around at him saying, “I’m really proud of you, Son. You are really growing up aren’t you?” 

   He looked at his father, who was smiling at him in that fatherly way, and felt a warm affection for him.

   They rode the rest of the afternoon silent, each with thoughts of their own. To Avien, it was a start to a wonderful adventure; therefore, he thought about the way the land moved by, and the things he would see. To his father, it was just another tiring ride to the town. 

   And what will the people look like, I wonder? He thought as the land moved by. It would be nice to meet someone new… Meeting someone he liked would be the ultimate adventure, especially if it was a girl. He had been having daydreams of meeting a pretty girl that he liked. But of coarse it was only a daydream. He felt guilty for letting the thoughts come while he was with his dad.

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   They reached a point were they could see a tower around a bend in the road and Avien sat up suddenly, wide awake again. The tower was attached to a wall with a gate sealed tightly shut, and another tower rose on the opposite side. They took a few minuets to reach the gate, and when they did a man clothed in a heavy looking leather jerkin, holding a spear yelled down at them, “Who goes? And what might your business be?”

   “We live down the road due east of here and would like to buy at your towns market, if it please you.” yelled father back.

   The guard gave them one last searching look, as if he suspected something of them, and turned to another guard to give the okay to raise the gate. The horse started forward again, goaded by his father. They passed under the gate in a bit of a hurry, as the gate was already being let down again. Avien turned to his father.

   “This must be some nasty town if the security is always like this!”

   “Shut your mouth!” he hissed suddenly. “Do you realize how much trouble would befall us if somebody were to hear you say that?!”

   He hung his head, “I’m sorry father, I-I did not mean to put us in jeopardy.”

   “Okay then, no worries, just keep a strait head on and think before you speak!”

   “Yes sir…” he agreed.

   Riding away from the wall, they entered a wide street that seemed to lead to the other side of the town. It was bustling with people and a thin sheet of dust clogged the air close to the ground. His father guided the horse to a nearby stable, paying the man that kept it to care for the horse. They both slid off her and took a bag each off her back, for the merchandise later. The main street was lined with buildings, not all shops. The buildings close to the wall were equipped with battlements. Down the middle of the street, dozens of stands stood with there owners yelling at the top of their voices over the noise of the people, advertising their merchandise. His father walked to one such stand that displayed a wide variety of spices and herbs. Paying the man that owned the stand, he took some cinnamon, pepper, and other things and put them carefully into the bag he carried.

   “You must watch me, Avien, how I take care not to lose the items and the way I save money by haggling for the lowest possible price. It will serve you when you have to do it yourself, okay?” said his father.

    “Okay. It’s interesting how the man did not ask to you to higher the price…was he er-dumb?” he said the last word in a whisper his father could barely hear.

   “No, he is just probably going poor for the lack of buyers….when that happens, people tend to lower their prices close to the public’s easiest payable price.” he answered.

   They moved on to another stand, this time with tropical fruits of a kind Avien had only seen rarely. His father had to haggle with the man for his price this time. Avien found that while they were at it, he got to the point of looking around at the other buyers because he would get bored of the proceedings. Then he would remember he was supposed to be paying attention to his father and quickly start watching them again. They finished finally and father paid the negotiated price for the few fruits that he put in his bag with the spices. 

   “Soon we will get some meat that can’t go into this bag, but must go into yours, because they will spoil these.” said his father.

   He led Avien several yards down the street, to a counter in the side of a building. A man stood behind it, inside the building, looking up at them as they arrived. It was well past noon now, as Avien noticed by the sun almost directly above him. Apparently, the man knew his father for he greeted him most warmly, “Well what do you know! My old man is here again to see me, and with who else I wonder?”

   “Oh, Dibs, this is my son Avien...” his father said to him.

   “Well what do you know? You alright my son?” he asked Avien

   “Yes sir, and it’s nice to meet you…” he began

   “That’s great, that’s great.” He turned to his father again; “Well what do you need from me this time, my man?” said the man named Dibs.

   “Just some meat I can’t raise myself Dibs”

   “Oh well lets have a look then, shall we?”

   Avien felt a bit slighted, but his father winked at him and gave him the ‘it’s okay’ look. He felt a bit better after that. His father soon was lost in another haggle with this man, Dibs, and neither looked like they would be ending it soon. Avien tried to listen, but he soon got bored with it once again. This is not what I thought I was in for. He was beginning to think that the trip was not going to be as fun as he thought it was. Forget this, I’d sooner learn how to skin a pig, I’ll listen next time…And so he gave up his forced watching of them and looked around that particular part of the street. Regardless of the afternoon sun beating down on all of their shoulders, the sky was beginning to darken, due to a front of gray clouds moving over the sun. He had not realized they were there, and now watched them for a few seconds, slowly blotting out the light. The street was now gray and dreary looking. He noticed an alleyway between two houses behind him. Something about it drew his eyes, and he stared into the darkness there. Suddenly, he saw a flash of light, as if from a flame, and he wanted to know what it was. He looked over at his dad, he was quite involved and not facing him. Dibs seemed to be the type that paid no attention to anything but what he was currently doing. He looked at the alley again, and a feeling of curiosity overtook him. Glancing at his dad once more, he slowly began to inch toward the opposite side of the street. Once out of earshot of his dad and Dibs, he trotted to the alleyway. Just a quick look and back I go….