Traversal | Act I: There is No End

Walking around the streets of London, like I suggested before, wasn't calming in any sort of way. I just get out of the house because there's no reason to stay. However, I got out of the house for a special reason. I'll show you what's that particular reason when we get there. But to clarify, unlike the lucky ones, we poor children don't get toys or things to play around with. All we did was sleep, eat, and most of all, get into trouble.

It wasn't hard to find trouble in this town. Like I said… crime is always at an all-time high. So, there's bound to be some kind of conflict brewing on. And it's not like there was anyone else to help stop it. Only a few decide to try to help and they most likely end up hurt or dead.

As I trouted through the horde, I could hear them groaning, tired and hungry. And in some way… I would've done the same. But I wasn't like them. I didn't walk around like that. Not when I have a destination to get to.

And I did arrive at my destination pretty quick. I halted in front of a dirty and grimy-like house, slightly more disgusting than my own. At least my house didn't have so many stains splattered across the wall.

Making my way up the stairs, I got in front of the door, breathed for one moment, and knocked on the door.

I tried waiting for an answer, but I couldn't contain myself so I rapidly knocked again and again.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm moving as fast as I can!"

Seconds later, the door finally opened.

The boy right in front of me was about my height, with dark hair and dark green eyes. He was just as excited to come along with me as I was.

You see, that boy was…

"Lentil!"

"Deus!"

Lentil… my very best friend and my very best partner in crime.

"So, today's the day, eh, comrade?" I remarked, smiling for the first time in a while.

"Indeed, my friend. Finally. I've been waiting for this day for quite some time."

Finally. Today was Lentil's first day outside the house…. alone.

You see, his parents are what we call "overprotective" and they would not let him go outside by himself or with a friend until he finally reached the age of 14. And well, based on what we just said…

You can guess that time has finally been reached.

"I thought you'd never leave that house. That old wench always seems to entangle you to that shack ever so tighter each passing day."

"It felt like it, that's for certain."

We walked down the staircase, ecstatic that we could finally do some mischief.

"So, as your very first decision here outside of that leaky roof of yours, what would you like to do?" I had prompted him to ask the question.

"Uhhhhh….." Lentil's mind blacked out for a second. He couldn't handle it. He could finally do whatever he wanted but he just wasn't sure what he even wanted to do.

Eventually, he figured it out. He gave out such an evil grin that even I was scared of what he came up with.

"Deus?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Why don't we…?" He started to whisper a bit into my ear, secretly telling me something truely surprising.

Oh.

"Oh no. Really? Already?"

"Yeah man. You know you want to."

I really didn't but I had no choice. It was either that or stealing, which I wasn't too fond of either.

Oh boy.

We now had a new destination, only that it was kinda long. Tens to nearly hundreds of blocks away from our homes.

The best way to get there was to just run for it.

But, we didn't just run. Oh no.... We flew.

Speeding pass tents and trees, through every corpse and flea, around every building and home, under bridges and more, we swiftly raced across the streets, seeing

As we slid through the empty, dull valleys between, racing through every obstacle and person that stood our way, with Lentil catching up with tremendous velocity, I felt something that at the time I thought was strange. A rush of that feeling flowed throughout my body and was coursing in my brains. It was strange. And throughout it all I was smiling.

Mud flew across the floor as we dug through the ground in order to keep our momentum going. People yelled at us, watching us go by like if we were criminals.

We didn't care what they said.

I didn't even hear a word of what they said. Our ears were too busy trying to hold themselves to the wind.

Sweat dripped from my forehead and my breath grew heavier.

But I wasn't stopping yet. Not yet, I won't.

After a long time living under dread, I felt something light inside of me.

The amount of fun I was having trying to beat Lentil was incomprehensible.

It was something I hadn't felt for a long time.

It was something a child would only once feel during this lifetime.

It's something I wished only lasted a little while longer.

Alas, I suddenly stopped at a park. Lentil glided across the ground before he could get back to me.

*huff-puff* "Are we--- Are we there, yet?"

"Yes. Yes we--- yes we are."

We stood there for a moment to catch our breath. The rush was no longer within us and our minds finally realized just how tired we really are. Once our hearts stop beating like a hamor on a nail, Lentil decided to sit down for a while. I did the same too.

I think I went a little overboard running there. I think I would have almost died out of exhaustion back there.

"Oooo-weee. That was fatiguing, mate. That was also really close too."

Lentil said as he punched my shoulder.

"I was just about to pass you, mate."

"You were. You were about this close, man." I said, using both of my hands to show a tiny gap.

He was that close.

"I thought we'd never make it, to be honest. You said it would be close."

"Well, you're lucky I knew where we were going this time. I would've led us down to a butcher's aisle if it wasn't for the fact I come here often."

"I thought you were gonna bring us to Mr. Lundi. I know that you like to tease and unknowingly bringing me to the devil's haven would be more than enough for me for me to shat my trousers."

I laughed. It was true. Mr. Lundi would've made him circumnavigate all across the globe just to get away from her. Mr. Lundi was a firm, strict, mal-tempered ol' man sitting about a few couple of hundred meters from our homes. He gets really birse (a little word I picked up from a Scottish man that lived right across my house that meant angry) whenever someone looked at him funny or even spoke to him a little strangely. Many of the kids around our neighborhood fear him, but I just find him misunderstood.

You don't know what the man may have been up to.

Or experienced.

"So… where's the place, mate?" Lentil said, standing up.

"Just across here." I pointed at a little gap through the trees, where they grew thick.

"Mate, just tell me why do you want to do this. I only told you about it because you're my only friend and well... I can't keep nothing inside my mind these days." I told Lentil.

Lentil just looked at me and smiled creepily.

Ugh.

"You're seriously weird, you know that?" I said.

"I know that. But I gotta take this chance to eye a real one. Otherwise, I never will. Plus, you signed up for this when you became my friend 10 years ago." He responded.

"Yeah, right. Just don't get us caught."

"I'll try." He said, with a slight grin.

I couldn't help but admire this kiddo's courage.

Too bad that what we're doing is anything but good or ethical.

We're going to...