Count On Me (UNDER REVISION, DO NOT READ)

Chapter Sixteen

The months of preparation seemed to fly by so quickly for Ludwig and Feli. It was already the end of January and they would be leaving in one week.
"Ludwig, while we are traveling, we should sleep during the day and travel at night. It will be harder for people to find us." Feli suggested. "Good idea, we should also sleep in shifts once we leave. We will leave at night." Ludwig added. They had two duffle bags full of everything they needed plus Ludwig's camera and journal, and Feli's art supplies. They were both very anxious. They had been counting the days leading up to their departure. "Maybe we should get whistles in case we get separated." Feli added. "We will buy some the night we leave." Ludwig assured. Ludwig and Feli had been saving up allowences and had been getting some extra money by shovelling snow. The last week spent there was making sure they had everything they needed. Before Feli and Ludwig knew it, it was the night they were going to leave.

The moon was rather bright, it made everything easily visible. Ludwig was waiting at the cottage for the last time, he took everything in. He looked around at the treeline and at the barren field of snow. After about twenty minutes, he saw Feli walking towards the cottage with his duffle bag. It was around 9:00 pm so they had already had dinner with Elizaveta and Roderich, but Ludwig had sent Feli to buy two whistles. Feli finally reached Ludwig. "I found whistles." Feli said, and handed one to Ludwig. Feli looked really sad, Ludwig knew Feli didn't want to leave. Feli had mixed emotions, on the idea of leaving. He wanted to stay with his best friend, but he was scared. He thought of all the possible ways this could go wrong. What were they going to do once they got to America? How would they get to Sicily? What if they got sick or hurt? What would happen if they got separated? There were so many risks to this, he was worried about both the safety of himself and Ludwig.

Ludwig noticed Feli was distressed. "Hey, we'll make it to Sicily, okay?" Ludwig assured, "then the hard part will be over." Feli looked down to his boots, "What are we going to do once we get to America?" He asked. Ludwig didn't really think about this. What would they do? They didn't have much money, nowhere to live, no one to take care of them. They would be all alone. "I don't, know." Ludwig replied, "but we'll be okay." Feli nodded, but was unsure.

"Ludwig," Feli said "can you take pictures of us before we leave?" Ludwig understood that Feli would miss his home. "Sure." Ludwig snapped a picture of Feli. They said one last goodbye to their special spot, and left.