DANIEL HERON: BECOMING

5 - It's shopping time!

Daniel lay awake long into the night. Victor and Manuel left sometime after two past midnight. Unlike the others, they didn't live in the factory. Lucio took Natalia by the hand and led her upstairs, while Bernard and Rafael settled each on his own bunk.

The couch the boys so generously let Daniel have, was anything but comfortable. The springs were broken, leaving two indentations which made it impossible for him to find a comfortable position. He lay on the edge, hoping he wouldn't fall to the floor if he eventually fell asleep.

He listened to the sounds that surrounded him in the darkness of the night. Besides the audible breathing of his two friends, the sound that kept him awake was the dripping of the water that was leaking in through the crack on the roof. One of the boys put a meal bucket so the rain drops would accumulate in it, but the sound they made was unbearable for Daniel's ears. Endless drip... drip... drip...

When he could no longer listen to the annoying sound, Daniel got up, took a rag he found on the floor next to his couch, and stuffed it into the bucket, covering its bottom. It silenced the dripping of the water and enabled him to hear his own thoughts again. They really should fix that roof, he thought. With fall already in full swing, the rain would be a common occurrence. There wouldn't be much point in collecting rain drops in a bucket by his couch.

He closed his eyes, trying to force himself to fall asleep. It took a while before he finally dozed off. His dreams were uneasy and when the morning came, Daniel didn't feel any more rested than the night before.

With remnants of sleep still in his eyes, he heard footsteps coming down the metal staircase. Then the door opened, and two voices, male and female, said their goodbyes. Next came the girl's giggling, followed by the words, "Stop it! You know I have to go!" Soon after that, the car engine came to life and only one set of footsteps came back in. Daniel turned his head in time to see Lucio returning to his kingdom on the first floor.

He remained lying on his couch with his eyes closed and his back painfully aware of every broken spring. Realizing that there was no point in trying to fall asleep again, he slowly got up, put his jacket on and left outside.

The chilly morning embraced him. The sun was just beginning to rise and the thin layer of fog lingered low above the ground. He looked around. Although he had been here many times before, he never stood in front of the factory at early dawn. And he never observed the scenery around it. Not really.

On that morning, for the first time, he noticed the distinct contrast between the factory and the untouched forest on the opposite side. The factory was such a gloomy, unhappy place; the abandoned building decorated by unsuccessful attempts at making graffiti, surrounded by rusty, metal parts of the formerly used machines. The forest, on the other hand, was full of colors. The leaves just began to turn, painting the canopies yellow, orange, different shades of red, all the way to the browns.

Looking behind the factory, Daniel saw a row of powerlines connected by loose cables. On some of them, he spotted crows. Daniel knew that the boys found a way to tap into the nearest powerline without getting discovered. Some of them were extremely bright, they might be able to accomplish so much in life if said life would only be willing to deal them a better set of cards.

Daniel wasn't ignorant either. Although he was never at the top of his class, he didn't fall far behind. Maybe he would have been prepared to go the extra mile, had his mother shown even the slightest sense of pride for his accomplishments.

A distant croak of the magpie interrupted Daniel's pensiveness. Soon he saw them. There were three, all in black and white feathers, with long black tails, as if they were dressed for some formal occasion. Two of them landed on the factory roof, while the third carried on towards the powerline cable. The two threw a glance at Daniel before they flew away, joining the third one.

Daniel walked towards the forest, throbbing headache followed him. He ascribed it to the exhaustion and sleep deprivation, so he figured the fresh forest air would do him good. The path that lead to the forest was neglected. He didn't think that the guys ever went to the forest, but about fifty steps later, he realized he was wrong.

He stopped as he reached a small clearance, several meters wide. Its center was covered by a pile of damp ash. A large metal barrel covered by a thick layer of rust lay tipped to its side, many scorched objects scattered around it. Taking a closer look, he made out partially burnt styrofoam food containers, blackened cans, melted plastic. He shook his head. That's where the garbage ended up.

I'll have to talk to the guys about burning the trash in the forest, Daniel thought, not believing that any of the guys considered the risk of starting a forest fire. They didn't care about stuff they liked to refer to as 'totally irrelevant things'.

Daniel often agreed with them, but when it came to forest, it wasn't a 'totally irrelevant thing'. At the beginning of his college life, he decided to study forestry. His grades allowed him pretty wide range of career choices, but he had his heart set on forestry. It seemed like something he'd enjoy doing. He started off well. He went to his classes regularly, he had no problems passing the first two exams, but then it all stopped.

In order to afford college education, Daniel had to work. He took on different student jobs to earn money for the college, but at the same time, those jobs dragged him further away from it.

During the second year of college he still struggled with the exams he should have passed in the first and second semester. And that's when Mrs. Heron interfered. She thought that Daniel was wasting his time studying forestry. "You will never find a job being a tree hugger," she used to point out. "Machines. That's the future," she said to him.

Although reluctantly, a part of Daniel's mind understood what she meant by that and agreed with her.

When even after three years of college he still didn't pass the first year's exams, Daniel admitted defeat. He switched colleges, chose engineering, spent all of his savings on tuition, since his mother made it very clear that she had no money in her bank account, and started fresh. Two months after the academic year started, Daniel once again spent more time working than studying.

Although, from a financial point of view, engineering might provide a better future, Daniel found no pleasure in studying it. Two more years passed before he admitted to himself that he threw into the wind almost six years of his life, that he would never finish college and that he would never get back all the money he spent on it over the years.

Lost in his thoughts, Daniel startled when he heard the sound of his own name. "Daniel! Hey, Heron, answer me!" one of the guys was calling.

"I'm here!" he responded and headed back towards the factory, leaving behind footprints on the damp forest floor.

There, in front of the factory, awaited Lucio, Bernard and Rafael, ready for departure.

"We're going," said Lucio. His blond hair was combed back, except for that one strand on his forehead, he wore a leather jacket with raised collar and blue jeans with an upturned hem.

"Where are you going?" Daniel's forehead furrowed.

"You're coming with us," Bernard replied with a wide smile on his face. Oh his head was a baseball cap with the logo of some club, but since it was turned backwards, Daniel wasn't able to read what it said.

"It's shopping time! Get in!" Lucio opened the driver's door and jumped on the front seat. Bernard sat next to him, Rafael settled on the back seat, while Daniel remained standing, indecisive.

Damn it! he swore inwardly. He should have known that Lucio wouldn't let him live there for free. Besides, Daniel was the kind of a guy who never had difficulty sharing what he had with his friends. Most of the money he earned, as little as it may be at times, Daniel spent on his buddies, but it's been three months since he quit his job.

He pushed the hands inside his jacket pockets. They were empty. All of his pockets were empty. 

Thank you for reading!

Daniel settled into his new home. What did you think of it? 

Share your thoughts, suggestions, constructive criticism. 

And if you liked the chapter, do tap the little star.

Until next chapter...