1 It was a dream

Splat!

"A little higher this time," once again, Charlie kicked the ground; this time, he waved his arms even harder, putting a lot of focus on going up. Suddenly he felt some lift; Charlie slowly moved the arms up and down like a bird. Every time he moved them down, he would lift up a little more; it was like some sort of energy or force would gather under his arms. "Yes, that's it!" Charlie focused even more now; after 10 more waves, he was steadily flying.

Charlie looked around; he was 30 ft above the ground; feeling the wind and the freedom was exiting. It was a warm day. The sunlight was slowly crawling between the treetops; under him, the field had long grass, the yellows, greens, and browns mixed beautifully. A warm, beautiful day surrounded him. Charlie looked up; beyond the fence, he could see the main house, on the other side, the construction where the cattle was herded had some movement on it. Charlie could feel something building up in his chest; he wanted to give this newfound ability a test run. It took him a moment to look for an opening between the treetops.

"There..." the sky was clearly visible in between some branches. It almost looked like a small tunnel. Charlie gathered some momentum and… "Wake up!" someone screamed in his ear, it was Johnny, the other farm boy. "No!" Charlie thought; he wanted to go back, he could still feel it in his chest, the freedom, the intense energy of possibility.

Charlie closed his eyes again; he could see the field, grass, and flowers, but he wasn't flying anymore; he just imagined it. Charlie felt suddenly hollow, like he had lost something beautiful and treasured. He opened his eyes.

"C'mon Charlie, you overslept again. Let's go. Mr. Meyer is waiting" Johnny's big blue eyes were looking at him. Johnny was a sweet-tempered boy, not big mood swings, no complications, and generally fooled around. Johnny kept looking at Charlie with an anxious stare.

"Is everything ok Johnny?" Charlie asked

"Yes, I just feel a little anxious this morning. Come on they are waiting for us, we need to help bring the cows in for todays shipment."

It was the year 2001, humanity had just entered the new millennia a year ago. A few years ago everyone was talking about how the world was going to end, it obviously didn't happen. The folks at the farm where Charlie lived where not really affected by this, for them life was simple. Wake up early, take care of the cattle, go to sleep. Years could go by without much change.

Charlie was an orphan, he had been taken in by Mr. Meyer since he was 9 months old. His life was a good one, even tho he was never treated as Mr. Meyer's own son he was always treated fairly. Growing up on the farm had been a filled with a lot of adventures, he had learned how to track animals and how to hunt. He had also learned how to understand the cattle and take care of the other animals on the farm.

A few years ago Johnny arrived at the farm to take care of the flock that provided the main source of mead for the workers of the farm. This was a moment of great happiness for Charlie. For most of his life he had been surrounded by adults, so the animals of the farm where his main companions. Now he had another kid to play with, it is true that Jhonny was older than Charlie, nonetheless he very much enjoyed exploring and going on adventures. Sometimes they would take the horses and head into the woods. Johnny was very good at hunting, and he had a lot of knowledge about plants and wild animals.

After taking a deep breath, Charlie got up from the bed; he knew that he was already late, but it was like some unknown force was pulling him back; he wanted to get back to his dream that wasn't a dream. Before going out, Charlie quickly went to the bathroom; the water on the faucet was especially cold, perfect for waking up. He splashed some water on his face to wash away the sleepiness, then he looked up. His face greeted him in the mirror. Slightly sad green eyes and sunburned skin, abundant light brown hair, overall speaking, Charlie was a handsome 11-year-old boy. He had a few stains on his shirt and face, evidence of the last few days working the herds and the flock, and mostly from playing with Johnny. He made a mental note to remember to take a shower that night.

Charlie left the bathroom and looked up to Johnny; their room wasn't really a room; Mr. Meyer had reutilized the tack room with a few makeshift beds after Charlie requested that he would like to share a room with Jhonny. They sometimes would spend hours after work telling stories and reading.

Johnny looked up with frustration in his eyes, he looked distant this morning. "Ready to go Charlie boy?'

"The last one to the stalls cleans the drinking pot," said Charlie with a smile on his face. Then he ran to the door, quickly opened it, and stepped outside. Their room was part of the main barn; there were 6 stalls in total; 3 of them had horses on them, one had a mule, and the other two were used for newly born lambs and their mothers, or for when some of the sheep from the flock where sick. Charlie turned left and started running towards the main corral; the barn doors flashed by his eyes; he was running with all his might. He felt he was about to win; he was running faster than ever. This time Johnny was definitely left behind.

Booooom!

An explosion shook the barn. Charlie landed by the barn entrance, near the door of one of the empty stalls. Everything was blurry for him; it was like the time had slowed down. There was a lot of pain on his head, he reached his hand out and noticed a very sharp pain on the back of his head, his hand got wet, when he looked at his hand he noticed it was all tainted red. "Blood! I am bleeding!"

Crrrrrrreack patom!

A portion of the ceiling felled on top of him, Charlie was panicking; his vision started fading. He suddenly felt despair; he didn't want to die there.

"CHARLIE! Charlie, where are you?!" a voice was screaming his name.

Charlie lifted up his head and saw Johnny running towards him; he held something big in his hand. It seemed like a big knife, "Charlie, come with me," said Johnny lifting the rubble and extending extending his free hand.

"What is going on?" Charlie asked; he suddenly realized he could hear people screaming and loud banging sounds outside. "And what are you doing with that?" he asked with a confused stare while pointing at the large weapon on Johnny's hand.

"No time to explain, can you walk?" said Johnny; it seemed like he was in a rush.

"I think so" said Charlie, he was feeling bruised but nothing seemed broken.

"Great" it suddenly seemed like Johnny moved from one side of the barn to the other in just one step. "Follow me." He signaled Charlie wis his head. Johnny had only started walking again when he saw Charlie still unmoving.

"Johnny, I don't understand…" said Charlie; he had a blank stare, he was not able to make sense of what was going on.

Bzzzz Booooom!

A far explosion filled the environment.

Johnny stood up straight and looked towards the distance, in the direction of the new sound. "Oh no…" he quietly said.

Charlie lifted his head and followed Johnny's stare. There was smoke everywhere; he could see people gathering on the field; it was the farmworkers.

A giant metallic object shaped like an upside-down soup plate flew over the gate that separated the grassing area and the main house. A bright light was accumulating on the front of the object.

Bzzzz Booooom!

The light shot towards the fence and exploded as if it had hit an invisible barrier. A blue hue was triggered for an instant. It looked like blue-tinted glass; suddenly, it was utterly transparent again.