5 A Usual Day

Stars filled the sky like pale corn into the freshly turned ground. It was the promise of life in the darkness, a sense of warmth springing from the cold. It was a vastness to bring humbleness and an eternal space to bring gratitude for the coziness of home. No matter the years that passed, Xen saw each night sky as a fresh gift given anew. It was the moment that anyone knew him would see his eyes, smile and his breathing deepen just a little.

"Oi brat. What are you looking at?"

As Xen was enjoying the view of the starry sky, he was suddenly interrupted by a heavy voice.

Xen looked at the burly man who was lying beside him on the thick branch of the tree.

Throughout the whole journey, Jim didn't get to speak much so he was getting impatient. As he saw Xen looking at the sky, he finally couldn't keep it inside him and asked the question.

In this lonesome journey, there weren't many things to do except talking to each other.

"Looking at the past and predicting the future."

Xen replied in a casual tone like this was something common.

Jim looked at Xen for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"Hahahhahaa. Oh really? Then tell me my future."

Xen looked at Jim for a moment before he said in a grim tone.

"You are going to die in the future."

"....."

Suddenly the laughter of Jim stopped as he looked at Xen with wide eyes full of disbelief.

Ignoring his gaze, Xen kept looking at the stars.

"What are you two talking about?"

Sam, who just came to the tree after laying traps around the tree asked them with a smile.

"This little brat says he can predict the future."

Jim replied to Sam in an angry tone.

"Oh! That's interesting. So, did he tell you something?"

Sam asked in an amused tone.

"He said I am going to die in the future."

Jim said in a disgruntled tone.

"Well, we all are going to die in the future, aren't we?"

Both Xen and Sam looked at Jim with a smile on their face. But to Jim, the smile was filled with mockery.

Looking at the two in front of him silently laughing at him, he just let out a curse and moved away from there.

"Are you done with the traps?"

Xen asked with a smile on his face.

"Yes."

Sam sat down in front of Xen and took out a long piece of bread. After breaking it into 3 even pieces he gave them to Jim and Xen.

"Hopefully, we will have some harvest in the morning."

Sam then continued with a mouth full of bread.

The bread was hard, without any taste. But it didn't seem to bother Xen who was looking at the sky.

"What's interesting about the night sky?"

Sam asked Xen while looking at the sky.

"The moons. Doesn't they fascinate you.?"

Xen pointed towards two moons in the sky. One of them was bigger in size while the other was one fourth the size of the other. Both of them were connected by a white stream of light full of stars. The scene was looking mesmerizing.

"Oh. You are talking about the twin moons."

Sam replied in an amused tone. After looking at the sky for some time, he then said to Xen.

"Well, there weren't two moons in the beginning."

"Huh!"

Xen looked at Sam in surprise.

"Can you tell me more about it?"

Xen asked Sam while furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well, sure. I mean it's common knowledge."

Sam took a small sip of water from a bottle and then continued in a grave tone.

"Long ago, there was only one moon up in the sky. The big one."

Sam told Xen while pointing towards the bigger moon.

"One day, the moon suddenly started to crack. And just when everyone thought that the moon will break apart, another moon appeared beside it and prevented its destruction."

Sam said in an awe-inspiring tone.

"From that day on, there are two moons in the sky."

"Huh."

It took a long time for Xen to digest what Sam told him. After getting his thoughts together, he asked Sam in a grim tone again.

"Do you know how the other moon came into existence?"

Sam looked at Xen for a moment and then continued.

"Well, people believe a God took mercy on us and saved our moon from being destroyed. He then made another moon just in case the first one got destroyed."

Both of them sat there quietly, looking at the night sky.

After a moment of silence, Xen asked in a grim tone. His voice containing traces of uncertainty.

"Do you believe it?"

Sam sat there quietly, looking at the sky.

"Whether I, believe it or not, doesn't make a difference. Even if the moon gets destroyed, I don't think I can do anything to prevent it. I am powerless. I am helpless. Much less influencing the moon, I can not even control my own destiny."

After saying it, Sam stood up. Looking at Xen with a slight smile on his face he then continued.

"It's almost midnight. You need to rest too. Go to sleep, I will keep watch."

Sam then crawled his way towards another branch.

Xen was still looking at Sam's back. His face was full of confusion.

"Do not think about it too much. He likes to act mysterious and shit."

Suddenly Xen was interrupted from his deep thoughts by Jim's disgruntled tone.

Ignoring both of them, Xen lay down to watch the sky, slowly drifting into the sleep.

.

.

.

.

After a long, cold night the daybreak brought glimmers of warmth. The golden light softly caressed the land and ignited the birds into a chorus of melodies.

Xen was still sleeping with a slight smile on his face when he was suddenly startled awake by a loud voice.

"Oh! Hell yeah."

Looking down the tree, Xen saw Jim, who was laughing loudly while holding a big white rabbit in his hand. Xen wanted to punch him in the face for disturbing his sleep. After looking around for a while, Xen slowly gets up and walked down towards Jim.

"Why are you so excited this early?"

Xen asked in an annoyed voice. No one will be happy after being woken up from their dream just to hear loud boorish laughter.

"We have some great harvest today. We got 4 rabbits just from the traps we laid yesterday."

It was at this moment, Xen noticed a small creature in his hand.

It was the size of a cat, with long ears and a fur as white as snow, which was now full of red. The blood gushing out of its neck was frozen in the fur, giving it a beautiful yet tragic sight.

The moment Xen saw the dead rabbit, his somewhat closed eyes became rounded. He looked at the dead rabbit for a moment before averting his gaze away. His face was full of frowns.

Since time immemorial, there has always been a difference between saying and doing. Many times, one's action differs from what he says. These same words were perfect to describe Xen's condition at the moment. Even though he was prepared to hunt, but the moment he saw blood and a dead animal, his first response was to frown and look away.

This little act of Xen didn't escape the eyes of Sam, who was bringing 3 dead rabbits in his hand.

"Sigh."

After a long sigh, he put down the rabbits and went towards Xen. Putting both his hands on his shoulder, he looked at Xen in the eyes and kept staring at him in silence.

"Are you alright?"

He finally asked in a gentle tone.

"Hmm."

"I know, the sight of blood is hard for you to take in. But you have to move forward. Do not dwell in the past. It will take some time, but you will be alright."

After patting his shoulder with a hand, Sam shoved the rabbits into a leather bag and packed the remaining traps.

"Let's move on. The rabbits are good, but they aren't enough. We need to hunt a bigger animal."

After eating a dry breakfast and making some tea, the trio moved deeper into the forest.