IN THE LINE

07| THE BONFIRE

It's seven p.m. and I'm waiting for them at my place. By my place, I mean this huge tree in the heart of the forests behind the park I go to. It's been my sanctuary since I can remember. It was my grandpa's favorite place and hideaway. A small treehause at the top of the hugest of the trees around. He used to sneak me out of the house and then he'd brought me here to spend time with me. He'd been telling me lots of stories about how he found the tree, how he and grandma had spent whole days here.

Now I love this place as much as they did. So I loved my grandpa. I didn't know my grandmother because she died very young and I also never met my mother's parents since she was born in Italy and left her home as an eighteen-year-old, without their consent. And she has not spoken with them since. So as a little kid I was really happy when grandpa came over and spent time with me. He was the exact opposite of my father- his only son. This place was our little big secret and save to say the most adventurous time I've ever had as a kid.

The only sad thing about this place is that my father has never been here. He doesn't even know about it. When I asked grandpa why he only said that he would never appreciate it. He also told me that if I will ever be in trouble I can hide in the tree. Now I know that he just knew his son well. So when grandpa passed away, I was the only one who knew about this sanctuary. Sometimes it was better to have some company here so I brought my closest people here eventually. Mom, Mia, Mason, and Joshua. They spend a lot of nights here with me. It was our kind of sleepover. We swam in the small creek nearby and we used to make bonfires here. It's been almost two years since we all got together, so tonight we're gonna reminiscing the good old times here.

First I started a fireplace next to the tree and now we are leaning against the tree, relaxing. Brex is enjoying the freedom, even though, with his tongue out of his mouth, breathing fast, I guess the warm night isn't too comfortable for him and his rich fur. I wake up from my daydreaming as he stops breathing and immediately stands up moving a few feet towards the sounds he hears in the distance. He moves in front of me, ready to defend. He doesn't know we'll have company tonight so I whistle and command him to my right leg. First disruptor to appear in the light of the fire is no one else than Barney; a crazy English Cocker Spaniel with lovely long fawn hair, Mia's dog and he's larking with Mason's small black French bulldog, Amal. They run straight to Us as they notice Brex. These dogs are the best doggy friends, the same as their owners. I give a nod to Brex as he asks for permission to run towards them. They meet in a huge style. Brexton skips through Amal and plops down with Barney. The three roll on the grass as they lick each other and groan with happiness. The cutest and strangest dog trio in the world, I think.

Finally, I can see also human visitors walking toward me, the light from the bonfire enlightens their faces.

"Hey guuuuys!" I squash them together so we can all hug.

"Oh my god, Joshua you are so tall! Last time I saw you you were smaller than me!"

I gawk at him. I haven't seen him for so long. He is studying in France so he's rarely at home.

" How is Paris?"

"Le meilleur endroit dans le monde!" he says as he pecks a small kiss on my forehead. "Glad to see you Chlo."

"Me too my French buddy!" I give him a tight hug as my emotions overwhelm me. This guy was an inexperienced shy weirdo when he first went abroad. But now he is a tall, self-confident and smart man. I'm so proud of him!

"And what about me lizard?" Mason mutters from behind me. He calls me a lizard since we were ten. We used to play hide and seek here and once I hid between these huge rocks near the pound. I crouched down trying to be as little as possible and hoped that Mason won't find me. But then I felt something moving on my shoulder, in utter shock I turned my head to the side and saw the green monster that was trying to stick its tongue on me. I screamed so loud that Mason was with me in the second. In a panic, I threw it off of me and run straight into his arms, and almost climbed on his head in the fit. After that encounter, I was so scared of lizards that it took me a few weeks to get the courage to come back here. This surrealistic fear of lizards made me a laughing stock within this group quite a lot of times. But these are the best times for me and Mason. Our bond tightened also because of the lizard story and so we are greeting like this 'till today. When I'm in his embrace, I just know I'm safe. He was always like the older brother I never had.