Those from the outside

Lucas is nine years old, he has blond hair always in a mess, big green eyes always mischievous and his face studded with freckles. He is always smiling and happy to help others, even though from the top of his metre ten he has trouble catching the cereal packets, he always smiles in all circumstances and always does his best to make others smile. Lucas is my little brother, and probably the most important person to me.

I was lying in my bed reading a sweet love book where the main characters had love at first sight but didn't dare to tell the other one when Lucas came in after knocking on the door, he had a cloth bag in his hands, his Iron Man bag on his back and had already put on his walking shoes, suggesting that he was planning to go out. He smiled at me and waddled and asked:

 "-Gwennie, can we go pick mushrooms in the forest? »

To tell the truth, I didn't feel like going out, the story of Nina and Chris was starting to captivate me despite the silliness behind some of the dialogue, they had just kissed at a concert and were heading to Chris's apartment to do more than kiss. But Lucas's hopeful smile made me snap, so I looked at the time. Since it was four o'clock, it was only an hour and a half before curfew, and the forest was a good twenty minutes away.

I got up and told Lucas it was okay. After I put on my shoes, we went outside. The sky was still clear, Lucas was holding my hand.

"- Honey, why do you want to pick mushrooms? »

Lucas seemed happy that I asked him the question and answered me with a huge smile and a cheerfulness that was as crisp as ever.

"-It's to make a birthday omelette!

-What do you mean, sweetheart?

-We've been living with Nick for a year! »

Nick is our owner, by the looks of it, he's about twenty-eight years old. He is taciturn, always focused and rarely smiles. Despite these repulsive characteristics, he was kind and knew how to take responsibility. And just like Lucas and I, he's dead.

So it had been a while since we had lived in that idyllic place called "Academy", a year since we had seen our parents. Lucas didn't seem to understand what was happening to him, he had the same hopeful smile as before he died. Nothing had changed, not his smile, not his eternal optimism, not his freckles, not even his height. Here you could grow up, and even stop growing old if you thought you were too old. Knowing that my beloved brother was supposed to grow up again made me feel guilty every time I saw how small he was, every time he tried to reach something too high for him, every time he wore a sweater that was too big for him.

In an attempt to erase this indelible guilt, I did everything I could to make his death pleasant, everything to show him that I loved him and that he had more room in my heart than anyone else. We walked to the forest, my little brother's hand held mine gently and he was telling me how much he was looking forward to going to the Academy school, he had already met some of the students and even found a girl named Riley who he liked very much. He talked about her blushing, saying she is "even cuter than a kitten video on YouTube" and eyes "prettier than the water in the town pool".

Her enthusiasm for Riley made me smile and I offered to ask Nick if he could bring her home sometime. Lucas liked the idea and was already fantasizing, he wanted to make her cupcakes and play hide-and-seek with her and finally ask her if she would be his "namoureuse".

We finally arrived at the forest, and we dug a little deeper to find mushrooms, the trees were high, the leaves were already an orange heralding the approaching autumn. Lucas filled his bag while singing and I watched him kindly, he then sorted the mushrooms and explained to me that he had learned which mushroom was harmful, which one gave a tummy ache and which one was edible from a book in Nick's library.

"And once I asked what Nick's favourite food was, he told me that it was the food his mom used to make him when he was the same size as me when he was sick! I asked him what it was and he said it was a hot mushroom omelet. So I want to make him all warm and cozy like his mummy! »

Lucas' idea was adorable and I hugged him with affection, he looked at me with pride and stood up to go home. We got to the city, and Lucas started to panic, I asked him why, worried. He had forgotten the bag of mushrooms in the forest and wanted to go back. He had tears in his eyes and looked like he was about to cry for good. I looked at my watch, it was only half an hour before Nick's curfew was due to expire. I crouched down and took Lucas' hand.

"-Lucas, can I give you an assignment? »

Lucas nodded.

"You go home and explain to Nick that I'm gonna be late. I'll get your mushrooms, and we'll make your heart-warming omelet. »

Lucas hugged me tightly and thanked me, then he ran home. So I headed into the forest for the second time today and thought about Nick and that mushroom omelet. I tried to imagine him as a young man, but I couldn't get the vision of his broad shoulders, his serious look and the feeling that he had lived hundreds of years in his eyes out of my mind. While trying to find that cloth bag, I sank into this forest, which was less luminous than before, and more disturbing without my little brother at my side. I could have sworn that the temperature had dropped about five degrees, I was shivering slightly and was afraid I would have to come home without those mushrooms. But I saw the bag and started to approach to pick it up. Except a man had picked it up before me.