Wish I Were You

[Soutine Twist - L’Officina Della Camomilla] ~ “Cancro dolce di zucchero e frecce”

When my father pulled up in the driveway, I felt unexpectedly excited. I usually didn’t like having to leave the friends I had in my hometown and all the comforts of my house, but I felt that something interesting would finally happen to me that summer. It was probably just because I was finally allowed to go to the club, but, for the first time, the burning sun and unbearable heat were almost something I was looking forward to.

When we entered the house, my mind was flooded with memories and, as soon as I got to lay on the couch, I felt like a little kid again, as if I’d gone back to when I’d always refuse to take a nap in the afternoon and would stay up watching TV while everyone else was asleep.

Now, during winter, napping was such a rare occurrence for me that I took every chance I had in order to do that, but, in summer, it became just as boring as it used to be. At that moment, though, I was feeling a bit tired because of the journey and the breeze coming from the window was so nice...

Then someone knocked on the door. My mom asked me to get it, so I shuffled towards it while rubbing my eyes. When I opened the door, a tall young man appeared before my eyes. His inky black hair was wavy and just as dark as his eyes. He was holding a pie and, as soon as he saw me, his lips curled into a smile. “Hi.”

“H-hi.”

“Are you Bene...detto?” Before I could even answer him, my mom ran up to him and hugged him excitedly. Despite being surprised, he kept on smiling, and seemed genuinely happy. I, instead, couldn’t understand what was happening at all.

“You’ve grown up so much since I last saw you, Adam!” My mom glanced at me and chuckled. “This is my son Be-ne-det-to.” She said my name slowly, syllable after syllable, so that he - Adam - could learn the correct pronunciation.

“Oh, sorry about mispronouncing your name, Be-ne-det-to. I’m just not that good at Italian, despite both my parents trying to teach me from time to time.” One more smile.

“I-it’s nothing.” My mom then interrupted with a sigh.

“It’s been so long since you two first met! No wonder you don’t remember each other.” She took the pie from Adam’s hands. “I’m going to say hi to your mom and thank her! In the meantime, why don’t you two catch up?” And off she went. I shut the door and invited Adam to sit on the couch. The same couch I was hoping I’d be sleeping on.

“So, um...I’m sorry, but I don’t remember ever meeting you...?” Adam chuckled and then spoke with a beaming smile.

“I get it, don’t worry. I just remembered who you were thanks to this.” He reached out for his pocket and took out a photo, which he then showed me. “This was you and me seven years ago.” There were indeed two boys in the photo. The taller one, on the left, was definitely Adam: you could recognize him from the radiant smile he had on his face. The one on the right, instead, was frowning and his arms were crossed. That was undoubtedly me.

“Oh.” Just as he was putting it away, I asked: “Can I keep it?”

“Of course you can!” His smile came back and I felt...relieved?

Hi everyone! Ciao!

Thanks for reading Chapter 1! Hope you liked it.

- ✨Pan✨