The Sotry

He halted, gasping for air at the foot of the boulder, bending double to
catch his breath.
"Oy, easy, Jack," Cedric said, concerned, as he nimbly jumped off the mossy rock on which he'd been perched. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "What's this about being sent away?"
Calmer, but still breathing heavily, Jack began again, "My parents - they're sending me away to live with Ugrund, the owner of our land."
"What - that old fool!?" Cedric interrupted, disgust and derisiveness heavily lining the tone of his voice, "He's a loony, everyone knows that - What are they sending you to him for?"
"I was getting to that," Jack said, annoyed, "They are under the impression that if I help Ugrund by becoming his servant, then he will forget about the back payments we haven't been able to come up with. After last year’s poor potato crop…"
"Oh...so what's wrong with living with him, then?" Cedric asked, nonchalantly chewing on a long blade of fox grass and scratching his head. Then his eyebrows knitted
together and the grass dropped from his mouth in dawning comprehension, "Ugrund lives on the other side of the town, which is far away already! We'd never see each other again!
And you'd have to leave your family and … and........"
"Yees!" Jack said through gritted teeth, obviously exasperated as his friend continued to voice the disadvantages of such an event, which had already occurred to Jack hours beforehand.
"What am I going to do?" Jack asked shrilly, when Cedric had finished ranting, his pensive brown eyes wide and helpless. Cedric looked thoughtful for a moment, arms crossed and tapping his booted foot on the soft earth of the forest
floor. He swatted a bothersome darter fly. Swarms of them filtered dizzyingly in the sun's rays that filtered through the canopy. Jack looked at him expectantly, but now saw that Cedric was now preoccupied with swatting the bugs that plagued him.
Jack sighed; he was used to his friend's short attention span, "Well...?"
Cedric started, his momentary reverie over, "Wha..? Oh...well. Of course! There's only one thing we can do!"
Jack raised his eyebrows; despite his friend's failings, Cedric did come up with some truly brilliant ideas. (Although, in truth, they were few and far between, and, like the rest of his ideas, usually crazy.)
"We'll run away and become pirates!" Cedric exclaimed.
Jack stared at his grinning friend, who obviously thought that his idea fell into the former category- but then, he thought that of all his ideas.....until they turned awry. Not sure how to voice his doubt for his friend's sanity, Jack began, "...Erm..."
"No Jack, it’s a great idea!" Cedric said, not at all put out by his companion's less that enthused response. "Haven't you ever wanted to go on an adventure?"
"No," Jack said petulantly, sitting down o the large boulder on which Cedric had previously rested.
"Aww, c'mon Jack." Cedric said winningly.
Jack sighed and rolled onto his back, staring up into the deep green canopy above him and pondering Cedric's proposal. Was his idea plain craziness, or could veins of brilliance be seen coursing through it? Running away would allow him to rid himself of Ugrund, his expected servitude, and his parents' meddling decisions for his life. However, running away would also mean traveling on hard, dusty roads only to sleep under the stars, or under a thunderstorm, weather permitting, and resting his body on an impenetrable bed of rocks and small insects. Secretly, Jack had ached for an adventure for a long time; anything different than the boring chores and daily ritual of pulling himself out of bed, taking care of the farm animals, fixing breakfast, eating breakfast, tending the farm until dinner, eating, and then hauling himself up the stairs and into bed, would be a welcome change.