The perimeter was bound by a fence made of aged, wooden planks that through the seasons had adopted the same gray color as the bark from the yard’s only tree. On one end was the rear of the cabin, and on the opposite were several mounds of soil, each of which harbored a shriveled life. The fence was crooked and leaned over the plots of dirt, making sure that no light could reach the plants unless the sun was at its midday posture. Now it was hard to determine the position of the sun, as the weightless clouds, covered the sky for all the water they carried had painted the surface of the backyard, where two sets of bare feet trampled throughout the wet grass.

They were two boys that shared the same height, weight, and more than anything, face. Lucas chased after Izzy, but there remained a distance between them until the lighthearted play became something rougher. The boys tumbled to the wet ground, and having caught his brother, the tension in Lucas’ body eased enough for a sigh to escape his lips.

“Boys.” The word came in a woman’s voice.

Izzy shook his body free from his brother’s and moved in the shortest route to the patio of the cabin where his mother sat, watching them. Lucas saw the reunion of the mother and son, but instead of following he turned and headed to the farthest end of the yard.

He got behind the tree and started to climb, in time, reaching the cover the branches. While the woman pacified the boy she had taken into her arms, she didn’t notice the actions of her other child, but the distance from the deck to the tree was too far even if she noticed in time to react. His hands and feet were already slick, and the rain had soaked even beneath the leaves of the tree, so when Lucas tried to grasp a branch to take him higher, his hand slipped and he lost his balance.

The woman stared, petrified by the sight of the little boy lying inanimate at the other end of the yard. Taking advantage of his mother’s immobility, Izzy hurried to his brother’s side. Leaving a distance between them, he too, laid down and fell asleep on the wet grass.