Away From Home

The blue tent stood like a beacon in the green, it was late afternoon, the sun just beginning its slow descent painting the sky in hues of orange and rose. A few Scattered wood gathered in a short distance, hinting at human presence. Inside the tent, Joe, a boy of eighteen was arranging his sleeping bed, his dad Jude was outside tightening the rope. This was Jude's annual escape to the wild, a tradition born 7 years ago when he was tired of his regular home routine. Jude hummed a tune as he fastened the rope waiting for Joe to join him outside for a chat before going to sleep.

Shortly he joined him outside and they sat on the grass watching the sky. An unusual silence fell in, Joe could sense something was wrong, his dad rarely stays quiet, oftentimes he engages him with talks about nature or the stars.
"I have something to tell you" Joe's dad said, finally breaking the silence.

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Joe sat quietly, his gaze focused on him, curious about what he had to say.
"We'll no longer come camping like this. Your mum and I had agreed to relocate to New York. We'll be living a different life now"

The words hung in the air, heavy and unexpected . Joe's eyes widened, he was already getting used to the life here and all of a sudden moving to a different town to start a different life.
"But why?" Be asked.
"We had always wanted to live there. When you got a scholarship, we decided to postpone it until you're done with highschool". He paused for a moment, sensing his son's turmoil, he pulled him closer "this is why we come out here. So we can discuss sensitive matters sometimes".

"You'll adapt, sometimes we need to change location to help you discover who you really are and what you truly want" Jude added.

"Yeah," he said, a faint smile playing on his lips, his dad's final words seemed to sink deep, maybe it was truly time to try new stuff. And for the first time, the silence that followed felt not heavy, but comforting.