The Life of My Dreams

In a big city in Brazil, there were two homeless boys, Richard, and James. They were skinny black teenagers, thirteen and fourteen years old.

They lived in a tent, under a viaduct close to the center of the state’s capital. In that place, there were too many tents and people living, each with its history.

One morning, Richard and James were sitting on a sofa old and dirty, close to their tent. They also were a bit dirty, because they did not have the opportunity to take a shower every day. Richard said, “How is the life of your dreams?”

James gave a small smile. He was ashamed of his smile because it lacked some teeth, and his teeth were not white. He said, “A life far from here.”

Richard also gave a small smile. He had the teeth, but they were too yellowed.

“Me too. But I wanna know what you imagine as a perfect life?”

James thought a little and said, “I imagine a life with a lovely family. A bedroom only for me. A hot shower, tasty food, and these things. And you?”

“I think the same things.”

James said discouraged, “But this is only a dream, I think we’ll never get it.”

“Why not?”

“Life is too hard, and I don’t believe in fairy tales.”

“Change life isn’t a fairy-tale, it’s a real possibility.”

James sighed and said, “Maybe. But we must live the reality.”

James got up, took a little bag, and said, “Let’s go to work!”

Richard got up and said, “Let’s!”

They walked towards a traffic light. When the light was red, they juggled. When the light was almost turning green, they passed through the cars to ask for money. Some drivers gave them, but others did not.

They stayed there for some hours. Then, they went to another traffic light.

This excerpt is part of the short story "The Life of My Dreams". Read this and other stories in my book Behaviors.

https://books2read.com/u/mdwW9w