Adam and Thomas

Chapter 14

After eating raspberries and blueberries, they went out to explore the forest. Hunger was weakening them. After a short walk, they stopped and sat down. Thomas sank into reverie.

“A penny for your thoughts, Thomas,” said Adam. “I was thinking about the dream I had. It won’t let go of me.”

“Thomas, in that dream you were a guy who didn’t give in. Sure, you got whipped, but you didn’t surrender. You can be proud of yourself.”

While they were walking, dizzy with hunger, before their eyes, between the trees, lay a meadow with a cow and a calf. The cow didn’t seem to be used to strangers, and she was surprised. But the calf wasn’t frightened. It looked at them with eyes full of wonder. The meadow was fenced in. After looking at it from all sides, Adam entered, patted the cow and the calf, and, without delay, started to milk the cow. He caught the milk in his cupped hand and drank. Right away he invited Thomas to join him in drinking. They drank the fresh milk sip by sip. If they had had a cup or bowl, they could have milked some more. But they were happy with what the morning had given them and withdrew into the forest.

“There’s nothing like fresh milk,” said Adam.

“I forgot. I have a thermos bottle in my pack. Let’s bring it and fill it with milk,” said Thomas.

They didn’t hurry back. They looked around to see whether there were any suspicious creatures, and only after making certain there was no danger, they returned to their tree. Thomas climbed up to the nest and brought down the thermos bottle. They hurried back to the meadow.

Adam milked the cow and filled the thermos bottle. If they hadn’t been afraid of the owner of the cow and the calf, they would have stayed and petted the dear creatures they had found.

They went back to the tree, climbed up, and sipped the milk. With every sip, they felt the fresh milk slaking their thirst and satisfying their hunger. Without noticing, they fell asleep.

When they woke up, toward evening, Thomas said, “I dreamed a strange dream. A white dream. Everything looked white: the trees, the streets, and the people.”

“Were the people in a panic?” Adam asked.

“No, everyone was standing there, bewildered.”

“And were you white, too?”

“I was apparently whiter than everyone. They all looked at me, and they were sure I was the one who had brought about that whitening.”

“What did you say to them?”

“I didn’t know what to say.”

“You had that white dream because we drank that good, fresh milk. Grandma says, ‘A white dream is a good dream,’” said Adam.

“Thanks for interpreting the dream,” said Thomas.

Crouching and with caution, they went back to visit the cow and her calf. When they were close they saw that the grass was still there, but the cow and the calf were gone.

Adam didn’t look worried. “The forest has a lot more presents for us.”

“I see that you trust the forest,” said Thomas.

“The forest is sometimes better than people,” said Adam.

Thomas commented, “The forest always appears to us as a place where wild animals live.”

“Don’t forget. Wild animals only attack when they’re hungry.”

“That shows that people are worse than them,” said Thomas, speaking in his father’s words.