“Lie.”

The man cocked his head in confusion. His friend, his best friend of nearly 20 years was telling him to lie?! But why? What could his friend possibly stand to gain from it?

Words escaped him for a minute as the shock of the suggestion moved through him.

His words, once they did come were laced with disbelief. “What?! Why should I lie?!”

He didn’t understand.

The man’s friend waved his arms around, gesturing wildly to the green landscape that surrounded them.

“Look at this place, Eric! It’s gorgeous!”

Eric didn’t bother to look around him, instead keeping his eyes on his friend.

Something had changed. Eric felt that as sure as he could feel the clothes on his back.

What he didn’t understand was why.

“We can’t stay.” Eric spoke, trying to reason with his friend.

A bond that was feeling weaker for every minute that ticked by.

There was only an arms length between each of them but neither made a move closer to the other.

“No, you can’t stay! Don’t you get it Eric? I’ve spent my whole life looking for a home! And now I’ve finally found it.”

“You already have a home, at home with us. With me.”

His friend scoffed. “I never belonged there. You tried to include me Eric but even you can’t change the fact I was always an outsider to everyone back in your home.”

A pause.

“This. This is where I belong. This is my home, I feel it. I feel it as strongly as you feel about your own family.”

Eric felt something crack inside of him, in a place that felt very close to his heart. His friend was gone, lost in a high of euphoria. He blinked and looked past his once cherished friend.

It was a beautiful place, no doubt. Thick green rolling hills, a fresh water babbling brook, trees of every colour. A sky so blue it almost hurt your eyes to stare into for too long.

And no other humans for miles and miles. No houses and no settlements anywhere close. Certainly not their own which was several weeks trek from here.

Indeed when they had come up with the idea of travelling beyond their boarders, Eric had had no idea he would be returning alone.

And he couldn’t stay, Eric’s home was the one he had left, and every day on this journey he missed it terribly. He couldn’t wait to return home and live in the one place his heart craved.

And so, he made no move forward to reach out for his friend, trying only with words to convince him, even though he knew in his heart both of their minds were made up.

His friend smiled at him, there was no sadness on his face, only joy and what Eric could only describe as, peace.

A sight he had never seen on him before.

“So what do we do now?” Eric asked softly.

His friend picked up Eric’s backpack, which until then had been laying at Eric’s own feet, and passed it back to Eric.

“Now you’re going to return to your home and I’m going to stay here.”

“And what am I supposed to tell people when they ask where you are?”

He just smiled. “Tell them I’m happy. Tell them I’ve found my own peace and intend to live it every single day until I’m sleeping.”

“I’m never gonna see you again am I?” Eric asked, his voice catching.

His friend just shrugged. “Who knows?”

“But think of it like this,” he said. “In a way, this is a happy ending for the both of us.”