Marco and Rufus

Marco got up that Sunday morning, and all he could think of was going to visit his best friend. Like every Sunday for the past three months, Marco had breakfast, got ready, and went to the town to visit his new best friend, who he now considered his best friend of always, Rufus. He didn’t know if that was his actual name, but that is how he called him.

So, Marco walked the five blocks from his house to the center of the town, and on the way he thought of all the things he would tell Rufus. It had been a busy week at school, so he had a lot to tell him, and summer break was only two months away so they could also make plans for the summer. As he walked Marco’s excitement grew, he couldn’t wait to see Rufus’ expression when he heard his summer plans.

Already downtown, Marco walked to the store where Rufus lived, the same store where he had met him three months earlier. Rufus was at the window, waiting for him as every Sunday, Marco thought, with a big, warm, smile. Marco ran the last few steps, and when he reached him he sat in front of the store, on the other side of the glass, looking at Rufus.

Marco’s parents were both afraid of dogs, and did not let Marco have a dog, or even get near one. Marco, however, had not inherited this fear, but instead loved dogs and dreamed of one day having one. But this dream was far away, he knew, since his parents wouldn’t even let him try to interact with a dog. So, when Marco walked by the antique store downtown one day, and saw the wicker dog box, he knew that was the closest he could be to his dream for the time being, so he introduced himself to Rufus.

Since then, Marco had spent the last three months going to see Rufus, sitting outside the store, on the other side of the glass, and talking to his best friend. Adults walked by and didn’t think much of it, just another kid playing outside a store talking to the clouds. But Marco knew he wasn’t talking to the clouds, or to the glass, or to a wicker box, he was talking to his best friend, the one who was always waiting for him with a warm smile.