Cameron lay silently on the forest floor, his drab brown clothes the perfect disguise amid the autumn leaves. 

His sharp ears caught the sound of footsteps and he readied himself. 

As the robed man walked slowly by, Cameron leapt out, thrusting his hands forward and pushing the man, sending him tumbling into the river. 

Brother Gabriel surfaced, sputtering, his young eyes glittering in annoyance. "Always the mischief-maker, aren't you, Cam?" Gabriel hoisted himself from the river and grabbed his friend by the ear. Cameron wiggled free, grinning at the older boy. They had been friends since a young age, although Gabriel was a couple years older. 

But the moment Gabriel had reached his sixteenth he had donned monks robes and left his childhood playmate behind. 

Having been raised by the monks since birth, Cameron lived at the monastery too, and while he saw Gabriel often, they did not normally exchange more than a nod.

Gabriel was always pushing Cameron to begin the journey to donning his monks robes, but although Cameron had lived his entire life at the church, it still didn't feel like home.