“You lied to me Luke.” Bo said flatly as he looked at his older cousin.
Luke put on a fake smile. “No I didn’t Bo you are just imagining things.”
     “Don’t give me that line of crap Lukas. I know you lied.” Bo said, he could feel his anger growing within him, and fought hard to suppress it.
Luke sighed softly. “I had other things to do Bo.”
     “Other things with other people you think are more important then me.” Bo said.
     “Oh just simmer down Bo.” Luke said taking a step towards Bo.
     “Simmer down? How can you have the nerve to tell me that? You thought I wouldn’t find out didn’t you?” Bo asked.
Luke shrugged. “I never thought about it. I have been so busy lately and just didn’t think about . . .”
Bo cut off Luke. “Of telling me.”
     “You are over reacting Bo.” Luke said.
     “Am I?”
     “Yes you are. I just had other people to talk to and things I wanted to do.”
     “What about me? I am the one that has always been there for you and now you just turn your back on me. How two faced can you be?”
     “You are blowing this way out of proportion.” Luke said.
Bo shook his head. “No I am not. All these years I believed your lies and now the truth shines through. I am blind to have not seen it before.”
Luke now stood inches in front of Bo, his face in front of Bo’s. “So what if I lied?”
     “So this is how our friendship ends?” Bo asked more to himself then to Luke.
     “We are cousins, kin and that is not the same as friendship. You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.” Luke said flatly.
     “So if we weren’t cousins you wouldn’t choose to be around me?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. Considering that you are younger I really doubt that I’d be hanging out with you.”
     “So it is all because of the age?” Bo asked.
Luke shrugged again. “We are just two very different people with different, with different interests.”
     “That is not true we have lots of things in common.” Bo argued.
Luke rolled his eyes. “Not enough to build a strong based friendship on.”
Bo was filled with more pain then anger. He couldn’t believe that after all these years of thinking Luke was his friend that Luke had turned his back on him, and was ending what he thought was a strong and true friendship. Luke had his own set of friends, Bo had never really made other friends thinking Luke’s friendship was all he needed, now he found he never even really had that.
     “Why did you lie to me all these years?” Bo asked.
     “Like I said you can’t choose your family. I never said I didn’t care about you but you are my cousin and to me that is where it ends.”
Bo’s eyes watered with tears but he bit them back, refusing to let Luke see him cry. “And your friend’s are more important to you?”
     “Yeah so what if they are? I know Jesse always goes on about how family is most important but he is not right. Friends are more important. He always told me to look after you and I did that, but now you are old enough to know the truth. The only reason I acted like a friend to you was because Uncle Jesse made me.”
Bo turned and ran way from Luke, his vision blurred by tears he tripped and fell down a ravine.
     Bo rolled down the steep embankment of the ravine, his body slamming helplessly against the sharp rocks. His body becoming bloody and bruised, he could hear some of his bones snap as he rolled limply, like a rag doll down the hill. Bo’s body slammed against the bottom of the ravine, Bo heard a couple of his ribs break on impact. Bo lay completely still at the bottom of the ravine for a moment, then his body began to tremble in pain and he breathed in deeply to try to catch his breath which sent a fiery pain through his lungs.
    Eerie sounds floated through the air all around Bo, the sounds were haunting and sent chills up and down Bo’s spine. There were a few dead trees in the bottom of the ravine, they looked twisted, and their branches were like long reaching fingers, the bark white and peeling. Bo’s mind started replaying the words that had just been said. Part of him hated Luke for lying to him the way he had, yet the other part still loved him like a brother, even though he knew those feelings weren’t returned. A cold wind blew through the ravine, chilling Bo to the bone. Bo felt abandoned and alone as he painfully pulled himself into a sitting position. As pain both physical and emotional raced through his body, Bo allowed the tears that burned in his eyes to flow. Tears steadily streaked his cheeks, and a few choked sobs escaped his lips. Bo leaned back against the cold stone wall of the ravine, and gave a startled scream as his body sank slightly into the rock. The cold rock took on a life of it’s own pulling Bo into it. The rock was cold and clammy, pressed painfully against his body; it was cold and burning his flesh at the same time. Bo screamed for help, his scream echoing off the ravine walls. The trees seemed to come to life animated by some evil power. The branches reached towards Bo towering over his trapped from shadowing him the little bit of sun light that reached the bottom of the ravine. The temperature dropped drastically in the shadows, causing Bo to shiver from the cold.
    “NO! PLEASE NO! SOMEONE HELP ME!” Bo screamed as the branches scrapped against his skin, tearing at his clothes.
His screams from help went unanswered, they only echoed off the ravine walls. Bo closed his eyes grimacing at the pain that tore through his body as the sharp pointy branches of the trees stabbed into him. He opened his mouth to scream, but the scream remained locked in his throat. The sharp points of the branches just narrowly missing vital organs. Bo’s body trembled and his breathing was shaky as he moved his head to look down at himself. Long dead branches protruded from his body, and he was covered with dark red blood, his own blood that was slowly leaking from his body.
     The trees parted from in front of him, and there before him stood Luke, with a calm expression on his face.
     “Luke . . . please help me.” Bo pleaded.
Luke smiled and shook his head. “Not this time Bo.”
     “Luke please . . . it hurts . . . it hurts so bad.” Bo said, practically crying.
Luke’s smile only widened. “I don’t care Bo. I don’t care if you are hurting. I don’t care about you at all. You have been like a thorn in my side for far too long, this is the only way to be rid of you.”
Bo looked at Luke with wide hurt eyes. “How could you . . . not only did you lie to me for all these years, all the lies of yours I was fool enough to believe . . . now you are going to let me die?”
Luke nodded. “You figured something out for yourself for once in your life.”
     “How can you do this Luke, don’t you care at all?”
Luke pondered the question for a moment. “No not really.”
Bo could feel his life draining from his body. Luke stood there smiling watching Bo suffer as he slowly died. A long branch came towards Bo’s face. Bo tried to move his head but the ravine wall closed around the sides of his skull trapping him completely. Luke’s laughter filled Bo’s ear.
     “Goodbye cousin.” Luke said.
It was the last thing that Bo heard as the branch plunged in between his eyes, killing him instantly.
     Bo started screaming loudly, sitting straight up in bed, his whole body quivering. Luke was jerked out of his sleep by Bo’s scream, his heart racing with fear that his little cousin was in some kind of danger, Bo’s screamed sounded like he was in severe pain. He looked over at Bo, who had not really woken up yet, his eyes were still closed and he was making soft frightened noises. Luke, who was the only other one home at the Duke farm, jumped out of bed and rushed over to Bo’s bed.
     “Wake up Bo.” Luke said firmly, putting a hand on Bo’s shoulder. “It’s just a dream.”
     “NO!” Bo screamed pulling away from Luke’s touch. “Don’t touch me you liar.”
     “It’s a dream Bo, all just a dream. C’mon kiddo look at me.” Luke said trying to touch Bo’s shoulder again.
Bo cringed pulling away from Luke. “I don’t believe your lies anymore . . . you are so deceitful . . .”
Bo’s voice trailed off and his eyes snapped opened, he found he was sitting on his bed, Luke was next to him, the soft light of lamp lighting the room. Bo looked at Luke with distrustful blue eyes, not sure if he could believe Luke.
     “It is okay Bo, it was just a dream it is over now.” Luke said putting a gently hand on Bo’s shoulder, he wondered what the dream was about to cause the look of distrust in Bo’s eyes. “Do you want to talk about it buddy?”
Bo nibbled softly on his bottom lip as he thought about if he should talk to Luke about the dream, wondering how much of it had been real and how much was only a dream. Had they really been in a fight, did Luke really not think of him as a friend or really not care about him at all. Bo realized the only way he was ever going to get the answers was to talk about it with Luke.
     “I don’t know where to start.” Bo said.
     “The beginning is usually the best place to start.” Luke said.
     “I don’t know where it begins though, I don’t know what is real and what was a dream.” Bo said, biting back the tears that burned in his eyes.
     “Just begin where you think it begins then. You can tell me anything you know that, I am always here for you.” Luke said, squeezing Bo’s shoulder gently.
Bo took a deep breath and began by telling Luke about the fight.
     “That is defiantly a dream Bo. You are my best friend and I love you like a brother.” Luke said, offering comfort to Bo.
Bo smiled slightly. “I am so glad to here you say that.”
     “I probably should say it more often. Obviously I don’t say it enough if you think I could possibly hate you.” Luke said.
     “Like you said it was just a dream. The rest is obviously just a dream.” Bo said.
     “Do you want to talk about it anyways?” Luke asked.
Bo nodded slightly and told Luke about the rest of the dream, the images still flashing in his mind causing him to shudder. Luke pulled Bo into a comforting hug, reassuring him of their close bonded friendship, a friendship that could never be broken by anything or anyone. Bo leaned against his older cousin’s chest, taking comfort in the caring, brotherly hug from Luke, returning the hug in same.
    “It is okay Bo, I will always be here for you. You always have been and always will be my best friend. You are a lot more then a cousin to me.”
Bo didn’t bother to hide the few tears, that streaked his cheeks, from Luke, knowing his cousin would understand. He realized how silly he had been to doubt Luke’s friendship, knowing Luke’s friendship was the one thing he could always depend on.