While He Sleeps

The night had fallen like a thick velvet curtain over the village. Crickets sang softly outside, and a faint breeze carried the scent of olive trees and distant firewood.Inside the small home, a dim lamp flickered in the kitchen.Cristiano was asleep in the next room, curled around a deflated football like it was a pillow. His soft breathing barely reached the ears of his parents, who sat in silence at the table.The contract lay between them.Neither had touched it for over an hour.Maria Dolores ran her fingers along the wooden grain. "He's just a boy," she whispered. "Seven years old. He still wets the bed sometimes. And now they want to take him to another continent?"José Dinis lit a cigarette with trembling hands. He hadn't smoked in months. "They'll take care of him," he muttered. "They have money. More than we'll ever see."Maria shook her head. "Money won't hold him when he cries in the night."José exhaled, his eyes heavy. "You saw the video. The facilities. The stadium. Our boy could become something more than this—more than a fisherman's son who kicks cans and hopes for miracles.""But at what cost?" Her voice cracked. "They want him to follow their rules. Learn their prayers. And that man... Yusef... he didn't say it, but I saw it in his eyes. They won't let him stay the boy we raised."José looked toward the bedroom door. "What future does he have here?""A real one," Maria said, fierce now. "One where he knows who he is. One where he prays to the same God we taught him about. One where he doesn't have to hide his faith—or worse, forget it."They sat in silence again.The old wall clock ticked loud in the stillness."He wants to go," José said at last. "He looked at that man like he'd touched the stars."Maria's eyes filled with tears. "And I looked at that man like I was watching a wolf in a silk suit."She stood up, walked to the small window, and stared out into the dark. "If we send him... we might never get him back."Behind them, from the bedroom, Cristiano turned in his sleep and mumbled a word."Ball."They both heard it.And both hearts broke just a little more.

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