Daybreak

Daniel Fehr & Elena Rotondo

A young boy and his father leave their house in the middle of the night. It is the first time that the boy leaves home this early, at a time when he is usually asleep.
As they walk through the forest, the boy’s flashlight illuminates part of the vegetation while at the same time it makes all the rest disappear. When the flashlight is turned off, the boy switches on all his senses: he experiences the darkness, the sounds of the forest, the sound of his father, the roughness of the ground, and all the smells…
It’s a long walk, but the boy holds himself from asking his father how long it’s left to their destination, or even what their destination is.

Daybreak takes the reader for a walk celebrating the senses but also the value of waiting, surprise, solitude, and respect for the space of others.