Page 4 of Uncharted

“She was watchin’ one like she always did, and I was waitin’ for her to finish the dishes so we could go school shopping,” he said, turning the pine cone around. “And I dunno where it was, but I remember it talking about some forest, where forest fires are a big deal and happen a lot. I remember how much forest burned and wondered how anything could grow back, but then there were these.”

I eyed the pine cone, thinking I knew where he was going with that, but held my tongue. Showing off my degree wasn’t going to help the story or the point he was making. “Pine cones.”

“Yeah, I guess the trees dropped pine cones that were tough, really tough, and didn’t open normally like other pine cones. Unless they’re exposed to fire, then they burst open and spread seeds everywhere. Enough survive, growin’ in the ashes to bring back a new forest.”

“Ash is great fertilizer,” I said and smirked when he rolled his eyes.

“Focus, plant brain,” he said, tapping me on the forehead with the pine cone. “My point was that like those trees and pine cones, people have to deal with life burnin’ everything to the ground. And we gotta be ready to make sure life can follow it.”

“Are we the tree or the pine cone here?”

“Both.”

“This metaphor has a few holes, but I think⁠—”

“Too much,” he said affectionately. “We’re the trees, we’re also the pine cones and the seeds. Sometimes we’re even the fire, and we burn ourselves down. But we always gotta be ready to get back up from the ashes…but unlike the seeds, we remember the trees that burned down.”

I had to admit that as far as metaphors went; it wasn’t the worst. “I’m not that messed up about it. It’s just some beavers…and my brother’s ex-boyfriend suddenly showing up and making my brother act weird-er.”

Jake chuckled. “Yeah, well, exes can do that. Don’t go worrying about him too much. I know ya can’t help but worry a little, but he’s able to do that for himself.”

“Boy, don’t I know it,” I muttered, but not without a measure of affection for my twin. My brother was the most overthinking person I had ever met, and considering I’d been a STEM student, there was plenty of competition. “Gotta be weird for you, though.”

“What does?” he asked, cocking his head.

“Seeing someone get all sad about family,” I said with a shrug.

I wasn’t surprised when he frowned. “Why? Just because I haven’t lost somethin’ like that?”

“You’ve got your siblings, both your parents, hell, you still have grandparents,” I said with a shrug. “I know it’s weird as hell for me to even wrap my head around that; the reverse must be true for you.”

“It’s not weird to think about people not havin’ family,” he said, tilting his head and squinting at me. “If anythin’, it makes me kinda sad to think about it.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah. But, uh, I don’t usually say that to those people.”

“Those people. I’m one of those people.”

“And you get that look on your face whenever you tell someone about your parents, so I don’t say it to you either.”

I looked at him, startled. “What look?”

“Like you’re waitin’ for ’em to feel bad for you. Mika gets it too, but he looks like he’s gettin’ ready to tell someone not to worry about it, that it’s not a big deal, and the less ya say about it, the better,” Jake said, showing just how much about other people he noticed. “And you’re always lookin’ like you’re ready to say somethin’ that will be happy or funny, so people don’t get too stuck in feelin’ bad for you.”

I shrugged awkwardly. To be seen was to be loved, they said, but sometimes to be seen was to be called out on something you hoped was secret. “I don’t need people getting sad because of something no one can change. Our dad wasn’t there, which sucked, and our mom was there…and that also sucked.”

“It really sucked,” Jake corrected, and I snorted.

“Yeah, I guess it really did,” I said with a laugh.

Jake chuckled. “You can be so much like each other, but ya do it…different.”

“Huh?”

“I just mean, both of ya try to uh…minimize how bad your childhood was. Mika does it by shutting it down; he comes off a little mad and…dismissive, I guess. Just ‘move along to more important things, thank you very much.’ You do it like you’re playin’ it down, make ’em laugh, make ’em forget. You don’t wanna upset people; he doesn’t want to be pitied. And you’re both stupid for it.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” I said dryly. Not that I took offense. Some people might not agree with me, but it was hard to take offense at whatever came out of Jake’s mouth.