Brothers Under the Sun
Summary: Jonathan considers the hardest part of friendship: Letting go.
Disclaimer: I do not Bryan Adams or Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. I am only borrowing a song.
I had a dream of the wide open prairies
I had a dream of pale morning sky
I had a dream that we flew on golden wings
And we were the same, just the same
You and I
I remember the first time I saw the scrawny shepherd boy from Bethlehem. He was striding across the field, carrying a sack of food for his brothers. Up close you could see that he was fairly well-built for his age. He was only twelve at the time. But then, I was only fourteen. His brothers, however, believed that he was little more than a tag-along toddler. They accused him of just wanting to see the battle. He was about to respond when the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, challenged us again.
Goliath. Even I, as reckless as I admit I can be at times, was terrified of the man—if he can even be called that. But David didn't seem to fear him at all. David won us the victory that day with a well-aimed slingstone. I guess when your job is to watch sheep all day and you have nothing else to do but practice the harp and improve your throwing arm, you get pretty good at both. Anyway, when David won us that victory in the name of the Lord that day, I knew I'd found a kindred spirit; someone to share my adventures with me. When my father, King Saul, brought David to stay in the palace as his harpist, I loaned the stinky shepherd kid some of my robes and insisted the servants treat him as a prince. We became best friends that day.
Follow your heart little child of the west wind
Follow the voice that's calling you home
Follow your dreams, but always remember me
I am your brother under the sun
My father suffered from fits of rage that only David's music could bring him out of. Everyone knew David was special, and Father, who once loved David as a son, made him an armor bearer. God blessed David and he prospered. He became more successful than my father and I put together. David even married my sister, Michal. That excited me, because it made David a true prince.
Rumors floated around that the prophet Samuel had anointed a new king in my father's place. I wasn't to take the throne after him. This was because God had rejected my father as king. Somehow I knew the new king would be David. When I asked, he confirmed it, and I worried that my father might somehow also know. I reassured David that if it was God's will, he would be king.
My father didn't agree. David came to me twice, scared out of his mind because my father had thrown a spear at him. "Saul is trying to kill me!" he cried. It couldn't be true. Not my father. Sure, he may be jealous of David, but he knew David was my brother.
We are like birds of a feather
We are two hearts joined together
We will be forever as one
My brother under the sun
That's why I'm standing here in this field now, an arrow knocked to my bowstring. I had managed to find out—almost at the cost of my own life—my father's true intent toward David. David has been hiding in this field since morning, waiting for my signal. I fire the bow and send my servant boy to fetch the arrow. "Not there," I call. "The arrow is beyond you still. Run. Hurry, do not delay." The boy, of course picks up his pace, obviously confused by the urgency in my voice that I fail to hide. But the urgency is not for him. Breathless, he returns with the arrow. I send him back to the palace. When the field is clear, David appears. We embrace and weep unashamed as I tell him of my father's plans. This is a sad time for both of us, because we each know we may not see each other again.
Wherever you hear the wind in the canyon
Wherever you see the buffalo run
Wherever you go I'll be there beside you
'Cause you are my brother under the sun
I make him promise to remember me and be kind to my descendants. I'm all too aware of the fact that when a man from a different family takes the throne, it is expected for him to cut off the family line of the king before him. I am my father's heir, and I and my young son would be among the first to be killed. David promises me that no harm will come to me or my descendants on his watch. I clasp his hand in both of mine and thank him. He thanks me in return. We embrace again, and David pulls away, turns, and begins to run. The sun is setting, and my father will have sent men after David by now.
As I watch him go, tears stream unhindered down my face. "God be with you, David ben-Jesse. I love you, my brother." Eventually, David disappears from view as the last of the sun's disc slips behind the hills west of Gilgal.
We are like birds of a feather
We are two hearts joined together
We will be forever as one
My brother under the sun