JW 21: THE TALK.
High above a river, in pooring rain, the herd of Pachyrinosauruses walked along in single file on a narrow slopey ledge on a steep slope.
Gray was lying on one of the backs of one of the Dinosaurs.
The Dinosaurs dislodged rocks as they walked along, but Gray was fast asleep on the back of one of the Pachyrinosauruses. The 12 year old boy then awoke and looked around in suprise, seeing himself high above the fast moving river and on such a pearlously narrow path. He pushed his wet hair from his eyes and looked up at rocks castcading down the slope up ahead.
Tree branches all of a sudden fell and crofeled down the clift-face by a giant, massive muddy landslide.
Gray's blue colored eyes widened as the landslide drew closer down to where he and the heard of Dinosaurs were. Seeing another landslide paling just above him, the boy jumped off the back of the Pachyrinosaurus and rolled down the hillside, with his legs and arms flying until he landed in the river below. Fleeing about in the water, he found his way to the surface, and a swift curant swept him along with some of the Pachyrinosauruses that followed him down the hillside. He sank below the surface, but a moment later, bulged up again and swam through the raging water towards a dead treetrunk and clinged to it with both hands as it carried him along the fast moving river.
~WITH ZACH AND THE OTHERS~
Zach rushed through the jungle as fast as his legs could carry him, with the others following after him from behind, trying to catch up with him.
"Zach, will you slow down?!" Shouted Amber as she and the boys chased after their friend.
"I need to take care of something! Just go on back to the park!" Said Zach.
"Will you just slow down, please?!" Said Max.
Zach continued running through the jungle, not stopping for his friends to catch up with him.
"Zach!" Shouted Amber. The 15 year old girl picked up the pase with her running and chased after her childhood friend. Despite the fact that she had on tall, silver, glitter high heel shoes, Amber had managed to catch up to Zach and tackled the 16 year old to the ground.
"Let me go!" Said Zach as struggled with Amber to throw her off of him and get to his feet.
Max, Patriot and Dink soon arrived on the scene where the two teenagers were fighting.
"No!" Amber flipped Zach over on his back, grabbed both of his wrists and pinned him down on the jungle floor.
"Let go of me, Amber! Let go of me!" Shouted Zach.
"Zach, stop it!" Said Amber.
"Just go back to the park, Amber! And take the boys with you!" Said Zach.
"Zach, this is not an okay time for you to shut down!" Said Amber.
"Shut down?" Said Zach, looking at Amber with a confused expression on his face.
"You have to deal with this, Zach. You have to deal with the funeral." Said Amber.
"The funeral? For who? For Gray when he might not actually be dead?" Said Zach.
"Let me get this straight. Gray can't be dead because you saw him, right? And you're the only one who can see him and he led you to that part of the jungle where that insect pit was? Do you even hear yourself right now, Zach?" Said Amber.
"I know it sounds crazy! I-i sound crazy!" Said Zach.
"Yeah." Said Amber.
"You think i don't know that?! It is crazy! But i saw him, Amber, i did! Gray is calling to me! And he's out there, and he's alone, and he's scared! And i don't-i don't care if anyone believes me! I am not gonna stop looking for him until i find him and bring him home! I am going to bring him home!" Said Zach.
"Zach, Gray is dead!" Said Max.
"Okay, be that as it may, he's still my little brother, alive or not! And i am not gonna stop looking for him until i find him! And If he is dead, at least i'll be able to honor him by bringing him home and giving him a proper burrial!" Said Zach.
Amber: "But Zach..."
"But nothing! Look, if you guys don't wanna help me look for my brother anymore, then fine! But right now Gray is out there all by himself and he needs my help!" Zach said.
All Amber could do was just stair at Zach. She couldn't believe how worried he was about Gray and how detemined he was to find him and bring him home, dead or alive. He did love and care about his brother after all. He hadn't been showing it up till now. The 15 year old girl let go of Zach's wrists and got off of him and stood up.
Zach got to his feet and he and Amber staired at each other.
"Wow. You really do care about him, don't you?" Said Amber.
"Of course i do, he's my brother. Why wouldn't i care about him?" Said Zach.
"Well, you sure haven't been treating him like he's your brother." Said Amber.
"What are you talking about? Who says i don't care about Gray." Asked Zach.
"You, by the way you've been behaving towards him. Zach, your brother came on this trip because he wanted to bond with you. Now maybe your aunt Claire was too busy for you, but he was willing to give you all of his time." Said Amber.
"I know, but i had other plans for the weekened and i didn't have time for Gray." Said Zach.
"Oh, i see. You hardly ever get a chance to spend time with your friends and girlfriend. You're always so busy with Gray." Said Amber.
Zach: "Wait, how did you..."
"Let me finish. Zach, your brother couldn't stop talking to me at all while we were alone together. And neither could i. Cause he kept going on and on about how bad his life was at home with the whole family favoring him and how much you hate him for it." Said Amber.
"I don't hate Gray." Said Zach.
"That's not what you said back at the park." Said Amber.
"Will you please tell me what i said to Gray at the park!" Said Zach.
"You mean you forgot? After all of the horrible things you said, you forgot? Oh, that's rich." Said Amber.
"What?" Asked Zach.
"This isn't just about what you said to him at the park, Zach. It's about how you've been behaving towards Gray ever since the two of you arrived here. First you ignored him when he was being picked on by Patriot and Dink here." Said Amber.
"I stood up for him at the restaurant." Said Zach.
"Zach, telling someone that they're doing the same thing is not standing up for someone. Then, when we were on the monorail, you said some more mean things to him. Zach, couldn't you see how terrofied he was of losing you?" Said Amber.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Zach.
"When Gray mentioned your parents getting divorced, his first question was would the two of you be seperated. But instead of being there for him like a brother should, you told him you would be gone in two years, and then you made fun of him for crying. And to make matters worse, you later punched him in the head and told him how you don't get paid enough to watch him. And then you picked on him for crying again. And you told him that he just ruined everything in your life. That you hated him. That you wished he was dead and was never born. And that you were glad your parents were splitting up because it ment that you wouldn't have to see him as often as you do now. And that you couldn't wait to be gone in two years." Said Amber.
Zach: "But i..."
"You told Gray he needed to grow up...but the one who really needs to grow up around here...is you." Said Amber.
"Me?" Said Zach.
"Yes, you. You're the one who needs to grow up, Zach. You don't care about anything or anyone. Not even your own brother." Said Amber.
"Look, i..."
"Let me finish." Said Amber. "Do you even know why Gray ran away, Zach?"
"Yeah, i do. He ran away because of what i said to him." Said Zach.
"Wow. You seriously don't get why Gray took off?" Said Amber.
"Did you not hear anything that i just said?" Said Zach.
"Gray ran away because he's afraid of Patriot and Dink. Okay, your brother was getting beat up by these two bullies for months and he didn't wanna talk about it with you because he was afraid you would make fun of him. He's on this island right now and he should be back at the park having fun with you, but instead he's out there in the jungle all by himself, probably scared out of his mind." Said Amber.
"I know." Said Zach.
"You know what?" Asked Amber.
"I've known about the bullying since it first started happening." Said Zach.
"So you've known from day one that these two have been beating up your brother?" Asked Amber.
"Yeah, okay?" Said Zach.
"Do you think that's what big brothers and sisters do?" Asked Amber. "I thought they protected their sibblings from danger, not expose them to it. No wonder the kid ran. I mean who could blame him? He get's picked on at school everyday, and then when he gets off, he gets it at home from the very one who is suppose to protect him from harm." Said Amber.
"I don't get why you're so concerned about Gray. Why are you so worried about a kid that you aren't even related to?" Asked Zach.
"That's your little brother. Why are you not concerned?" Said Amber.
"I am." Said Zach.
"Well, you haven't been acting like it. Like i said, you don't care about anyone. Not even your own brother. He came to this island because he wanted to spend time with you and your aunt Claire. But instead, he's out there now in the Jungle because he wants to prove to you that he can be brave and a grown-up. He went through all of this, ALL OF THIS, just to make you proud of him." Said Amber.
"But being brave and grown-up doesn't mean you go looking for trouble." Said Zach.
"Yeah, but you didn't take the time to sit down with Gray and talk with him about that, did you? You were too busy doing your own thing. Which is flirting with just about every girl on this island." Said Amber.
"I'm not use to having little kid follow me around." Said Zach.
"Zach, stop it, okay? I'm sick and tired of your excuses. "My parents love my brother more than me." "Life's not fair." You know what? You're right, it's not." Said Amber.
"You know that my parents love Gray more than me. Even my aunt Claire loves him more." Said Zach.
"Your parents and your aunt aren't here to make you act that way now. That's you wanting to be mean and resentful towards Gray. Now stop using your past as an excuse because i'm not gonna put up with it anymore, and neither is Gray. You know, you hurt him." Said Amber.
"I wasn't trying to." Said Zach.
"See, that's just it. You don't try. You haven't truly tried to bond with your little brother since you've been here." Said Amber.
"He's really feeling bad?" Asked Zach.
"What do you think? He's been trying to spend the whole day with you and it's still not enough." Said Zach.
"I know, i know. I just messed up." Said Zach.
"Yes. You did." Said Amber. "Hey, i made a promise to take care of my friends and family, and Gray is my friend and family. And i will not let anything threaten them, not even you, little boy. Now Gray loves you. He loves you very much. But you need to decide whether or not you want to be a part of his life and love him back. You know...i sure do wish someone had talked to me like this 10 years ago when i was 5."
"Amber, did something bad happen in your life that i don't know about?" Asked Zach.
"You need to mind your bussiness." Said Amber.
Zach: "Oh no, Amber. No, something happened for you to be talking to me the way you are now. So why don't we just talk..."
"You wanna talk? Let's talk. My parents hate me. They aren't speaking to me anymore. And my newborn brother, Nathen, who my parents loved more than me, vanished without a trace when my parents put me in charge of watching over him while they were gone, and i was only 5 year old at the time. And they didn't do nothing to comfort me. They blamed me for what happened to Nathen and made me feel like it was my fault, and then they got divorced because of the whole thing that happened with Nathen. There, is that better? Zach, don't you remember what it was like for me when my parents got divorced?" Said Amber.
Zach remembered it, alright. In fact, he remembered it all too well. Even though he was only 6 years old at the time, he still remembered it clear as a bell, like it was only yesterday. Amber's parents getting divorced was Zach's first introduction to the act. "Amber, i am so sorry. That wasn't your fault."
"I know that now. But it took me all this time to realize that." Said Amber.
Zach knew that Amber's parents had gone through a pretty bad divorce...but he didn't know that it was because she had lost a brother and her parents had lost a child. At that very moment for Zach...it was like looking in the mirror at a female version of himself. Amber had lost her little brother and her parents had gotton divorced. Who knew that he would be going through the same thing just 10 years later?
"Well, i knew that your parents had went through a pretty bad divorce. But i didn't know it was because you had lost a newborn brother." Said Zach.
"So you weren't lying back at the park when you said you had a little brother." Said Max.
"No." Said Amber.
"You never told me you had a little brother." Said Zach.
"Because it was too painful to talk about at the time. I've spent the last 10 years of my life trying to forget the whole thing because...because it hurts to much to remember my little brother. From that day to this one, i've always said to myself that if i ever encounter two siblings that don't get along, and if i can do something about it, i am never going to let them go through what i went through." Said Amber.
"Is that why you're so concerned about me and Gray's relationship as brothers?" Asked Zach.
"That's why." Said Amber.
"Wow. I-i'm really sorry that happened to you. I wish i had known you at the time." Said Zach.
"No...you don't. You see...when Nathen vanished...we weren't on good terms. See, i was a whole different person back then from the girl you met in first grade. I treated Nathen the same way you treated Gray. When i found out my parents were having a baby, i flipped. I was angry with them for that. And i was angry with that baby. I was mad that my parents were having a baby, but i became even more angry when it was born because it got all of the attention i used to get. And kept being mean and angry towards Nathen up until the day he vanished. And there is no greater pain than hating someone until they are gone. But i deserved to lose Nathen. I was being mean to him. I was being mean to my parents. And now...they won't have anything to do with me." Said Amber.
"Well, that's not gonna happen to me, okay? I'm not gonna lose my little brother like the way you lost your's!" Said Zach.
"If this is the kind of person he sees everyday when he looks at you...you've already lost him. You see, i didn't need for Nathen to be abducted to lose him...i already had. I lost him the day he was born by hating him and not accepting him into my life. We can't lose anymore brothers." Amber turned to Patriot, Max and Dink. "Come on." She and the boys turned to leave.
"Wait!" Said Zach, stopping the others in their tracks. "Amber...you said...that on that day, 10 years ago...you weren't there for your little brother. Would it be too much if i asked you to be there for mine?"
Amber and the others turned to face Zach.
"Zach, what are you saying?" Asked Amber.
"I'm saying i need your help. I want your help. So i'm asking you now...will you help me?" Said Zach.
"Yes." Said Amber.
"Good. Let's move out." Said Zach. He resumed leading the way through the swamp and Amber and the others followed.