“Please,” Alvin says, guilt written all over his little face. “Please don’t be frightened – we didn’t want to tell you, because we knew you would be frightened.”“Really, mama,” Ian says, giving my hand a squeeze. “It’s okay.”I’m almost gasping now, I’m so freaked out, my head spinning to look all
“Yeah,” Ian says, a little rueful, still rubbing his injured backside. “We didn’t want you to freak out. Like you’re doing. Right now.”“That’s it.” I say, standing up sharply, somehow managing to balance my plate of food in my hand and not spill it all over the floor. “Family meeting. In the tent.
Alvin folds his hands in his lap, shrugging one shoulder. “Ever since we were very little –““Since we can remember, I guess,” Ian picks up, miming his brother’s action.“We’ve always been able to see the magic. To notice it, when others don’t,” Alvin finishes. Both boys look apologetically Victor a
“But now,” Alvin says, looking at us in disgust. “You guys are like, gross.”“What?” Victor says, baffled and frankly a little offended. “We’re gross?”“Yeah,” Ian says, looking between us with his nose wrinkled. “We didn’t want to tell you, because we didn’t want to hurt your feelings – and because
The next morning, Victor and I make short work of packing up the tent. We send the boys off with a little H20 test kit to see if they can find fresh water, and they come back with a couple of bottles full. We quickly set the water to boil over the rekindled fire and then re-bottle it, slipping it in
“That’s enough,” I say, looking confusedly between the two. They never fight. I then lean down to pry Ian’s hand away from his eye, inspecting the damage. No harm done, just irritation. “Alvin, apologize. Ian, accept it. Let’s all move on.”Honestly, I just don’t have the energy to deal with that to
“Are you serious, Evelyn?” he sputters, his eyes going wide. “After all of this? All that we’ve been through?”“What?” I snap in response, shaking my head so that my hair falls back over my shoulder. “Is it not a legitimate question?” “No, Evelyn!” He says, his voice raising in anger. “It’s absolut
My eyes fill with tears then, and I come up with nothing. He’s right, of course – we are beyond all of this – we’ve had these talks. And if we do die here – And god damnit, but I’m determined to live – but – If we do die. He’s right. I want to go with my arms around him, full of the knowledge that