Everything Changes
By: Lynne C.
"Adam, you can't mean it, not over something this trivial?" said Ben.
"I do mean it, Pa," said Adam, regret pouring out of every syllable,
as he knew how much his words hurt his father. "I can't take anymore
of all this uncertainty. I am an engineer and I have to have logical
explanations for everything, and I can't come up with one for this.
It's driving me mad, surely you don't want your eldest son to end up
mentally defective, do you?"
"He's got a good point there, Pa," said Joe. "People in
town would
think he was loony; I can tell that it's really getting to him."
"Joe's right, Pa," said Hoss. "Yesterday, I caught Adam
trying to put
Sport's saddle on back to front. The poor guy's real stressed out
about all this, p'raps he does need a break."
"But to go all the way to San Francisco," said Ben. "It's
a bit far
away, just for a short break."
"Well, he's gotta go and find out all the dirt on the next round of
gals that Joe and me are likely to wanna marry, so now's as good as
time as any," said Hoss. (The Courtship, She Walks in Beauty)
"Yeah, Pa, and the dressmaker in town asked him to fetch back an
order of blue dress material, said Joe. "Seems that it's got lost on
the docks, somehow, and so Adam offered to track it down. While he's
there, he can check out the waterfront bars for any likely old
friends of yours, who are down on their luck, and want to come and
stay, dragging along piano players to drown out our conversations,
when they do." (A Woman Lost)
"Oh well, if you really feel that you need the break, Adam,"
said
Pa. "I guess I can't stand in your way, but don't stay away too long,
okay?"
"Thanks Pa, and I won't," said Adam. "I just need the opportunity
to
sleep in the same bedroom, for a few nights in a row. I don't want to
have to worry about walking in on someone else, like I do here, as I
never know which room in this house will be mine, on any given night."
Ben let go of Adam's arm and watched as his eldest son headed up the
stairs. He was sad to think that Adam was leaving, but then a smile
began to form around his mouth, as he heard shouts from above.
"Okay, which one is my room, today? I can't find my clothes and I
need to pack."
'Maybe Adam won't be leaving home, after all,' thought Ben.
THE END