Smokescreen by icd
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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: see part one
Author’s Note: You think this is moving slow and it’s time to pick up the pace? Ok, I decided to speed things up soon… meaning, right now with this chapter. Nothing action packed but you’ll get behind the ‘why’.
~~~~~~~
Smokescreen
Part 8
Climbing
Jay walked behind Jarod with angry steps; even getting him that far had taken a lot of discussion and carefully concealed anger on Jarod’s side.
Jarod walked on confidently, the heavy backpack on his shoulders not slowing him down. He was looking forward to the reason why they were running around nature, even though he wasn’t particularly looking forward to the argument that would break out at last, an argument that he would force to finally get through to Jay.
He needed Jay in a position where the boy couldn’t run away any longer.
And that was exactly why they were out here “running around like headless chickens” as Jay had put it. In fact, they were not merely running around but Jarod had a definite destination; one that Jay wasn’t aware of.
Jarod could hear Jay mumbling something behind him and he rolled his eyes.
They stepped around a rock and there it was: their destination.
Jarod’s smile grew and he walked on, quickening his step a bit. They followed the small path that eventually stopped directly in front of a wall of solid rock.
“Oh great. A dead end. And where do we go now?” Jay asked tauntingly.
Jarod shrugged off his backpack and started rummaging through it. “Up there,” he answered without looking up.
“Up what?” Jay incredulously while blinking angrily at Jarod’s back.
“You heard me,” Jarod said and took some gear out of his backpack. He straightened and threw it over to Jay who caught it. “Ever been climbing before?”
Jay looked at him perplex and blinked. Then his eyes narrowed. “No, and I don’t want to try it.”
Jarod had seen the short sparkle in Jay’s eyes. “Liar,” he grinned and threw some shoes over to his young companion. “They should fit you fine. Try them.”
“I don’t want to,” Jay growled angrily.
Jarod rolled his eyes. “Then you can climb barefoot,” he shrugged. “It’s your feet that will be bleeding, not mine so I couldn’t care less.”
Jay gritted his teeth. “And what if I don’t want to climb up there?” he asked.
“Then we have a problem because I have set my mind to climbing today and I won’t leave here until I got what I wanted so if you want to go home anytime soon, I suggest that you come along,” Jarod replied evenly, not letting the boy’s behaviour get to him.
Jay grumbled but he put on the shoes Jarod had given him. “You’re wrong. They are too small,” Jay stated, his tone giving away that he was inwardly grinning about it, hoping to get out of this situation.
“Let me see,” Jarod walked over to Jay and crouched down, investigating. “No, in fact they are quite right. Climbing shoes need to be a bit too small. Only that way you have the proper grip in the wall so that you can feel your way around.”
Jay scoffed when Jarod turned back and got out his own climbing shoes and harness. Quickly putting both on, Jarod turned in time to see Jay quizzically looking at the harness he had in his hand.
Jarod grinned and then helped the boy to get into it. Afterwards he started to lay out the basic instructions and showed the knots they would have to use.
Showing him how he had to secure him, Jarod looked at Jay and saw the reluctance in the young man’s eyes as well as some hidden interest.
Jarod tied the rope to his own harness and watched Jay tying the knot and put it into his karabiner.
He turned back to the wall and then searched for his first starting point. He briefly looked over his shoulder towards his younger twin again, giving him a stare. “You won’t drop me, will you?” he questioned.
“I’m not sure about that right now!” Jay grumbled darkly.
Jarod grinned. “I think I’ll try my luck and place my life in your hands,” Jarod shrugged and then put his hand into the chalk bag on his lower back to get a better grip in the rock. After that he let his hand wander over the wall in search for a proper place to put his hand on.
Carefully picking his way up while securing the rope in the quickdraws he fastened in the bolts already firmly fixed in the stone, Jarod looked down at Jay from time to time. He wasn’t worried about the boy letting go of the rope. There might be some anger with Jay refusing to come up but the boy wouldn’t intentionally hurt or kill him by letting go of the rope.
By now, Jarod was thoroughly enjoying the trip and enjoying the possibility of this workout. He hadn’t been climbing in a long time even though he had always liked it. When he had been climbing for the first time, he had been instantly mesmerised by the sport. It was a great workout, for one’s mind and one’s body.
He particularly liked it because one had no real time to concentrate on one’s situation away from the wall you were climbing at that time. You couldn’t afford to keep thinking about daily life and your problems in it. You needed all your concentration on the wall; where you could put your hand and foot next, if there was enough room for your hand at that spot, if you could put enough power on that hand so that you would be able to draw yourself up and you also had to pay attention to clip the rope into the quickdraw so that you would be secure.
He drew himself up on a small ledge and sat down. Wiping the sweat away from his bow with one arm, he then secured himself on the metal ring that was let into the wall there.
“Ok, Jay. I’m secure,” he called loudly and looked down to where the young man was standing on the ground.
“Ok, you’re up there now. You’ve had your way. You can come down now so that we can go home,” Jay called back.
Jarod rolled his eyes and yelled down loudly for Jay to hear: “No, now first you put the backpack on the rope I’ll let down so that I can draw it up and then you get your ass up here.”
He could practically see the boy’s level of anger rise. “I could just release myself and go now. You’re up there and you couldn’t do a thing.”
‘God that boy sure is stubborn,’ Jarod thought. “You’re wrong. I would abseil alone. I have the proper gear here with me and once I was down there I would go after you and you would get into serious trouble. And by the way, I have the car keys,” Jarod shouted, seeing Jay tense at that even from the height he was on.
With angry movements, Jay bound the backpack to the rope that Jarod had by now let down and Jarod drew it up so that it was sitting next to him on the ledge.
“Ok, where do I start that now?” Jay hollered up, realizing that he wouldn’t get away from this.
Jarod grinned widely and then looked down once more. “You don’t have to ask me that. It’s up to you. You have to pick your own route. You don’t have to mimic my moves and try to do everything I do the same way I do it. This is just about you and your own abilities. You have to pick your own way but you have to pick it carefully,” Jarod said, wondering if Jay would get the double meaning behind his words.
The young man moved with difficulties at first but soon he got used to the feeling and quickly found the best places to put his hands and feet.
Jarod nodded approvingly from above, watching his young companion. Whenever Jarod got a glimpse of Jay’s face, it was glowing with concentration, determination and something that Jarod hadn’t seen there before: contentment.
Once up, Jay sat down next to Jarod and looked down.
“Wow,” he let out.
Jarod grinned but kept silent.
They were both sitting in companionable silence just looking at the beautiful nature around them.
“And now?” Jay asked after a while.
“Now we talk,” Jarod replied evenly without looking at his young twin.
Jay tensed and looked around. He clenched his teeth and realized that he would have nowhere to run to now.
“No, we don’t,” he said.
“Why not?” Jarod asked plainly.
“Because I don’t want to,” Jay replied.
“Doesn’t count,” Jarod shrugged. “I want to get some answers now.”
“You always want answers and yet you’re never getting them; not from the Centre and not from me,” Jay snapped.
Jarod swallowed down a vicious response. “Come on, Jay. Open up to me,” he said instead.
“No,” Jay hissed through clenched teeth.
Jarod sighed. “I really don’t get it. I don’t understand what is going on here. What has made you change from a nice, young and caring boy into this isolated, destructive shell?”
“You don’t know a damn thing about me so don’t even try to judge me,” Jay snapped.
“Ok, I don’t know much about you but all I saw during the last two few weeks was what I just described: an isolated, destructive shell. What changed you, Jay?” Jarod questioned, turning towards the young man.
“Nothing.”
“Ok, I’ll make a few guesses here,” Jarod paused momentarily. “Marc told me that your behaviour changed three months before I came. So that means it’s now a little more than three and a half months. Let me think. Three and a half months… that’s pretty much the same point of time when we rescued Emily and found Ethan,” Jarod let the words hang in the air.
Jay gasped and Jarod had to keep from smiling. So this was really it. He had hoped that it would be it because otherwise he would have had no idea how to move on; he would have been fishing in dark waters.
“From the way you are behaving, it’s obvious that you’re running and trying desperately to get some attention,” Jarod went on.
Jay lowered his head.
“And from the remarks you were throwing at me yesterday, I would say that you’re trying to fight against demons that don’t exist,” Jarod sighed. “You feel left out and alone in this world, am I right?”
“These demons, as you put it, do exist!” Jay mumbled.
“No, they don’t, Jay!” Jarod said emphatically. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, only to have it shrugged off immediately.
“Yes, they do. No one cares about me; about what I feel,” he whispered, his head turned downward.
“Jay, that’s not true,” Jarod said.
“Then why am I here rather than together with Dad and Emily? Why didn’t he pay attention when I asked him - no begged him - to take me with him rather than leave me here with Marc and Carol?” the boy accused.
Jarod briefly closed his eyes, grateful that Jay was finally talking; snarling at the wrong shadows but talking nonetheless.
“Jay, listen to me. You’re here with Carol and Marc because Dad felt you would be safe here. He didn’t want you to be on the run as well,” Jarod explained.
“I know that,” Jay replied and then looked up at Jarod. “But I didn’t want to leave him. I understood that it was a temporary thing and eventually I agreed but…,” he trailed of and looked away.
“But then we rescued Emily and she was allowed to stay with Dad and you weren’t. You got the feeling that you were less worthy of staying with him than Emily was,” Jarod finished for him.
Jay nodded brokenly.
“Do you know why I am here rather than Dad?” Jarod asked.
Jay merely shook his head.
“Because ever since we found Emily, the Centre has been close on their heels. Dad didn’t want you to get in any danger so he keeps staying as far away from here as possible. He’s afraid that something might happen to you,” Jarod paused again and put his hand on Jay’s shoulder once more. This time it stayed where it was. “You’re important to us, Jay. You really are. You are an important member of our family that needs to be protected just as every other member. That’s why you’re here, safe and away from the Centre’s view.”
Jay looked up, tears shining in his eyes but still not believing the words.
“Oh, Jay,” Jarod choked out at the expression on the young man’s face. “You’re important to all of us; you are important to me. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t. You did a hell of a good job in dishing out those snide remarks and had I not cared about you, I would have been long gone by now and not sitting up here with you trying to reassure you and scare your fears away.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Jay admitted.
Jarod shook his head sadly. “Place some trust in us. Even though Dad maybe should have taken you with him, he tried to do what he thought best.”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Jay countered softly.
“Yes, that’s right but don’t you think it really depends on the motive here?” Jarod asked. “We’ve all been through a lot, together and mostly apart. Dad’s worried about each and every member of our family, just as everyone else is and he wanted you safe and out of harms way. He was not trying to get rid of you, rather to know that you were safe and somewhere he could come and get you from when the time came.”
“Why did you only come now?” Jay asked. A tear was making its way down the boy’s cheek.
Jarod closed his eyes. “I had lost contact with Dad after Emily’s rescue and I didn’t know where you were. I only found out because Dad called me two days before I got here and asked me to see you. He told me that he couldn’t do it and of course I agreed to come here.”
“You went away from an important pretend?” Jay asked.
“I didn’t have one but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have left the moment the call came. As I said Jay, you are important to me. I do care about you. I care deeply about you,” he searched Jay’s gaze and held it. He saw another doubt in those pools of dark brown and he made a last guess at what that doubt was about.
“You’re no copy of me and I don’t see you as one, Jay. As I said before, you’re an important part of our family. Even though you’re me genetically, you aren’t me at all. You have a whole bunch of different possibilities out here and I know that you will use them. Jay, I don’t see you as a copy from me. I can’t really describe the feelings that I have for you. I think they are something between parental and brotherly feelings but I know what they not are: refusal and rejection. I don’t ever want you to think that,” Jarod said soulfully.
Jay searched his older self’s eyes for any hint of dishonesty but found none. He nodded his head slowly.
Jarod reached out and put his hands on both sides of Jay’s face, gently holding it there, making sure that the boy was looking at him. “You should stop seeing yourself as me, trying to calculate every step I would make and then making it yourself or doing the complete opposite. That’s not what you are, Jay. You will have to live your own life. You can always ask for help and let me show you a way or even guide you but you will have to pick your own way in the end. You will have to make your own mistakes; mistakes I have never been allowed to make. I don’t want you to become an isolated person just as you were trying to become. You are in the real world now and not in the Centre. You have every possibility out here and you of all people have the chance to reach out for whatever you want to do. Take that chance, Jay.”
Jay looked away from Jarod and straight ahead again, watching nature around them.
Jarod fell silent, knowing that he had given the young man quite a lot to digest.
To be continued…
#sighs contently# How about you? You liked it?
Well, right now after reading the whole chapter again before posting in, I really realized that I haven’t been climbing in AGES! I will have to do something against that #runs away, trying to call her climbing partner#
Author’s Note: You think this is moving slow and it’s time to pick up the pace? Ok, I decided to speed things up soon… meaning, right now with this chapter. Nothing action packed but you’ll get behind the ‘why’.
~~~~~~~
Part 8
Climbing
Jay walked behind Jarod with angry steps; even getting him that far had taken a lot of discussion and carefully concealed anger on Jarod’s side.
Jarod walked on confidently, the heavy backpack on his shoulders not slowing him down. He was looking forward to the reason why they were running around nature, even though he wasn’t particularly looking forward to the argument that would break out at last, an argument that he would force to finally get through to Jay.
He needed Jay in a position where the boy couldn’t run away any longer.
And that was exactly why they were out here “running around like headless chickens” as Jay had put it. In fact, they were not merely running around but Jarod had a definite destination; one that Jay wasn’t aware of.
Jarod could hear Jay mumbling something behind him and he rolled his eyes.
They stepped around a rock and there it was: their destination.
Jarod’s smile grew and he walked on, quickening his step a bit. They followed the small path that eventually stopped directly in front of a wall of solid rock.
“Oh great. A dead end. And where do we go now?” Jay asked tauntingly.
Jarod shrugged off his backpack and started rummaging through it. “Up there,” he answered without looking up.
“Up what?” Jay incredulously while blinking angrily at Jarod’s back.
“You heard me,” Jarod said and took some gear out of his backpack. He straightened and threw it over to Jay who caught it. “Ever been climbing before?”
Jay looked at him perplex and blinked. Then his eyes narrowed. “No, and I don’t want to try it.”
Jarod had seen the short sparkle in Jay’s eyes. “Liar,” he grinned and threw some shoes over to his young companion. “They should fit you fine. Try them.”
“I don’t want to,” Jay growled angrily.
Jarod rolled his eyes. “Then you can climb barefoot,” he shrugged. “It’s your feet that will be bleeding, not mine so I couldn’t care less.”
Jay gritted his teeth. “And what if I don’t want to climb up there?” he asked.
“Then we have a problem because I have set my mind to climbing today and I won’t leave here until I got what I wanted so if you want to go home anytime soon, I suggest that you come along,” Jarod replied evenly, not letting the boy’s behaviour get to him.
Jay grumbled but he put on the shoes Jarod had given him. “You’re wrong. They are too small,” Jay stated, his tone giving away that he was inwardly grinning about it, hoping to get out of this situation.
“Let me see,” Jarod walked over to Jay and crouched down, investigating. “No, in fact they are quite right. Climbing shoes need to be a bit too small. Only that way you have the proper grip in the wall so that you can feel your way around.”
Jay scoffed when Jarod turned back and got out his own climbing shoes and harness. Quickly putting both on, Jarod turned in time to see Jay quizzically looking at the harness he had in his hand.
Jarod grinned and then helped the boy to get into it. Afterwards he started to lay out the basic instructions and showed the knots they would have to use.
Showing him how he had to secure him, Jarod looked at Jay and saw the reluctance in the young man’s eyes as well as some hidden interest.
Jarod tied the rope to his own harness and watched Jay tying the knot and put it into his karabiner.
He turned back to the wall and then searched for his first starting point. He briefly looked over his shoulder towards his younger twin again, giving him a stare. “You won’t drop me, will you?” he questioned.
“I’m not sure about that right now!” Jay grumbled darkly.
Jarod grinned. “I think I’ll try my luck and place my life in your hands,” Jarod shrugged and then put his hand into the chalk bag on his lower back to get a better grip in the rock. After that he let his hand wander over the wall in search for a proper place to put his hand on.
Carefully picking his way up while securing the rope in the quickdraws he fastened in the bolts already firmly fixed in the stone, Jarod looked down at Jay from time to time. He wasn’t worried about the boy letting go of the rope. There might be some anger with Jay refusing to come up but the boy wouldn’t intentionally hurt or kill him by letting go of the rope.
By now, Jarod was thoroughly enjoying the trip and enjoying the possibility of this workout. He hadn’t been climbing in a long time even though he had always liked it. When he had been climbing for the first time, he had been instantly mesmerised by the sport. It was a great workout, for one’s mind and one’s body.
He particularly liked it because one had no real time to concentrate on one’s situation away from the wall you were climbing at that time. You couldn’t afford to keep thinking about daily life and your problems in it. You needed all your concentration on the wall; where you could put your hand and foot next, if there was enough room for your hand at that spot, if you could put enough power on that hand so that you would be able to draw yourself up and you also had to pay attention to clip the rope into the quickdraw so that you would be secure.
He drew himself up on a small ledge and sat down. Wiping the sweat away from his bow with one arm, he then secured himself on the metal ring that was let into the wall there.
“Ok, Jay. I’m secure,” he called loudly and looked down to where the young man was standing on the ground.
“Ok, you’re up there now. You’ve had your way. You can come down now so that we can go home,” Jay called back.
Jarod rolled his eyes and yelled down loudly for Jay to hear: “No, now first you put the backpack on the rope I’ll let down so that I can draw it up and then you get your ass up here.”
He could practically see the boy’s level of anger rise. “I could just release myself and go now. You’re up there and you couldn’t do a thing.”
‘God that boy sure is stubborn,’ Jarod thought. “You’re wrong. I would abseil alone. I have the proper gear here with me and once I was down there I would go after you and you would get into serious trouble. And by the way, I have the car keys,” Jarod shouted, seeing Jay tense at that even from the height he was on.
With angry movements, Jay bound the backpack to the rope that Jarod had by now let down and Jarod drew it up so that it was sitting next to him on the ledge.
“Ok, where do I start that now?” Jay hollered up, realizing that he wouldn’t get away from this.
Jarod grinned widely and then looked down once more. “You don’t have to ask me that. It’s up to you. You have to pick your own route. You don’t have to mimic my moves and try to do everything I do the same way I do it. This is just about you and your own abilities. You have to pick your own way but you have to pick it carefully,” Jarod said, wondering if Jay would get the double meaning behind his words.
The young man moved with difficulties at first but soon he got used to the feeling and quickly found the best places to put his hands and feet.
Jarod nodded approvingly from above, watching his young companion. Whenever Jarod got a glimpse of Jay’s face, it was glowing with concentration, determination and something that Jarod hadn’t seen there before: contentment.
Once up, Jay sat down next to Jarod and looked down.
“Wow,” he let out.
Jarod grinned but kept silent.
They were both sitting in companionable silence just looking at the beautiful nature around them.
“And now?” Jay asked after a while.
“Now we talk,” Jarod replied evenly without looking at his young twin.
Jay tensed and looked around. He clenched his teeth and realized that he would have nowhere to run to now.
“No, we don’t,” he said.
“Why not?” Jarod asked plainly.
“Because I don’t want to,” Jay replied.
“Doesn’t count,” Jarod shrugged. “I want to get some answers now.”
“You always want answers and yet you’re never getting them; not from the Centre and not from me,” Jay snapped.
Jarod swallowed down a vicious response. “Come on, Jay. Open up to me,” he said instead.
“No,” Jay hissed through clenched teeth.
Jarod sighed. “I really don’t get it. I don’t understand what is going on here. What has made you change from a nice, young and caring boy into this isolated, destructive shell?”
“You don’t know a damn thing about me so don’t even try to judge me,” Jay snapped.
“Ok, I don’t know much about you but all I saw during the last two few weeks was what I just described: an isolated, destructive shell. What changed you, Jay?” Jarod questioned, turning towards the young man.
“Nothing.”
“Ok, I’ll make a few guesses here,” Jarod paused momentarily. “Marc told me that your behaviour changed three months before I came. So that means it’s now a little more than three and a half months. Let me think. Three and a half months… that’s pretty much the same point of time when we rescued Emily and found Ethan,” Jarod let the words hang in the air.
Jay gasped and Jarod had to keep from smiling. So this was really it. He had hoped that it would be it because otherwise he would have had no idea how to move on; he would have been fishing in dark waters.
“From the way you are behaving, it’s obvious that you’re running and trying desperately to get some attention,” Jarod went on.
Jay lowered his head.
“And from the remarks you were throwing at me yesterday, I would say that you’re trying to fight against demons that don’t exist,” Jarod sighed. “You feel left out and alone in this world, am I right?”
“These demons, as you put it, do exist!” Jay mumbled.
“No, they don’t, Jay!” Jarod said emphatically. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, only to have it shrugged off immediately.
“Yes, they do. No one cares about me; about what I feel,” he whispered, his head turned downward.
“Jay, that’s not true,” Jarod said.
“Then why am I here rather than together with Dad and Emily? Why didn’t he pay attention when I asked him - no begged him - to take me with him rather than leave me here with Marc and Carol?” the boy accused.
Jarod briefly closed his eyes, grateful that Jay was finally talking; snarling at the wrong shadows but talking nonetheless.
“Jay, listen to me. You’re here with Carol and Marc because Dad felt you would be safe here. He didn’t want you to be on the run as well,” Jarod explained.
“I know that,” Jay replied and then looked up at Jarod. “But I didn’t want to leave him. I understood that it was a temporary thing and eventually I agreed but…,” he trailed of and looked away.
“But then we rescued Emily and she was allowed to stay with Dad and you weren’t. You got the feeling that you were less worthy of staying with him than Emily was,” Jarod finished for him.
Jay nodded brokenly.
“Do you know why I am here rather than Dad?” Jarod asked.
Jay merely shook his head.
“Because ever since we found Emily, the Centre has been close on their heels. Dad didn’t want you to get in any danger so he keeps staying as far away from here as possible. He’s afraid that something might happen to you,” Jarod paused again and put his hand on Jay’s shoulder once more. This time it stayed where it was. “You’re important to us, Jay. You really are. You are an important member of our family that needs to be protected just as every other member. That’s why you’re here, safe and away from the Centre’s view.”
Jay looked up, tears shining in his eyes but still not believing the words.
“Oh, Jay,” Jarod choked out at the expression on the young man’s face. “You’re important to all of us; you are important to me. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t. You did a hell of a good job in dishing out those snide remarks and had I not cared about you, I would have been long gone by now and not sitting up here with you trying to reassure you and scare your fears away.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Jay admitted.
Jarod shook his head sadly. “Place some trust in us. Even though Dad maybe should have taken you with him, he tried to do what he thought best.”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Jay countered softly.
“Yes, that’s right but don’t you think it really depends on the motive here?” Jarod asked. “We’ve all been through a lot, together and mostly apart. Dad’s worried about each and every member of our family, just as everyone else is and he wanted you safe and out of harms way. He was not trying to get rid of you, rather to know that you were safe and somewhere he could come and get you from when the time came.”
“Why did you only come now?” Jay asked. A tear was making its way down the boy’s cheek.
Jarod closed his eyes. “I had lost contact with Dad after Emily’s rescue and I didn’t know where you were. I only found out because Dad called me two days before I got here and asked me to see you. He told me that he couldn’t do it and of course I agreed to come here.”
“You went away from an important pretend?” Jay asked.
“I didn’t have one but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have left the moment the call came. As I said Jay, you are important to me. I do care about you. I care deeply about you,” he searched Jay’s gaze and held it. He saw another doubt in those pools of dark brown and he made a last guess at what that doubt was about.
“You’re no copy of me and I don’t see you as one, Jay. As I said before, you’re an important part of our family. Even though you’re me genetically, you aren’t me at all. You have a whole bunch of different possibilities out here and I know that you will use them. Jay, I don’t see you as a copy from me. I can’t really describe the feelings that I have for you. I think they are something between parental and brotherly feelings but I know what they not are: refusal and rejection. I don’t ever want you to think that,” Jarod said soulfully.
Jay searched his older self’s eyes for any hint of dishonesty but found none. He nodded his head slowly.
Jarod reached out and put his hands on both sides of Jay’s face, gently holding it there, making sure that the boy was looking at him. “You should stop seeing yourself as me, trying to calculate every step I would make and then making it yourself or doing the complete opposite. That’s not what you are, Jay. You will have to live your own life. You can always ask for help and let me show you a way or even guide you but you will have to pick your own way in the end. You will have to make your own mistakes; mistakes I have never been allowed to make. I don’t want you to become an isolated person just as you were trying to become. You are in the real world now and not in the Centre. You have every possibility out here and you of all people have the chance to reach out for whatever you want to do. Take that chance, Jay.”
Jay looked away from Jarod and straight ahead again, watching nature around them.
Jarod fell silent, knowing that he had given the young man quite a lot to digest.
To be continued…
#sighs contently# How about you? You liked it?
Well, right now after reading the whole chapter again before posting in, I really realized that I haven’t been climbing in AGES! I will have to do something against that #runs away, trying to call her climbing partner#
