Synopsis: A story in six voices of the first twelve hours after Adam’s return to the Ponderosa. At the end of each section the character and the word prompt are listed.
Category: Bonanza
Genre: Western
Rating G
Word Count: 5,805
Author’s note: The voices are responses to six consecutive prompts from a writing challenge. Though they were not originally written in the order in which they are combined into this story.
“Home,” he mused.
Just four letters. No real significance in the count except when you realized within the home resided four individual men, bound by more than name. Life… Dreams… Familiarity… Experiences… Tragedies… Some more than others.
*****
Wearily he sat on his mount and looked down into the valley where the massive main house to the Ponderosa sat nestled within the trees for which their empire took its name. The land had changed, as had the lives within, and still they lived on. Working together, mostly in harmony and sometimes in discord, but always rooted in the knowledge that whether they thrived or failed, there was love and understanding.
Understanding… His departure had been difficult, not knowing exactly what drew him away, just knowing that he couldn’t settle and accept this as his life. He had a dream of his own to follow, as had his father when he originally set out from Boston with an infant son at his side.
The patriarch, the rock that was his foundation, was solid in his beliefs that one day he would return. The second born, a mediator, the one who could always explain the minute nuances between the two sides of the same coin, had wished him a life fulfilled. The last-born son was illogical and so infernally emotional, the one so likely to charge in where saints feared to tread, the one that had turned his back and walked away that day. It wasn’t until later he came to accept that which he now sought; the youngest had not been mad nor angry, but having a witness to his crying would shatter his frail illusion of him being a man grown. Finally, there was the wild card, not a joker nor a pawn; just one who had been set adrift by life, someone who had needed an anchor and the guidance and love they all had needed at one time or another.
*****
Worried that too many years had passed as too many newer memories pressured to break him; his only recourse was to come to the one place where he prayed they would not judge, just accept him as he was. Below was the balm to sooth the ache of too strong a longing, to bask in the tenderness of family, that blanket that envelopes all who wish to live in something more than just a house – a home. It beckoned to him as the warmth from the lamplight illuminated the front porch.
Signaling his mount onward, he allowed his tears to unabashedly fall. Quietly he tended to the horse in the barn, and taking a deep breath, he closed the door behind him before he walked across the yard. Within moments of his footfalls upon the wooden deck, the four within exited the front door. His head fell on the shoulders of his rock. Massive arms wrapped around the two of them and helped support him. A work-hardened hand clutched his shoulder from behind. After looking into three sets of teary eyes and noticing the none-too-subtle changes, he looked to the fourth standing to the side, gazing at the ground with his hands shoved into his front pockets. Taking a deep breath, he stepped from the others, and held out his right hand; his words were honest and sincere.
A tentative hand reached out for him, and without conscious thought, the man pulled the youth into an embrace that spoke volumes.
With his father and his larger brother heading for the doorway, he waited as the two youngest followed. Before he entered his home of homes, he turned but hesitated and bowed slightly forward. Quietly so that only the one could hear, he spoke words that he had so recently learned to convey his feelings towards the figure who had always been there, waiting, watching, caring.
He was Home.
(ADAM – Lamplight)
*****
In the kitchen of the main ranch house a quiet figure worked constantly to satisfy the needs of those who inhabited the home. Those who became members of his extended family fulfilled a need greater than he would ever admit to them. So long ago he had come to a new country, not knowing the language or anyone else crowded into the cramped quarters below the main deck of the great sailing vessel. He believed and lived that wu-wei (non-action) was the wisest course against those who sought dissension. He had personally witnessed his own family destroyed by those more powerful and greedy, before he left what was known as ‘our land’ – China.
“Jiā (Home),” he mused.
As an outsider warmly welcomed to be a part of something special, he grew to understand the men within these walls were bound by more than a name. Shēnghuó (Life)… Mèng (Dreams)… Jiātíng (Family)… Jīngyàn (Experiences)… Bēi’āi (Sorrow)… Xīwàng (Hopes)… Duōyàng (Diversity)… Some more than others.
*****
He knew of the heartaches suffered and had grieved with those he considered his adopted sons. Patching up more than clothing; he’d helped fix many a skinned knee, broken hearts, and bemoaned the foolishness of stubborn pride. But the one hurt he could do nothing to secure an alternative ending was the day Numba One Son announced his intentions to leave the one place he had called home the longest.
The ever faithful Oriental thought of the patriarch of the family, the rock, the solid foundation that saw all three of his sons through many trials and happier times; the man grieved but understood the desires that pulled at his eldest. Next, his memories turned to Numba Two Son and how even though sad, he wished his brother well and quietly told Adam to live his life to the fullest. As for Numba Three Son, the son he had helped raise since the day he became more than an employee to the family, he cried for the young man’s hurt as he suffered a loss almost as tragic as the death of his mother – the day his oldest brother left the Ponderosa.
*****
Day after day, year after year, he cooked meals and cleaned the house. As happens with life on a working ranch, he organized items needed to assist the family’s physician in order to tend to injuries caused by the wild horses and the cattle they worked. Too many times, he stood witness to the end-results of fists, knives, or arrows and the heartache that surfaced after any of his charges had been shot. Concoctions were reverently brewed over the kitchen stove to sooth achy throats or alleviate various ailments, as he hoped to restore the ch’i (life force or breath of life) of this honored family.
*****
He had worried how life would change when fate brought a young man, cast aside, to their doorstep. When there were finally three Cartwright sons under the roof he knew better than to believe life would return to the way it was before. But as with all sons, he saw this young man try to emulate his older brothers, sometimes with success, other times, just like his brothers before him, he failed. He mused as the previous youngest son took on the mantle of older brother, in mirror of his oldest brother, so many years absent.
This extended member of their family wondered if the son realized how much like his oldest brother he had become over the years; he wondered what would have happened had Numba One Son not left the land called Ponderosa.
And still, even in this changing balance of the family, life continued to be lived.
*****
This night, he sensed a portent, as if the Tao Elders were trying to alert him of something. And while he quietly cleaned his pots and pans, he strove to understand the atmosphere that set him on edge.
From the great room he heard Numba Two Son call out, “Someone’s in the barn, Pa….”
He bowed his head, took a deep breath, and prayed, “Qǐng, méiyǒu gèng duō de xīntòng.” (Please, no more heartache.)
*****
From the quiet shadows of the house, as he had time before time, he witnessed the healing of hearts as the four oldest Cartwrights stood surrounded by a glow not provided by the lamplight that hung over the wooden porch. His spirit soared when the man in black reached a hand towards the newest and youngest of them all and pulled him with welcoming warmth into his heart.
Before entering his home of homes, the stranger who was not a stranger respectfully bowed forward and spoke words recently learned to the figure who tried to remain apart, “Zūnjìng de péngyǒu, xièxiè nǐ kàn wǒ de jiārén..” (Honored Friend, thank you for watching over my family.)
“Family now complete. Welcome home, Mr. Adam. You were missed,” answered Hop Sing.
With family and ch’i restored, Hop Sing returned to his kitchen.
(HOP SING – Shot)
Translations via Google Translate, I apologize for any errors.
*****
The youth closed his eyes and gave thought to the incongruity of living in this house, not just as a ward of the owner, but as a son. Who would believe that a wayward, wannabe rainmaker could have people who cared so much about him? He thought back to his arrival in Virginia City, and how he wanted to make his murdered-father proud… by showing all those naysayers that he could make it rain. And now…
“Home,” he mused as his mind drifted from the past to the present.
Another outsider warmly welcomed to be a part of more than just the ranch, a part of something special. The youth was beginning to understand the men within these walls were bound by more than a name. Life… Dreams… Experiences… Sorrow… Hopes… Heart… He still had a lot to learn.
*****
From the pictures on his father’s desk, he knew of the one absent, his ‘unknown’ oldest brother. In the quiet of one night he had stolen into his larger brother’s bedroom and hesitantly asked why no one readily spoke of Ben Cartwright’s first born. He listened as he was told of the heartaches suffered and how the lure of other places called him. Hoss recounted the story of Joe and Adam’s hunting trip to Montpelier Gorge and the devastation wrought while they were hunting that damn wolf. Had Joe not survived… The original man in the middle revealed just how close they’d come to his brother leaving, not unlike a cat hiding away to lick their wounds; not that Adam had been physically wounded, but emotional wounds could be far worse. And so life continued until that fateful date when Adam stated that the Ponderosa could no longer sustain him.
He heard of how in the beginning the letters home were frequent and full, but as the years passed… It had been so long since they’d received a letter, trepidation failed each one to give voice to their heart-rending fears. As the narration came to a close, this gentle giant of a brother wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the newest member of the family, allowing him to grieve for their loss; even though he’d never met this brother.
*****
In the great room, the newest member of the family looked to the patriarch as he sat reading from the Territorial Enterprise. He gave thanks that this man was willing to devote the time to strengthen and support the shaky foundation that had left a boy cast adrift by the winds of fate. From working side by side with his larger brother and paying attention to more than just the spoken words, the boy learned how to tend to injured animals and make them feel safe when everything else made them want to bolt away. And from the man who was now the brother in the middle, he learned that one could be hurt, but it was what you did with the hurt that mattered. What good did it do to wallow in self-pity or take anger out on others? This brother spoke from experience, they all did. He came to understand that one can grieve about the past, but in order to heal one’s heart… one has to get on with living… laughing… working… learning… forgiving… Each man in the home had something to teach him, even Hop Sing – it never paid to be late to the table at meal times.
*****
He’d called Ben Cartwright ‘Pa’ only for the last few months, but lately… he’d begun to think about the eldest son. From that one night with Hoss, he knew not to voice his feelings to anyone… But lately… he couldn’t shake the thoughts about the brother he’d never known, and it unnerved him as to why.
He sat on the floor, his back against the settee, legs stretched under the low table, trying to focus his thoughts on his studies, but the written words wouldn’t make sense. He’d read and reread the passages of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and reviewed his notes outlining what had been assigned as part of his homework. He scratched his head as he thought of Oliver being forced to endure life in such deplorable conditions. A shiver coursed through his body before he gave one more effort to put something to pen and paper. Eventually, he set the book down when he heard, “Someone’s in the barn, Pa….”
*****
Quietly, he followed his family out the door and contemplated why no one gathered their weapons from the credenza as he had witnessed numerous times before.
His father and brothers gathered around the stranger while large smiles erupted on their faces, tears fell from their eyes as their voices faltered. To the side he waited with his hands shoved into his front pockets. Watching and not understanding, he took a step to return to the house. Once his family seemed to become aware of his movement, the others wiped at their eyes as they broke from around the man in black, allowing him to step towards the youth and extend his hand.
“My name is Adam, welcome to the family.”
Tentatively, he pushed his hand forward into the man’s hand, and felt himself pulled into a strong embrace. He felt so unlike Oliver Twist; love permeated the air. He smiled as he thought about replacing the characters in the book with his new family; he envisioned Joe as the Artful Dodger, teaching him while simultaneously leading the ranch hands. He pictured Hoss to be a younger version of Fagin, always ‘looking out’ for the less fortunate of the world. Of Benjamin Cartwright, he would sort of fit the bill as Edwin Leeford, wouldn’t he? Not that pa had been forced into an unhappy marriage; but that the man found a part of his life he didn’t know was missing until after he took someone new into his heart.
*****
As the house quieted after the earlier events of the evening, and he settled into bed for the night, he wondered what would come with the sunrise. His thoughts turned to this new brother, would he be a Bill Sikes or an Edward Monk?
“Nah… look at Hoss and Joe. After all…wasn’t it Adam who did such a good job in helping to raise the other sons of Benjamin Cartwright?”
(JAMIE – Cat)
*****
The fire crackled and popped within the fireplace of the great room, casting shadows and light that danced across the furniture; the red and white striped settee, the burgundy leather chair, and the suede blue chair that surrounded the low, wooden table in front of the stone hearth. Life had been lived and grieved within these walls.
*****
While holding a saucer in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, a lone figure looked from the dining room, past the great room to the staircase and gave pause to wonder if it had all been a dream. Had it really happened? Had it only been a short time earlier that all his sons… all four of his sons bid him goodnight as they headed up the stairs to their bedrooms.
“Home,” he mused.
A simple word, just four letters, but tonight the word had more meaning than it had in a long time. The men who occupied the residence were bound by more than just a name, Dreams… Longings… Heartache… Yet through all the tears and laughter, they had managed to live.
When he settled on this land, there were three of them. Life forced him to travel, to deliver a message to a woman that she was now a widow. Without intending to, he fell in love, married, and returned to the land. Within a year, there were five under the roof. They were happy; until their numbers were reduced to four. Three times he’d lost, but he continued to live and prosper. Land… Cattle… Horses… Mines… Lumber… Wealth… His sons were his greatest wealth, three fine sons that no man could be prouder to call his own. Until that day…
“Pa, I’ve given everything I can to the Ponderosa… I have my own dreams… Maybe it’s because of the time it took us to travel here, and the years I spent at Harvard… I need more than what she can give me.”
And so he and his second born waved goodbye as the stage-coach pulled away and listened as the traveler yelled, “I’ll write. Don’t worry, I’ll be back!” Looking the opposite direction, his youngest sat upon his pinto horse, wiping his jacket sleeve across his face.
‘I had to let him go, I couldn’t keep him here any longer,’ the man grieved as he walked to the horse and buggy.
*****
Years passed and the hole remained; especially when the letters became fewer and fewer, and finally stopped. He decided to take a chance and help a youth apparently cast aside by life. They were four once more, but the dynamics had changed.
The patriarch was still a rock; however, starting to show a little wear as even the mightiest of stones ultimately give way to nature’s fury, worn down by standing tall against time. The mediator became a guiding light, showing the courage it took to face life anew. The temperamental one had changed most of all; his wings had finally strengthened enough to soar high above the mighty pines for which the Ponderosa drew her name. A new wild card became the youngest, he accepted their name… he wanted to belong.
Time passed… Even though they were four, there was still a hole.
*****
“Please God, let me wake in the morning to find this was real,” he prayed as he cast his eyes upwards, closing his eyelids in an effort to stop the tears from falling.
“I’m sorry, Pa.”
Ben Cartwright opened his eyes to a sight he had truly thought he’d never live to see again, “Son,” he called.
Still dressed in black, Adam Cartwright slowly made his way down the last few steps and walked across the floor. He was a little heavier around his middle than he was before he left. His appearance was quite distinguished, with the beard and mustache he now bore peppered with hints of grey. Ben kept his musing to himself, Was the beard an effort to make up for what was no longer upon the top of his head?
“I didn’t mean to be gone so long,” the eldest son breathed as he lowered his head in supplication. “I’m sorry I stopped writing.”
“Why?” He set the cup and saucer on the table, hoping that one word would convey his desperate desire to understand.
“Distance,” was the first word Adam used as an explanation, he paused as he struggled with the words he wanted to say.
It had been many years since Ben had seen his son, but never before had he witnessed this inner conflict within the man.
“I wasn’t as strong as you… I thought I knew what I wanted, but…”
Ben waited.
“In time, I met a woman. We fell in love… married…”
Upon hearing that his son had married, Ben allowed his son to have his say before he would ask if his son’s wife would be joining them soon.
“We continued to travel Europe, Africa, Australia… It was my life, Pa. I was finally living everything I thought I wanted.” Turning from his father, Adam walked over to and stared into the fire, allowing the flickering image to ignite his need to confess. “It wasn’t enough; even with everything we did and everywhere we went… something was still pulling me. We were happy, God we were happy… and then she died two years ago.”
“I’m sorry son,” Ben grieved for the daughter-in-law he’d never known.
“I didn’t know if I could come home again; I had left my father’s house…” Adam hesitated.
Walking to stand close to his oldest, Ben quietly spoke, “Adam, don’t… I understood and accepted your reasons for leaving. And I accepted that I had fulfilled my duty to you as your father. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it*.
“Just because you left this home doesn’t mean…”
Hearing regret in his father’s words, Adam turned, “Am I too late to come home?” his voice and eyes beseeched.
With understanding, Ben answered, “No son, you came home when the time was right for you, and I’m glad you’re here.”
Turning his son with a hand affectionately resting on his shoulder, they crossed the room and headed up the staircase.
Adam stopped on the landing and looked over his shoulder, “Home. Maybe I had to leave to finally understand that this is where I belong. I feel more at peace than I have in a very long time.”
(BEN – Late)
*Proverbs 22:6
*****
Having spent restless hours during the night tossing and turning, lamenting the fact that sleep wouldn’t come, the man pushed the covers aside and slid his legs over the side of his bed and exhaled deeply. Earlier, while he’d waited for sleep to come, he’d heard a door open and close, and the footsteps on the stairs before they crossed the floor of the great room. He heard muted voices before the boot steps returned to make their way up the staircase. He had been able to tell who was who between the two men walking down the hallway; with a wry smile he gave a quiet laugh at the comfort presented by hearing the sounds. Finally giving up on sleep, he sat up. He listened to the sounds that resonated throughout his home; the grandfather clock downstairs striking the hour and his brother snoring down the hallway. Outside, the wind gently caressed the house, all in the deepest part of the night; when he should have been asleep.
“Home,” he mused.
Just four letters. No real significance in the count except when one realized home had taken on a whole new meaning. The men within these walls were bound by more than name. Life… Dreams… Familiarity… Experiences… Sorrow… Hopes… Some more than others.
All his life he had been the youngest of Benjamin Cartwright’s three sons, and then one day he found that he was one of two who remained to live and work the land; his carefree life forever changed. He never understood his oldest brother’s desire to leave their home; to him the sun always rose and set upon the Ponderosa.
*****
Several hours had passed since the three… no, the four of them had bid their father goodnight and headed up the staircase. With sleep not forthcoming, he pulled on his pants and boots and slipped from the house, making his way to the barn. Upon closing the door behind him, he took comfort in the noises of horses contentedly munching on the last of their nightly hay, slurping water from their buckets, or just dozing on their hooves.
Past the buckskin with the graying muzzle, past the large black with a white blaze, beyond the chestnut with the coat as colorful as his youngest brother’s hair, he stopped to scratch behind the flickering ears of the black and white pinto to which he also offered a lump of sugar.
He remembered the anger and sense of betrayal from years past; tears fell from his eyes as he thought of their loss and the heartache of losing such a part of his family. Months had dragged slowly by, when he overheard his father and Hop Sing speaking one night of how Adam’s departure had struck them all, but the one they felt who was the most hurt was the heart of the Ponderosa.
The young man realized that it was indeed time to grow up, his sulking and anger did no good. He vowed he would do anything he could to ease the hurt of his family and make the land they called home prosper. He knew he’d done well when he saw his family smile as his cackle echoed through the house and across the yard.
Life had been lived when they welcomed into their home a boy cast adrift by fate. The man didn’t begrudge relinquishing the title of the youngest son to another… He eagerly looked forward to assuming the role of older brother and helping to mould the young man to take his rightful place alongside Ben Cartwright’s sons, as his oldest brother had done for him so many years ago.
*****
He looked to the livery horse standing in the stall that Sport had once claimed, and thought of the one returned only hours earlier, wondering how life would change now that older brother was home.
The silent figure laughed at himself, even with graying hair, he still couldn’t help but feel his brother was there to overshadow him. All the years before Adam had left; he worried how others compared him to his oldest brother, his father’s right-hand man who was there when the Ponderosa woke to her first sun rise. The man who had taken on the role of a second father-figure to the youngest Cartwright in the months after his mother’s untimely death; a role not thoroughly relinquished upon Ben Cartwright’s return home*.
He spoke to his faithful mount. “Pa’s always been our rock. And Hoss… it wasn’t easy on him being in the middle of us. Hoss has always been my confidant… And now there’s Jamie… who would have thought I could be a big brother? Even though he was practically grown when he became my brother… He’s never given me nearly as much grief as I gave Adam. Don’t know why I was so difficult.”
“Maybe for the same reason as I don’t know why I was so difficult…” the dark clad figure spoke as he made his presence known.
Joe defensively stood straight.
“My apologies. Didn’t mean to startle you, I heard you leave the house. Are you okay?”
Recognizing the changes in his brother and accepting him in a new light, Joe answered, “Guess Hoss was right, we were just two sides of the same coin. Always looking at things from opposite directions and never taking the time to try to see things the way the other did… I suppose.”
“That sounds like Hoss,” Adam answered. “I would say that you haven’t changed, Joe, but that wouldn’t be true. The Joe I remember would have come at me with fists flying.”
“Guess I’m a little rusty at being the youngest brother…”
“Seeing life from a different perspective has that effect on a… man.” Adam hoped his brother would understand that he saw him in a different light, no longer the wayward little brother, someone to drag home from the saloon or watch over to make sure a job was done proper, the first time.
“I was mad when you left,” Joe admitted.
“I know.”
“I was mad when you stopped writing and then…then I worried that maybe something had happened to you.”
“You grew up, Joe. You became Pa’s right-hand man. I knew you would.”
“And now?” Joe hesitantly asked.
“You’re still his right-hand man, I’ll be happy just to be your oldest brother and Pa’s oldest son.”
“Give it a few weeks, and I think I can make you into a fairly decent ranch hand. I’ve got pull with the boss,” teased Joe as all his anxieties left and he wrapped an arm around his oldest brother’s shoulders, relieved that he now could find peace in sleep.
(JOE – Rusty)
* During the episode The Mill, Ben admitting having left the boys alone for some time while he tried to come to terms with his grief over Marie’s death.
*****
The solitary figure sat upon the raised porch, his chair rocked back on two legs against the wall. The rising sun had just begun to paint the morning sky a pale rose; the hard-packed dirt of the ground between the house and barn lie waiting for the first person to tread across. The man lounged, hesitant to be the first, fearful the dust kicked up would vanquish the dream he’d experienced the night before.
His dream felt as old as the mountains that reached majestically towards the heavens. How many times had he looked and prayed for this dream to become a reality; but he knew there was nothing he could have done differently. They loved each other and had seen the longing in the man’s eyes, the need for fulfillment beyond the borders of the home they called the Ponderosa.
“Home,” he mused.
Just four letters. No real significance in the count except when one realized home had taken on a whole new meaning. The men within these walls were bound by more than name. Life… Dreams… Familiarity… Experiences… Sorrow… Longings… Some more than others.
*****
It had been years since the tears had fallen, the words were spoken, and hearts were broken; but when acceptance had shown its light, he wished the man a life fulfilled, and then the stagecoach took him away.
*****
The large man sat forward upon his chair, easing it to all four legs as he rested his elbows upon his knees, hands folded in quiet contemplation.
*****
Upon their return home that day, life had taken on a new meaning; whereas before he had been the mediator, now he was the leader… well, after Pa. As the weeks and months passed, he realized that maybe their heartache was worth it. His illogically, temperamental brother was changing. Oh… he could still cackle with the best of them, but no longer was he just the third son of Benjamin Cartwright, youngest brother of Adam and Hoss. Joe was maturing and the men had a greater respect for him all the while the youngest failed to realize he was becoming their father’s right-hand man; a fact Hoss didn’t begrudge. And then there was the newest, younger brother. That threw him for a loop; a wild card thrown into the mix when a rainmaker came to town and the boy was left to whatever fate life saw fit to hand him. No one could have predicted the events that transpired to make the family grow as it had.
*****
‘But what about me?’ the man thought. “I guess I grow’d up too. Became more confident o’ myself, knowin’ that Adam wasn’t here to tell me what to do. Not that I was green, no I knew what needed done, but it always felt good to have older brother there to back me up.’
The man continued to think of the events of the night before, had they been real? Supper was finished and Hop Sing in the kitchen fixing a final pot of coffee, washing the dishes and cookware, as the family enjoyed some time together before heading to bed to fall asleep and dream.
Pa had sat in his chair, reading the Territorial Enterprise and slowly smoking from his pipe. He’d looked to Joe, ‘Cain’t believe how grey his hair’s become over the years,’ who was reading a book he’d recently acquired, not one of those dime store novels he used to read all the time. Jamie sat on the floor, school books on the table between the settee and the fireplace, working on his homework.
He reflected upon his family, and the one missing. It had been too long since the last letter had been received and read over and over… He forced his mind away from the thoughts no one dared mention, but in his heart he knew he should know if something had happened. Disquieted… tonight, he wanted to give voice to a persistent feeling that he couldn’t shake. Was this the sign they all feared? But he kept quiet and sought solace in the family that was present.
Drawn to a noise outside, he slowly stood and walked over to look out the window behind his father’s desk.
“Someone’s in the barn, Pa…” he spoke.
For some strange reason, all of them stepped to the door, not a one drawing a weapon from their holsters on the sideboard. Pa was first out the door, slowly, as if not wanting to scare away the figure as the stranger stepped to the wooden porch.
*****
His thoughts returned to the present at the sound of the door opening and he heard a hearty inhalation and the breath slowly being released, followed by footsteps treading softly across the porch.
“It’s not a dream, Hoss. I’m home.” Carefully he stepped onto the deck, his eyes inquiring if it was okay for him to have a seat.
“Been a long time, stranger,” Hoss motioned for him to help himself to a chair.
“Too long,” he said in response.
“Help yourself,” Hoss motioned to the coffee pot and a second cup placed beside it, “Hop Sing and I figured you’d be out here soon enough.”
“He hasn’t changed, has he? Knowing what we need before we do?” Adam asked.
His brother smiled and shook his head, and then sipped from his own coffee cup.
Thoughtfully they sat beside each other, enjoying their coffee as they watched the sun continue to rise; both thinking about this day… and the days to come and what they would bring.
Clearing his throat, the stranger spoke, “I have a favor to ask… I need your help.”
“My help?” Hoss inquired.
“I need to know how to be a brother again, will you help me?” spoke the dark-haired stranger turned oldest brother as his heart settled in peace. ‘This is where I belong.’
(HOSS – Green)
~The End
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