He needed a place to live
Asked if he could stay
Having plenty of room
I agree.
His brothers came
The same request.
I agree.
They needed homes
Privacy
Could they chop down
Just a few trees?
I agree.
They needed food.
Can we catch your fish
Kill your deer
Hunt your boar
Slay your bear?
I agree.
We could grow crops
Irrigate the land
Change your waterways
Tame the animals.
I concede.
We will set up markets
School the children, women
Whack the forest
Change everything to our liking –
Just gut it all and rebuild.
With shock, I freeze.
Everything?
Yep, get things more civilized
Capitalized
In a sense, downsize
Upgrade
Come on, you know it would happen someday.
I pause, look past him
To her.
Is this what you want?
Eyes cast down
Silent, fidgeting.
Speak up
It is your choice, too.
The pause took what seemed
Like thousands of years.
She steps forward.
No, they’ve done enough.
From here on, it’s up to us.
We got this.
