Unexpected Encounters [B.H.M.]

22

"Your Dad? That sounds so lovely. I can imagine it was a lot of fun to have an activity like that with your father."

"Yeah," he said quietly. "It was. Alright. So..." He seemed to be focussed on the map, to make sure we didn't get lost. "This starts out with the history, so what you can see here is about how agriculture started," he said, giving me the flyer. "There should be information on signs as well. I think it's over there," he added, pointing ahead to where a group of people were standing.

"Alright, let's have a look," I told him and followed him over there. This was turning out to be quite different from what I had expected, but so far it wasn't bad.

"So what does this tell us?" I asked, standing by his side so I could have a look at the sign as well. "It all started between 5000 and 4000BC. That's quite a while ago. How long have humans been around before that? I can never remember."

"I don't think it was that long ago actually. I mean, yes, long ago, but nothing compared to how old the Earth and the universe is. Maybe around 50,000 years. So for about a tenth of that time there has been agriculture here in Britain. It probably took a while for that idea to spread throughout the population."

"That would make sense, yeah. It's interesting to think about how this idea happened actually. Some day someone had to have the idea that growing food is more convenient than collecting food."

"Yeah, just like buying food is more convenient than growing food. Humans are a lazy species," he said, stepping away from the sign so he could have a closer look at the plants.

"Mhm," I mumbled in agreement and took my time to carefully read all the information. It actually was interesting.

We continued lke that through the area, stopping at every station to learn a little bit. I tried talking to Brian, but somehow he was very short with me. With everyone actually. He was approached by a couple of teenagers who seemed to have been dragged here by their parents and finally saw something good in their day. But he didn't seem particularly friendly or talkative. He wasn't rude, he was polite, I could tell, but he signed their napkins or whatever they had and then he wandered off, leaving not just me a bit confused.

I didn't immediately follow him, I wanted to finish where I was at the moment, but eventually I did go after him. I found him at the British Agricultural Revolution.

"Hey," I greeted him, standing beside him. "What's this?" He was standing in front of some farming device apparently.

He seemed surprised that I stood beside him, and shrugged shaking his head. "I don't really know.."

"Oh alright.." Was it just me or was he acting a bit weird. "Is everything alright?"

He took a deep breath and shrugged. "Yeah, I think so." He walked ahead, not really making sense to me.

I shook my head a little. If he wanted to be grumpy, he could be grumpy, but I wanted to know what this weird device was. I left him behind and walked the few steps to the sign with the explanations. After a few minutes I returned to him. "Where do you want to go next?"

"I don't really mind," he said quietly.

"We could go see the animals you said they have," I suggested, trying to work out a way to improve his mood somehow.

"Yeah, we could," he agreed, but that was all he said.

Raising my eyebrows, I took the map from him and looked at it carefully. "It's this way," I told him. "You know, no offence but you're acting weird. Is something wrong? Did I say or do something or... what's going on?"