Life On the Fjords

A Quiet Dinner

"He didn't have to do that!" Mary wept. Pippa rocked her gently in a small hug. "Why did he do that? We could've helped it!"

Jamie sat wordlessly with his group of friends, they were confounded when they heard their story.

"Maybe your dad just thought it was the right thing to do." Caleb tried to reason.

"But come on," Claude interjected, "a fire? Usually you want to kill something quickly if you want to show it mercy." That only made Mary cry harder. Pippa glared at him. "Sorry."

Monty noticed that Jamie was uncharacteristically silent. "Jamie?" He reached for his shoulder but his hand was smacked. "Ow!" He shook it. "Jeez..."

Pippa saw the look in Jamie's eyes. "Jamie–"

"What's the big deal? It was just a dumb bird!" He didn't recognize the words that were coming out of his mouth and the boys looked at him like he was a stranger and Mary leered in disgust. Pippa was only disheartened. She could tell from his body language that he was fighting his emotions; his hands were balled into fists and he was having trouble keeping a straight face. "You guys all stay here and cry then, I'm going to find something else to do."

The boy stormed off and none of the children tried to stop him. Jamie didn't know what he had in mind when he said he'd find something to do, but all he did was end up walking aimlessly towards the fjord. He felt cradled by the steep walls of rock surrounding the waters he gazed into. He let his hand stir gently in the shallow bank. Jamie normally could always find comfort in his home, but today was different—his stomach felt hot. He couldn't explain it.

He was getting ready to hurl some stones into the water when he heard someone walking up behind him. "Jamie?" Pippa said shyly. She sat next to him.

Jamie didn't even turn to her, "I don't care about the bird."

"Then why are you acting like this?" His cheeks burned up and he kept his gaze averted. "Hey, don't you know you can tell any of us when you're sad? We're your friends!"

"I'm not sad." He answered. "I'm angry."

"Angry about what?"

Jamie hugged his knees, "...I'm mad that my dad even did that. He killed it right in front of us... Even if he was going to do that anyway, he didn't even ask us if we were okay with it."

Pippa understood now. "It sounds like he wasn't thinking. Why don't you tell him how you feel?"

"He doesn't care about how I feel! He barely even talks to me or Mary."

"What about Jack?"

"Jack didn't even try to stop him. I'm mad at him too!"

"It's not his fault your father did that." She tried to see both sides without making it like she was just picking Jack over him, which it appeared she always did. "It's not you or Mary's fault either."

"I just wish we didn't bring it home. Maybe it wouldn't have died." He hid his face in his arms, too ashamed to let her see him like this. But Pippa had known Jamie for too long to not feel like she was his own sister. He felt her arms hug around his curled-up body and he raised his head, but he didn't hug her back—it was a pity hug.

She pulled away. Her firey-red hair looked so vibrant in the sunlight. "Don't you dare hide your feelings from me, James Overland." She playfully scolded, "You know I'm always here for you."

Despite himself, Jamie smiled a little. "Thanks, Pippa." He looked at her for another moment before he bashfully turned back to look into the water. She stayed with him, knowing that he was a little more at ease with her there.