{"id":7172,"date":"2003-08-07T16:34:27","date_gmt":"2003-08-07T20:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7172"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:48:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T18:48:57","slug":"by-the-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7172","title":{"rendered":"By The Lake (by Rona)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0<\/span>The aftermath of an argument sees Joe and Adam trying to mend fences.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 K+ \u00a0\u00a0 (730 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By The Lake<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It seemed he had always come here when his heart was troubled. It was a favourite spot and the calm blue waters of the lake did much to soothe his tempestuous mind. Stooping, he picked up a flat pebble and skimmed it over the lake. He counted six skips before it sank beneath the surface, gone forever.<\/p>\n

At the sound of footsteps, Joe turned and looked at his oldest brother. Adam hesitated, not sure of his welcome after the quarrel the brothers had just had a short time before. \u201cJoe, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he offered.<\/p>\n

For a long moment, Adam thought Joe wasn\u2019t going to accept his apology and he wouldn\u2019t have blamed the younger man if he didn\u2019t. What he had said to Joe was bad \u2013 almost unforgivable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts all right,\u201d Joe replied, sighing. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, too, Adam.\u201d He turned and drifted another few aimless steps. Silence fell again, and this time, Adam was reluctant to break it. In truth, he had no idea what to say to Joe. He still tended to think of him as the youngster who needed to be watched like a hawk and who needed picked up when he fell, or his nose wiped. But somewhere in the intervening years, at first while Adam was a college, and then after Adam had returned, Joe had become a man. A very fine man, Adam acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever wondered why we fight like we do?\u201d Joe asked. Adam collected his thoughts and looked at Joe once more. His brother had turned and was looking at him, the sun glinting off the surface of the lake behind Joe\u2019s head and creating the aura of a halo.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2019ve wondered,\u201d Adam admitted. \u201cI just haven\u2019t found an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither have I,\u201d Joe mused. \u201cI thought, with you being a college man, that you might have got it figured out by now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCollege doesn\u2019t teach you much about family dynamics,\u201d Adam returned, ruefully. How he wished it did, for it might have spared him a lot of heartache over the years. \u201cJoe, I didn\u2019t mean to imply that you\u2019re stupid. I know you\u2019re not\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut?\u201d Joe asked. \u201cI could hear the \u2018but\u2019, Adam. Just say it.\u201d He smiled briefly at the discomfiture on his brother\u2019s face and completed the sentence for him. \u201cBut I know best?\u201d
\nMaking a wry face, Adam acknowledged Joe\u2019s perspicacity. \u201cI guess,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

Once more, Joe moved, walking away from Adam. Numbly, Adam wondered if it was unintentional symbolism on Joe\u2019s part; if he was trying to tell Adam something. His heart ached.<\/p>\n

But abruptly, Joe turned back and took several quick steps that landed him right by Adam\u2019s side. He looked up at his older brother. He had always loved Adam so much, but never quite felt that he lived up to Adam\u2019s expectations. Now, perhaps they could sort this out once and for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a child any more,\u201d Joe said, softly. \u201cI have had some experience in life, too. I know I haven\u2019t had as much as you, Adam, but you\u2019re 12 years older than me; I\u2019ll never have as much experience as you. But there are some things I know more about than you do, college course or no college course. This is one of them. I didn\u2019t run off to have a tantrum, you know. I came out here so that I wouldn\u2019t hit you.\u201d He offered a ragged smile. \u201cSee? I am finally learning to control my temper. But I am right in this Adam, and I am not going to back down. If you aren\u2019t willing to accept my judgement, then we\u2019ll ask Pa to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe,\u201d Adam began, but Joe didn\u2019t let him finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, who do you think was running this ranch while you were off travelling the world?\u201d Joe laughed suddenly and gave his brother a gentle punch on the arm. \u201cI think between us Pa and I have managed, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Laughing back, for Joe\u2019s quicksilver moods somehow always soothed him, Adam conceded the point \u2013 for now. \u201cAll right, you win,\u201d he muttered baldly, but Joe saw that his brother wasn\u2019t serious about his grouching.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil next time, you mean?\u201d Joe smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil next time,\u201d Adam agreed.<\/p>\n

Together, they returned home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0The aftermath of an argument sees Joe and Adam trying to mend fences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 K+ \u00a0\u00a0 (730 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":5266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1091,23,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-joe","category-drama","category-short-stories","wpcat-1091-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-8-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Friendship-4.jpg?fit=500%2C373&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}