Two of Five
A couple of the five things lists...
For musesfool,
...Five stories John told his sons about Mary.
1. On their third date, she let him teach her how to play pool, then hustled twenty-five bucks out of him. He tells this story a lot, because of the way Dean grins whenever he hears it.
2. That she asked him out, the first time. This is not actually true, although he suspects that she would have, if he'd been any slower, but again, it makes Dean smile.
3. She hated to garden. They used to joke about her black thumb, and when they bought the house she warned him that she would not be out there planting bulbs and pansies and who knows what else: there would be a lawn, and it would be his job to mow it. He tells this story to Sam when Sam's about twelve years old and some kind of science fair project with peas or beans or something goes wrong and the plants all die. But even being like his mother isn't enough to make Sam stop sulking; looking back, John wonders if that's where all the trouble started.
4. It was different when Sammy was little; when he was little John could tuck him into bed and tell him about a little girl named Mary who grew up in the back seat of her father's station wagon, going from one town to the next to sell encyclopedias, and how she read each volume, all the way from A to Z. It's not true: Mary's father was a high school math teacher, but Sam seems to like it, so he keeps telling the stories until he sees Dean's face, one night as he listens. Dean would never complain, not about something Sam enjoyed, but John finds something else to tell stories about, after that.
5. John doesn't talk about Mary much, really, and when he does it's usually like that, a mix of half-truths and outright lies. He hoards the truth to himself: the color of the sun in her hair, the sound of her laugh, the way she smelled after a shower. The look on her face, as she died. The boys don't need to know that, not any of it.
For thepouncer,
...Five things Jake misses in this brave new world.
Well, what doesn't he miss? Electric lights? heating? hot water? power steering? fresh food, and enough of it? antibiotics? I tried to avoid the obvious things.
1. The ocean. He misses the sound of it, the smell of it, the knowledge that it's always just out of sight, putting everything else in perspective.
2. Flying. It was what he did, and he did it because he liked it.
3. OK, I wasn't going to mention the really obvious things, but Jesus, does he miss being warm.
4. He misses being on his own. He misses being the black sheep, the loner; he misses not being Johnston Green's son. In Jericho, everyone knows who he is, everyone thinks they can rely on him to act, everyone thinks he can fix things. He misses the luxury of being irresponsible, and hates himself for that.
5. And now, he misses Eric. He's promised himself -- and he knows his father's done the same -- that if anything happens to Eric, or Stanley, or Heather, or any of their people, there will be consequences. Jake's seen revenge spiraling out of control, feuds turning into civil war, and he doesn't want that for his country, for his home. But he'll do it, for his brother.
For musesfool,
...Five stories John told his sons about Mary.
1. On their third date, she let him teach her how to play pool, then hustled twenty-five bucks out of him. He tells this story a lot, because of the way Dean grins whenever he hears it.
2. That she asked him out, the first time. This is not actually true, although he suspects that she would have, if he'd been any slower, but again, it makes Dean smile.
3. She hated to garden. They used to joke about her black thumb, and when they bought the house she warned him that she would not be out there planting bulbs and pansies and who knows what else: there would be a lawn, and it would be his job to mow it. He tells this story to Sam when Sam's about twelve years old and some kind of science fair project with peas or beans or something goes wrong and the plants all die. But even being like his mother isn't enough to make Sam stop sulking; looking back, John wonders if that's where all the trouble started.
4. It was different when Sammy was little; when he was little John could tuck him into bed and tell him about a little girl named Mary who grew up in the back seat of her father's station wagon, going from one town to the next to sell encyclopedias, and how she read each volume, all the way from A to Z. It's not true: Mary's father was a high school math teacher, but Sam seems to like it, so he keeps telling the stories until he sees Dean's face, one night as he listens. Dean would never complain, not about something Sam enjoyed, but John finds something else to tell stories about, after that.
5. John doesn't talk about Mary much, really, and when he does it's usually like that, a mix of half-truths and outright lies. He hoards the truth to himself: the color of the sun in her hair, the sound of her laugh, the way she smelled after a shower. The look on her face, as she died. The boys don't need to know that, not any of it.
For thepouncer,
...Five things Jake misses in this brave new world.
Well, what doesn't he miss? Electric lights? heating? hot water? power steering? fresh food, and enough of it? antibiotics? I tried to avoid the obvious things.
1. The ocean. He misses the sound of it, the smell of it, the knowledge that it's always just out of sight, putting everything else in perspective.
2. Flying. It was what he did, and he did it because he liked it.
3. OK, I wasn't going to mention the really obvious things, but Jesus, does he miss being warm.
4. He misses being on his own. He misses being the black sheep, the loner; he misses not being Johnston Green's son. In Jericho, everyone knows who he is, everyone thinks they can rely on him to act, everyone thinks he can fix things. He misses the luxury of being irresponsible, and hates himself for that.
5. And now, he misses Eric. He's promised himself -- and he knows his father's done the same -- that if anything happens to Eric, or Stanley, or Heather, or any of their people, there will be consequences. Jake's seen revenge spiraling out of control, feuds turning into civil war, and he doesn't want that for his country, for his home. But he'll do it, for his brother.