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Two young teenage boys sat in a dimly-lit room. The raw wooden table was laden with buckets and bowls of potatoes, only few of them were already peeled. With a disgusted face the younger one threw a freshly unclad vegetable to its companions.
“We’re gonna do all that work, and we won’t even get a mouthful of it when it’s finished.”
“I guess we just chose the wrong day to cross Mr. Mason.”
“We didn’t want to cross him!”
“He might see it differently that we picked up the last walnuts from his tree.”
“He wouldn’t want them anyway. Half of them is already rotten.”
“We were on his property, and it’s still his nuts.”
“That IS nuts! You can’t steal anything nobody wants anyway! It’s... it’s... like stealing garbage!”
“Search me, Jed! I don’t get it either!”
Both boys scowled and continued working.
“I’m glad, we’re not allowed to join supper anyway,” Jed grunted after a while.
“You’re what? You not hungry?”
The younger one only shrugged.
“C’mon, you’re always hungry, and you sure can use every bit you’re gonna get. So, what’s eating at you?”
“They wanted us to say thanks.”
“And...?”
“And?!? What’s there to say thanks for? Lot of work, no kind word, drafty rooms...”
“Hold it, hold it, Jed. I know, you have a point there, but you can always make something up. There’s still blessings to count.”
“Blessings? You goin’ crazy now?” the blond flared up.
“We’ve got a roof over our heads...”
“...that leaks...”
“...we’re given food...”
“...that never is enough...”
“...we receive clothes...”
“...meaning rags! Why, thank you...”
“Heck, Jed, will you just stop it! You can’t hold a grudge against all the world! Grudges are for folks with bad stomachs, and that’s something you’re quite definitely not suffering from. I’m trying to make the best of what we’ve got and you spoil it!”
“There is no best when everything’s as bad as possible!”
“No, Jed, you’re wrong. It could be worse, a whole lot worse!”
“How?!”
“You really missed what’s important, didn’t you? It’s us,” his friend pointed out and then paused. “Could be easily one of us alone in here...”
Busy hands stilled. Silence spread. Brown eyes and blue eyes met.
Jed opened his mouth, but closed it again without voicing a word. Everything needed to be said was said by their glances. Silently he nodded and continued working on the mounds of potatoes.
“But we’re meant to be with our family today,” Jed objected quietly after a while, and laid down his dull knife again.
“I’m glad, we’re not,” Han murmured as he remembered motionless bodies lying in the dirt. Within a blink he gathered himself and compassionately lay his arm around his cousin’s shoulder. “But on the other hand, in a way we are with our family today. It’s just you and me now, Jed, and we’ll stick together no matter what!”
“Yeah, it’s you and me, Han,” Jed replied and smiled briefly. “Always.” A twinkle lit up his eyes, his smile grew wider and ended up as a wide grin. “I guess, I could have done worse than stickin’ around with you.”
“No grudge anymore?”
“No grudge!”
“Thank you.” Han returned the grin and winked.
They shared a soft chuckle, broke the eye contact and resumed their boring work. For some reason the room didn’t seem as dark as before anymore.