The Burning Tree: Book 4: Anarchy by Christopher Artinian

Author:Christopher Artinian [Artinian, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

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“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Callie said, finding Phil nestled down behind a pile of rocks that had been collected for the ongoing building work.

“I’ve been busy.”

“Oh?” she replied, sitting down next to him. “You going to pull another all-nighter?”

“Ha. Not this time. I’m struggling to stay awake. I just wanted a few minutes' peace to finish my list and then I was going to get a relatively early night.”

“I think the boat’s already sailed on that one.”

“Well, early for me, anyway.”

“I’m guessing that’s a list of materials for your irrigation system.”

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” he said, scribbling out another line.

“How are you feeling?”

Phil placed the pencil and paper in his shirt pocket and turned to look at his young friend. “How am I feeling?”

“The last time we talked, you were … stressed. Great performance in the meeting, by the way. You even had me convinced.”

He let out a small laugh. “Y’know, my life was a lot simpler before I met you.”

“How do you figure?”

“I could have a rant and a virtual breakdown and nobody would hold me to account and make me feel guilty about it. That’s the thing about being perceived as a genius. People don’t question any abhorrent behaviour; they just accept it as part of the package.”

“And I’ve spoilt all that?”

“Yes. I can safely say that you have ruined my life, Callie Bridges.”

“I’ve ruined your life? In what way exactly?”

“In every possible way. I can’t sleep a full night without a thousand things flashing into my head about what we need to do, what we need to plan for. I can’t eat a meal without thinking about foraging the next day, the next week, the next month, but all of that, all of it, pales into insignificance compared to the other thing you’re responsible for.”

“Oh, and what was that exactly?”

“You gave me an air of approachability.”

“Oh, God, not this again,” Callie said, rolling her eyes.

“Because other people see you speaking to me, they think they can come up to me too and just start random conversations. It happened again just this afternoon.”

“That must have been traumatic for you.”

“You have no idea. And … they don’t seem to get sarcasm or nuance. It’s completely wasted on them.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too painful.”

“Okay then.”

“Well, if you must know, one of the surfs who drifted in yesterday walked up to me and said in what sounded like some west country dialect, ‘I used to have a vegetable patch at the end of my garden, y’know?’”

“And?”

“Exactly.”

“No, I mean what did you say?”

“Well … I didn’t. I just looked at him. I wasn’t quite sure if he expected a response or if he just randomly walked around stating things about his past to anyone who was standing still long enough to listen.”

“And that was it? That was the whole conversation that got you so upset?”

“No, he went on to say that if ever I wanted to talk to a fellow green fingers, I knew where to come.

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