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“So, it’s a no, Ahh?” signs Jake.

Finn, who is trimming the grass in his garden, nods in agreement.

“But why?” Jake questions Finn releasing a puff of smoke into the air, “it’s a one-time opportunity and the city you are going to is a great place with every possible facility you can imagine.”

Finn stays silent but his silence speaks a lot in the void as if he is saying he knows it, it’s a no.

“You know, but you won’t, right?” said Jake, his cigar in his hand.

Finn nods again.

“Why?” Jake demands an explanation “I need a reason to accept it, you will be left alone in this remote area, all by yourself and that will keep me worried.”

Finn takes his time and turns towards Jake, “Can you not smoke in my garden, it’s not healthy for my babies” he says pointing towards his plants in the garden.

“Here I am giving you an exciting offer of restarting your life in a new city and all you are worried is about your babies, which aren’t even literal babies!” Jake rants.

“I acknowledge your concerned, but a no is a no,” Finn responds with a firm tone.

“I see you made your decision,” Jake says.

“But I can make peace with your choice of living here alone far away from the city and us, only if you give me a reason,” demandingly says Jake.

“I like this place, and have lived here all my life, will this answer do?” Finn responds softly.

“Nope.” Jake nods dissatisfied. “You are just thirty and you are too young to settle in a place.”

“Hmm.” Finn looks at the trimmed plants contentedly, then, he looks at the sky and speaks softly, “Jake, how about roaming around tomorrow.” He turns towards Jake and smiles “for old times’ sake?”

Jake was taken back by the smile, he wondered how he gets flattered at how genuine Finn’s smile could be. “Sure, but don’t think the topic is off the table, we are going to talk more about it again,” Finn warns.

Finn smiles mischievously.

“This guy sure knows my weakness, I should make sure not to fall for it tomorrow again”, Jake mutters to himself with his cigar in his hand.

It was too early to even consider morning; the skies are slightly blessed with the sun’s rises which isn’t visible anywhere on the horizon yet. The weather’s chill and the slight sunlight gave no warmth and are completely covered under the morning fog.

Finn practically forced Jake out of his bed, he opened the windows, switched off the room heater, and pulled the blanket away from Jake making him shiver in the morning cold breeze. Jake wakes up to the sudden chills he got and found Finn under the room light that he switched on just a few seconds ago.

“Are you planning on killing me, because I insisted on taking you along with me?” Jake wrapped himself in his arms, he kept rubbing his hands frequently, and as he spoke a misty cloud appeared due to the cold.

“Nope, it’s a morning trip,” says Finn joyfully.

“You didn’t tell me before.”

“I did drop a hint.”

“For old time’s sake?” he exclaims, “was I supposed to decode it?”

“Well, you are already up, so let’s go out, shall we?”

Jake had little choice, and he covered himself in layers of clothes.

Finn meets Jake at the entrance of the home, ready with two cycles with a small torch at their handle.

“Come on” Finn signaled Jake towards the bike.

“My legs are freezing and you want me to ride. Tell me the truth do you hold a grudge against me?” Jake went mad at the surprise he got looking at the cycle.

Soon after they took the cycles, they kick-started onto the roads, Finn carried a backpack and rod ahead of Jake guiding him with the directions.

The place is a remote area, isolated from the city. With little to no pollution, a morning ride would do wonders for there could be any surprise coming their way in the form of rare species wandering, animals crossing, birds perching, singing, and many more.

Although Jake complained at the beginning, soon they began to race to the top of the hill. The memory he had as a child, about the place, might have been intact and he got the route right.

“The place looks the same” Jake said looking from the top.

On the hilltop, the scenery looked amazing, with trees that looked like plants from distance, and hills that ran beyond their vision. There also seemed to be small waterfalls at a distance. It looked beautiful just like a painting.

 “You remember well,” said Finn.

“We are camping here tonight,” Finn said.

“What? I didn’t get any extra pair of clothes for the night,” responded Jake worrisomely.

“says the guy, who looks like a moving wardrobe,” Finn says sarcastically.

“We don’t have enough to make a fire.” Jake defended.

“That’s why we need to fetch sticks during the day,” replied Finn.

“What about the tent?”

“It will be here anytime soon.”

“Looks like you got all prepared except me,” Jake snicks.

They go into the woods to fetch sticks. A wave of memories rushes back with every step Jake takes into the forests for wood.

When they were just kids, they came here with Finn’s grandparents, his parents passed away at a young age, and he had only grandparents. But Finn’s grandpa never showed any difference in his love towards Jake and Finn, since their first meeting. He simply wants his grandson to be happy and his grandson was happy with Jake, that’s all is needed for the old man to treat him as his own.

In the past, while fetching the sticks for a campfire, Finn got hit by a monkey. At that memory, Jake kept laughing looking at Finn. They needed little communication to understand what the laughingstock was about.

“Enough of laughing, keep fetching if you don’t want to die out of cold,” Finn warned him.

Jake laughed a little more despite the warning and kept walking deep into the forest to get anything that was eatable.

As he passed by a mushroom, he remembered grandpa’s teachings about how a frog uses it as its shelter during rain and how to recognize if it is poisonous or not?

He jumped and plucked a few berries and a few random fruits. Once his hands and pockets were full of sticks and food. He raised his head to look for Finn, who wasn’t anywhere around.

“Finn.”

“Finn” Jake shouted but got no response in return.

He got a little worried but then found Finn running to his side, dodging the branches, side-stepping from the plants and cobbles. His run made Jake feel butterflies as it had been a long time since Finn came to anyone running. But soon jake’s butterflies turned into bees, as he noticed a wild dog chasing down Finn.

Jake tried to keep his firm and tried not to attract the wild dog’s attention, but his plan failed utterly for Finn is running straight into him.

They both ran one after the other, Jake losing a few of the sticks he collected and to his surprise, Finn tried to through meat in the direction of the dog. That attempt did pause the situation till the time the dog sniffed the meat briefly, took it in its mouth, and then resumed its chase.

“What the hell man, where did you get that meat?” shouted jake on top of his breath, still running.

“It’s not the time for the details buddy,” Finn shouted back.

“You’ll get us killed today,” Jake shouted.

They kept running and finally they reached their camping spot at the cliff end.

“What have you done?” Jake whispers as they turn around and face the angry wild dog.

“I took the meat,” Finn whispers back.

“This is the last thing I expected from you,” Jake shouted as the dog roared and was ready to jump on one of them.

Just then a whistle resonated from the forest, listening to which the dog ran back.

They both crashed onto the ground gaspingly.

Finn bust into laughter first “That was a crazy dog.”

“No, you are a crazy guy,” Jake joined the laughter.

“What happened, what’s with the meat?” Jake inquired.

“Oh, I went hunting down something for our food. I found a rabbit in a bush and just when I thought to catch it, the dog chased it and took it to its master, I watched him kill and clean it and as soon as I  saw the opportunity to get a piece of meat from there, I grabbed one. But the dog caught my smell even before I could run.” Finn explains the entire story.

“You sound as if whatever just happened is a normal thing,” Jake responds still gasping.

“Sure, it isn’t,” Finn counters.

They both take a heavy breath and lay on the grass, looking at the sky.

Finn breaks the silence “You remember being chased by bunnies when we were kids in the village?” he asks.

“I do. The bunnies chased us till our feet gave up and they all jumped on us and started playing.”

“You kept crying so bad, your dad and grandpa had to catch each bunny and cage them.”

“Yeah, that night my dad made a scene because I cried like hell.”

“You didn’t even know they were pets and they only wanted to play.”

“How can I, it was my first time with them,” Jake defended himself.

“Grandma had to keep you with her that night till you fall asleep.”

“Yeah, her warm hug made me cool down instantly.”

“If by intent you meant two hours, then I couldn’t agree more,” Finn made fun of Jake.

“But do you remember that was our first night together?”

“More like morning,” Finn tried to correct it.

“Yeah, I agree, because we found each other in the same bed and fought the next minute we woke up.” They laughed together.

After a good laugh, followed a happy silence.

“Did you get the answer?” Finn asked Jake, who is still smiling.

“What answer?” Jake questions and he remembers it as soon as he saw Finn’s serious face.

“Why won’t I go?”

“Because…?”

“Because this place is more alive, even though we lost our loved ones, their memories are the soul of this place. And now, all this is part of me.” Finn smiles.

“I can feel the same, but you don’t have to stay back, you can drop here whenever you want,” Jake tried to convince him once again but this time, there was no demand, there was no argument, just a concern in his tone.

“You dropped today because I stayed here, and If I’m gone, you wouldn’t either,” Finn told.

Jake's silence itself seemed to agree with what Finn said.

“But…” Finn tried to start again, yet the words seemed to be lost somewhere.

Finn’s friends deliver the tent and joined them for the remaining day.

The next day, after returning from the camp, before leaving to city, Jake says “You don’t have to stay to keep all those memories and everything around you alive.”

“I am alive because all those memories and things around me hold a piece of me,” Finn replies.

“Have a safe journey, Jake,” Finn waves warmly.

“I will soon return to meet a part of mine that’s left here,” Jake says and walks to the bus station, with a pleasant smile.