The next day, when I drive up to the shack, I see Aiden looking at me from the window. His eyes are light blue as if made of glass. I've never seen such eyes before. But his eyes seem empty.

"Hi!" I say and smile. I don't think he even remembered me from yesterday. "I'm Jack. How are you?"

But Aiden is silent. It feels awkward, but I think silence in his condition (although I have no idea what his condition is) is forgivable. Brent comes out of the house, gives his brother a worried look, and walks over to me.

"He... he doesn't talk to me either..."Brent comments in a hushed voice.

"That's okay," I say cheerfully. "He'll come around, I'm sure. I asked Laura to drop in here from time to time."

Brent looks at me gratefully.

"We are causing so many problems, aren't we?" he says awkwardly.

"Everything pays off with hard work," I reply. He sits down next to me, and we drive away.

I show Brent a pasture, a stable, and a garage. Brent immediately says that he knows nothing about cars. Well, I figured that much.

I show him sown fields and a fruit grove and teach him how to handle the equipment. I think it's even more than necessary for the first day because at the end of it Brent no longer even listens to me and barely stands. I bring him to the house. Laura made us dinner again, but Brent falls asleep almost immediately.

Aiden sits on the bed by the window where I saw him this morning, still blank.

"He probably didn't move for a whole day," Laura says, following my gaze.

"Hey, Aiden," I walk up to him with a plate of roast chicken. "Your brother did a good job today but couldn't handle his dinner. So you have to eat for him," I joke. Aiden doesn't react to it.

Laura sits down on the porch.

"Maybe you try?" I ask her.

She snorts, "What? To spoon-feed him?"

"You wanna be a doctor! You'd have to spoon-feed people!."

"He's not sick," Laura says. "He's in shock."

"For me, it's the same thing," I retort.

"That's why I'm the doctor here, not you," she grins.

I turn to Aiden again and say, "Don't mind her. She's just mean."

Laura clicks her tongue loudly.

"But she's a great cook. It's impossible to deny," I add with a smile.

Aiden lowers his eyes and lies down on the pillow. Did I say something wrong?

I decide to leave him alone and sit next to Laura on the porch. We eat in silence.

"Don't do anything foolish, Jack, okay?" She says suddenly.

"I wasn't going to."

She squints at me incredulously. And it makes her look like a little fox.

In the morning, I come for Brent and see Aiden sitting by the window again. As if yesterday is repeating itself. I come closer and put an apple on the windowsill.

"Do you like apples?" I ask as if Aiden will no doubt answer me, but he doesn't. "I raised it myself," I smile. I feel like a fool. I don't know why I'm even trying. But I want to hear his voice. He can't be silent forever.

Brent comes out, tells his brother that he will come back soon, and we leave again.

We return only for lunch. Laura brings food to the shack. She isn't fond of our father's company. They can't speak for five minutes - they begin to argue. It seems to me that Laura often teases him. And dad can never back down.

I notice that there is no apple on the windowsill. Aiden doesn't dine with us. Brent brings the plate to him and then sits next to Laura on the porch. Laura talks all the time, which I never noticed before, but Brent's answers are often irrelevant. Now it's my turn to look at my sister with a sly glance. And who was talking about foolish things?..

In the afternoon, Brent helps me repair the fence around the farm. We stumble on their car. I had no time to look at it properly. I suggest we drive it to the garage, but Brent doesn't want to add any more trouble. I want to ask again where they came from, why, and where they were headed, but I don't want to pry.

"Aiden seems to be doing better," I say. What the hell... Almost every conversation with Brent comes to Aiden.

"Yeah," Brent nods. "He eats. That's good, I guess. However, he's silent all the time. Maybe, if he drew, he would feel better."

"What?"

"Well, he..." Brent says. "He draws well. And before, he always sketched something in a notebook. He said that drawing helped him think about everything or not think about anything."

"It takes time to recover from the shock. Don't rush him. After all, he went through such a tragedy."

Brent gives me a quick look and just nods.

"Is it okay if I ask you a personal question? What do you think of Laura?" I say.

He frowns at first as if trying to remember who it is and then raises an eyebrow in surprise.

"About your sister?"

I nod.

"She... treats us well and cooks very tasty. I am grateful to her."

I'm sorry, little sister, I'm sorry to break your heart...

"Why do you ask?" Brent looks at me.

"Just curious," I smile innocently.

...and so that you would not think that I am only talking about your brother.