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If Isha wasn't comfortable talking about it, there wasn't much point in pressing the issue. Still...

"Well, if you ever need someone to talk about whatever it is, I'm willing to listen."

Emry wasn't going to say any more without knowing what the situation was. Too many people gave advice like Follow your heart or Don't forget that your family loves you without knowing whether or not it would make the situation worse. Even promising to keep a secret without knowing what the secret would be was foolish.

"So...hydrangeas are like a sort of living litmus test, then? Like lichens? That's interesting," Emry resolved to study the phenomenon more when he was home.

Again with the secrets. Emry knew he didn't know much about Isha, but all of these specifically secret struggles sounded....perhaps a little dire.

"Hairy water lilies, huh," The older boy let the story of Isha's childhood sink in.

"A year will pass before you know it. A year from now, you'll look back and think, 'Aaah! Where did the time go!' And then you will be able to pay your respects to your parents. In the meantime, though, perhaps you can set up a little spot here in the garden to come think about them. Perhaps your own, secret memorial to leave flowers until you can visit their graves in India. It doesn't have to be much. Maybe just one of these trees that you can say, 'This is where I will come and remember my birth parents, who gave me life and sacrificed their own to preserve it.'"

He inspected a leaf absently.

"Maybe not exactly that. And maybe it doesn't need to be a secret, entirely. Your adoptive parents might want to pay their respects too. But if you need a sort of memorial where you can sit and....grieve....it would help to have something where you are right now. It won't be a perfect replacement to an actual grave, but it's something."

Emry didn't like talking about this sort of thing. Trying to talk to someone about any sort of loss, new or old, always felt a bit cheap It didn't matter how sincere the message was nor how much or little his own experiences resembled those of the person he was talking to. There always seemed to be something lost in the telling.

Emry was having difficulty parsing what Isha was saying. Obviously the kid was troubled about something....but it was beginning to sound like he was planning to run away from home or kill someone. It didn't make sense. He couldn't let this kid be alone too often, if either of those were impending possibilities.

"Would you like me to help you pick out a flower box or whatever you choose it to be?"

The offer felt dumb, but it was the best he could come up with at the moment.

"Hmmm....my favorite plant. There are several, I think, that are competing for that title, but one that I really like is the Japanese persimmon. One of those trees were the sole survivor at ground-zero of the Nagasaki atomic bomb blast, making it a symbol of renewal. I heard it's also pretty good for rebuilding habitats."

"Ginko trees, huh?"

Emry would have to research that one later. Another tree came to mind, though it was notable for a different sort of survival.

"Have you ever heard of an osage orange? It's not actually an orange."

He pulled out a couple markers and made some marks in his sketchbook, trying to color-match a morning glory.

"It's an interesting case because it has a rather large fruit...about the size of a softball. Almost any tree or plant with fruits that size rely on other animals to eat the fruit and pass the seeds through their digestive system in order to spread the seeds around. The only thing is....nothing eats osage orange fruits. It's poisonous to most things. It doesn't even have any natural parasites. The only thing that will even bother with the fruit is squirrels and they just eat the seeds. Even then, it's a sort-of last resort. Some people even believe having one of the fruits in your home will keep spiders and centipedes away. Biologists believe there was a sort of large sloth that co-evolved with the tree, but it died out centuries ago. The tree managed to survive all this time, regardless. If humans hadn't been involved, it wouldn't have moved beyond its native range around Oklahoma. It was cultivated a few other places in the United States, but it's still a very rare sight because its evolutionary partner is extinct."

"It's a plant that is just getting by. It isn't hurting anything but, at the same time, nothing wants anything to do with it..."

He stowed his markers back in his bag at the prompt to continue moving.

"Let's."

"It is sad. Incredibly sad. But at the same time, it's lucky. Many species that have an evolutionary partner are doomed once their partner becomes extinct. It's like every species is a domino lined up against another. Knock one over and others may fall over as well. But in the case of the osage orange, it stood strong, despite it's partner dying out. And you're right, someone does love the trees. Humans."

Emry leaned over to pick up an acorn cap before continuing to follow Isha through the woods.

"Humans love it for its wood and they love it because nothing else does. It's not a popular lumber, mind you. Not today. If it were, you'd see bright orange-yellow furniture just as often as you see teak, oak or cherry. Still, it's thanks to humans that it was able to leave Oklahoma at all."

He blew some dirt out of the acorn cap and placed it in his bag.

"I'll let you know if I want to take a break. Don't wait for me if you want one, though."

Emry nodded in agreement.

"It still was a dangerous thing for humans to do, as I doubt they were concerned about invasive species at the time. Especially since nothing is going to prey on an osage orange tree. But I guess we were lucky too. It was satisfied growing where humans planted it and little else. It could have been a honeysuckle or a starling. But you're right; sometimes humans aren't all that destructive."

He looked into the treetops, trying to follow the call of a scarlet cardinal.

"When I graduate from university? I was thinking of being an illustrator, but I'm not sure yet. I like printmaking most, so I want to stick with that. Illustration or surface design are both pretty good for that. I've still got a couple years, though."

Emry's gaze wandered from the treetops to somewhere nebulously towards the origin of the water sounds.

"For my own books, I hope. At least eventually. But I'll probably start with some publishing company or something. Maybe the only job I'll be able to find is printing T-shirts."

"I would like that."

Even with as often as Emry found himself in the wilderness, he always enjoyed being immersed in the beauty of nature. He set his bag down on a rock and, after a stretch, sat down next to it.

"How about you? Do you have any plans for after high school, yet? Other than traveling?"

Emry took a sandwich out of the bag and munched it thoughtfully.

"I've never had cucumbers on a sandwich before. They're pretty good." Emry could see them being particularly good on a hot day. He took another bite.

"You don't need to be around to have plans after high school, right?" The comment made him worry that Isha might be suicidal, "Communications sounds like a good field and your idea certainly sounds ambitious."

Another bite of the tasty sandwich.

"For a long time, flight was thought to be impossible for humans. That didn't stop some of the greatest thinkers in history to at least dabble in tackling it. Da Vinci had plans for a flying machine, after all. It took a long time, but now airplanes and helicopters are practically indispensable to human civilization. Just don't let one 'impossible' thing blind you from the other things you can be doing as well."