"I'm at home," Gaark answered. "You've grown a lot, little brother."
This was the first time all day where Gaark didn't seem clueless when he talked. His words were sharp, and his smile quickly faded away.
Then, he asked, "I haven't been home in a while, have I?"
"No, it's been five winters." Jimmy said.
"Right, I remember saying that." He sighed, and he started to get stressed out, and flickered through eye contact as he looked up and down. "How much of my brain did you wipe out? I know I'm forgetting something, but I can't figure out what, for the life of me."
"I only got rid of the stuff that would mess you up," Jimmy assured him, "Stuff that would make you a danger to our people. Don't worry about it, your head is in tip-top shape now."
Gaark seemed paranoid, but this was normal. Thanks to the erased memories, the five last summers, to him, felt like they never happened. He only had a few neutral memories of the past five years, the kind that wouldn't scar him mentally.
