Tom kicked the spare tire, assuring himself of its sturdiness. He looked off the dirt road out into the forest, drifting into thought. Raya was cursing a blue streak on the opposite side of the vehicle. She stood alone on the side of the jeep, half laughing, watching her radio. It spat out low crackling static, as per usual.

"Never mind getting there on time anymore. Storm's coming in in like fifteen minutes. We might as well finish putting on the spare and turn around. No one's answering right now either"

Tom shifted his feet, still watching the trees quietly.

Raya picked at some pine needles in her red hair and tried again, "You listening?"

Tom stopped and looked over at her for a second with a glint of deep sadness in his eyes. It's residency was clearer of a longer tenure than the simple inconvenience of the tire. Aware, Raya walked over to her friend. They were both bathed in the red-golds of the sunset's fire, breaking through the canopy of the trees. The ground before them was pierced by golden rays of life, revealing the bustle of small animals and illuminated the flora of the forest floor.

"No shitty stew tonight! And least we don't have to deal with Robin again."

Tom still barely budged. He looked over at her. Raya spoke again. "What is the matter?" She stepped closer with a concerned look on her face.

"You don't wanna hear it."

"Try me."

"Its dumb."

"Did you smoke before we left?"

"Nah, just - "

"Then give it a shot! I just thought I might'a ended up listening to babble."

Tom gave her an evil eye and concealed a smile by turning back towards the forest fully. It quickly faded from his face. "It just sucks you know? We would get there and everyone will act okay, but we're not. We'll walk in and everyone will be smiling. Even Robin will be all cheery. She just goes along with everyone else. Then give it ten minutes and every one is huddled 'round Ashley. Then another ten minutes for people to start to start talking shit to Will, or about Robin behind her back. Or start with you about you and Ashley." His eyes were glassy. They begged sincerely for an answer.

Raya paused. She was a bit taken aback. It didn't feel like he was finished, but he was just staring. Right as she opened her mouth to begin again, Tom continued.

"We come out to spots like this to smile, coo, and awe over them. Like just this lookout right here. Look." He swept his hands outward across the field. "We'll sit here and look at this landscape. The trees especially so. Its so beautiful. We talk about how and why they're broken, and why each tree might have grown the way it did. That's beautiful too. Everyone seems to agree on it. We discuss what different animals might have lived here at one time and how that changed that landscape and why. Sometimes it even looks objectively ugly, but we appreciate it because we understand why its the way it is. Everything has a place."

"Tom, what in the world does this have to do with us?"

"I told you it was stupid."

"Just explain more, I think its interesting."

"Its just that we never do that with people, and we're not much different. A lot of the things that cause us to grow whatever way we do is out of our control. Trees gotta make it somehow into the sun, and along the way it might get sick, end up getting struck by lighting or attacked by some parasite. Its not so different from illness or terrible luck that makes us grow crooked or lose a few pieces of ourselves. We don't look at other people like that though, we just judge. We don't appreciate us. Its only about "me". He threw his hands up, letting them fall back down to smack his thighs. Did you know that underneath our feet that all the roots are interlocked? That keeps the soil together and the trees literally use each other to stand. They need each other. Even the trees that stay in the shade play a valuable part in the system. I don't think its that much different when it comes to people. Everything on the planet is part of a system and nobody wants to see it."

His face looked older, forlorn and used. "People suck. You just would've thought we could've learned by now"

"You really think so?" Raya's eyes lit up, determined.

"I don't know if they suck, or they don't." She paused, hesitant. "But I think its ego. Every time you meet some one new, its like you throw a blanket over them. Right? Like you wait to see how similar the shape of their life is to your own... Then we start getting hung up on what sticks out or looks different. We judge people because their baggage looks different."

Tom scrunched his face lightly. "You're losing me there."

"We all are making shallow judgements from a limited point of view. I said blanket before right? Imagine everyone's got baggage behind them. You throw the blanket out over someone else's baggage and look at the outline without reading the tags on the bags. Then you get worked up over small differences in the general shape when compared to your own. Sometimes I think we even share the same kind of baggage, just refuse to check those tags and see it. We all carry it differently and that bothers people. If we just checked underneath those generalizations we might see memories and challenges that are actually very similar to our own painful ones."

"What does that have to do with ego?" Tom was now facing her.

"Because it wouldn't be such a big deal if we weren't so insecure about our own baggage. I don't think we would need to care so much about the shape other people's problems if we had really understood our own and had confidence in how we dealt with our lives. When you're faced with someone who did it different, or is different, something inside clicks and you wonder if you're way was right."

"I think a whole great deal of people spend a lot of time justifying why their way is right." Tom said lowly as he turned towards the horizon again.

Raya continued.

"And we spend just as much time convincing ourselves we aren't that worried about that. Its especially a big deal when you seen someone who you think can't handle their own baggage. But again it goes back to using your own limited perspective. If you don't give them the time of day, it means you don't have to live with an equal. I also happen to think its really frightening when they think you may have done something better than you have." She stopped and looked up. Rain began to fall. "But that's why I think they give Robin a hard time. She's prickly cause I don't think anybody ever listens to her. Sure she might make it a little bit harder, but ultimately I think people treat her that way because her baggage looks especially different. Will is just really easy cause he's so different from the norm."

Both friends stood in silence, waiting as the gentle rain plodded along the dirt and grass and gravel. The endless rhythm of the rain riddling the canopy echoed throughout the forest, as far as their ears would let them hear it.

Raya giggled a bit. "I don't know how much I like that metaphor, but it does the job." Tom smiled.

"You should'a been a writer. Should'a blogged or something."

Raya shrugged and spoke with faux vindictiveness "I can't tell if you're giving me shit or not. Don't be an asshole."

"No, really. I liked what you said. I just don't know where it fits into what I was saying. I talked about the trees.

Raya was firm now. "Listen, I think I said what I said because all of this gets you so upset. More so, you talk about the others like they're monsters. When you talk about Ashley for example you're pretty extreme." Tom turned again back towards her, a little taken aback. Raya stepped closer and continued. "What they do is wrong, but you can't just say terrible things about them in the jeep with me. You can't berate them There's more we can do, and I think its just by trying to be good." She frowned. "It boils down to being afraid. Being insecure is also fear. It is not evil, what they do. I think that it too quickly can turn to evil, and that's what I hate so much about it."

The rain began to fall harder. The storm was closer now, penetrating the canopy with greater force. "I don't think I have the answers, but I just think ultimately, we're all just human."

Passion flared in Tom's eyes. "But that doesn't mean we don't do anything about it."

"No, it certainly doesn't. That's where it ties into what you were saying. If we could remember every day what its like not to be heard, that we all suffer, that we're all flawed, things would be different. We can't pretend we're not prejudiced or insecure. Then we don't challenge it. Challenging it, inside ourselves everyday is what's important. I think that's part of what empathy does."

They both snapped back to reality and giggled to themselves, suddenly aware of how wet they were becoming. "Boy, you've got me going down a deep rabbit hole. Let's go back before the trucks in the mud."

They both turned to the vehicle, and Tom quickly bolted the spare and threw the jack into the back seat. He hopped into the driver's seat and looked over at Raya, smiling. "Those flaws are what make everything so unique. We wouldn't pieces of a system if we weren't different. Difference is beautiful, just like those trees out there. I just wish we could learn to appreciate them that way."

Raya maintained her smile and with confidence looked out ahead. "And there'll always be people like you who see that. People who see that and act with intentional compassion in spite of all that plagues us are the people who will keep the world going 'round. Its why I still talk to you. Now drive, let's go home."

The jeep lurched forward, and they started on the path home.

"One last thing." Tom smiled. "Let's spend tomorrow night with Robin and Will."

Raya beamed. "Yea? I'd like that."