The Importance Of A Lost Knife

Sinbad sighed and stared at Jim for a while, should he tell him the truth or just keep his personal life to himself? Well it couldn't hurt to just tell him this, he thought and shrugged.

'Ok kid, if you want to know the truth .. my parents found me as a baby and raised me as one of their own,' he said, being rather vague about what he'd been told about how his parents had found him.

"Oh," Jim said surprised. "So you don't know about your real parents?" Jim asked curious.

'Nope, all I know is that they were dead in the same place where I was found ..' he said sadly, looking away for a moment.
Sinbad coughed suddenly and turned back to Jim, pretending that what he said didn't faze him at all, 'do you know your parents?' he asked quickly.

Jim lowered his head, feeling a little sad for Sinbad. He wondered what could have happened... for both of them to die.
Jim decided that since Sinbad had told him such things about himself, it wouldn't hurt to tell him something in return.
"My mum died when I was a baby... so I don't remember her at all."

'I guess that's a good thing really ..' he said after a while, 'if you never knew them, you can't really miss them ..' But then the curiosity of what they were like is almost as bad, he thought as he turned to face Jim properly, 'what about your dad? Was he a good guy?'

"I guess you are right about that... My sister once told me that she remembered our mum to be really kind," Jim said and smiled a little. Ever since he was little Jim had made up his own little image about his mother, trying to imagine what she was like. Jim looked down when Sinbad mentioned his dad. "I... I haven't seen him since I was about 10 years old.."

'So I guess this sister of yours is older than you,' he said, finally getting an answer to his earlier question, 'I think that could have been a lot more fun than having a couple of kids wanting your attention whenever you're home ..' he sighed, even though he kind of missed the twins right now.
Sinbad sat up when he saw the look on Jim's face at the mention of his dad, 'did he disappear without any notice or something?'

"4 years older than me," he replied blankly to Sinbad's question. "Does that mean you have smaller siblings?"
Jim wasn't sure what to answer to the question about his father. "I guess you can say that.." he said eventually.

Sinbad nodded, 'three, though one isn't that small anymore .. he was getting engaged the last time I saw him ..' he said without really thinking about it, 'the other two still hang on my every word like good little sisters should,' he said quickly.
Sinbad put a reassuring hand on Jim's shoulder, 'then all I have to say is that you're better off without him.'

"Three? That was many."
Jim frowned a bit when he felt Sinbad's hand on his shoulder. He smiled a little in return to what Sinbad said. Jim knew he was right. After all it was his own decision back then... as well as his sister's.

'Yeah well at least I'm never lonely when I decide to go home,' he said, 'though I kinda wish I'd said goodbye to them all before I left on that stupid ship .. but I guess running away is also just part of my nature.'

"Why didn't you say goodbye to them?" Jim asked confused.

'Why are you here alone?' he asked, knowing that from what he'd seen so far that Jim wouldn't want to answer that question just as much as he didn't want to answer his.

Jim lifted an eye brow and looked at Sinbad. "You are here alone as well, aren't you? So why didn't you say goodbye to him?" he asked, trying to turn the question back to Sinbad as quickly as possible.

'Who else would I be here with?' he said and laughed, 'you on the other hand have an older sister that you seem to be really close to, so why isn't she here making this experience less of a bore for you?'

"I doubt everyone who was aboard on the ship is here now," he said as he looked at Sinbad. "It was a big ship and we aren't really that many people."

'So you were with your sister on that ship?' he asked, trying to keep the attention away from himself.

"Uhmm... no," Jim said as he looked down for a moment. "But you never told me why you didn't get to say goodbye to them."

'Did you run away from her or something?' he asked, no matter how uncomfortable it was for Jim he refused to answer anymore of his questions.

"She's dead, okay?" he said slightly frustrated before he turned his back to Sinbad. "You don't have to keep asking."

'I'm sorry kid,' he said quietly, now realising why he had been dodging his questions about his sister, 'so you're all alone out here, huh? No one waiting for you at home?' Sinbad didn't know why he was asking these questions, since they obviously weren't going to help anything.

Jim shook his head at his last question. "I think we are done talking now," he said quietly as he felt he was about to tear up.

Sinbad realised his mistake as soon as it was too late to take it back.

'Look kid, I didn't mean it ..' he said as he put his hand on Jim's shoulder, turning him so he faced him again.

When Sinbad turned him around he blinked a few times to get rid of the few tears that were forming in his eyes. He didn't want to cry in front of Sinbad and he was mad at himself for letting his emotions get to him like this.
"It doesn't matter," he said and looked down. "There's nothing to do about it anyway."

Sinbad turned away when he saw the look on Jim's face, only turning back when he thought of something that he hoped would make him feel at least a little better, 'you know what you need, kid? A new family,' he said, a smile growing on his face, 'now I know better than most that no one can replace your real family, but having people around that care about you just as much isn't so bad either ..'