"Not really. It's just when you're a kid you're so expectant for what's to come, y'know? It's scary when you're young, but as you get older it doesn't scare you as much." He paused, wondering if he spoke too much. "But that's just how I see it."
She paused in her work and propped her head up on her hand. "That's... hm. The situation you are describing is the complete opposite for me. When I was young, the future seemed exciting and hopeful. It was something to look forward to. But as one gets older, I feel like there are more things to worry about. More problems arise, and each one is more serious than the last.
She continued working on the rope. It now looked as if she was forming some kind of ladder. "Well," she said, drawing out the word as she thought. "Schooling becomes expensive, and you have to worry about that, and if you're unlucky, you aren't very good at your job and you worry about that, and as you grow older, your health decays, and you worry about that. I don't know. I feel like when you're an adult, you lose the resiliency that you had when you were a child. You don't have a little voice in the back of your mind telling you that it's all going to be okay anymore. Our lives become scary and unpredictable, and a lot of the times, they aren't okay." She shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "Sometimes your government gets bombed, and there's nothing you can do to fix it, and being an adult in that situation means that you just have to figure out a way to deal with it."
He listened quietly, rubbing his temple in thought. "When you get older, you have more freedom. You become smarter. You meet more people, and you do more things. There's no point in worrying about money or jobs. I like to think it's all about how you feel, and if you're happy."
"Maybe. But I think that as you grow older you become a lot more aware of the things you cannot control, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Everything doesn't always turn out the way you hope, and sometimes it is completely out of your power. That sort of hopelessness wasn't something I felt as a kid."
"You sound like you never have fun. This is why I like to go to parties and clubs. I don't really care about my health that much, but I do like to try to live life to the fullest."
She chuckled. "Don't worry," she said. "I have no idea what your friends are like. I'm sure they're perfectly lovely. Although, to be perfectly honest, I can't really imagine you going to a party,"
He laughed a bit. "They're probably not the type you're imagining. But, y'know, they escalate when alcohol is involved, so there's that. If you try hard enough, I'm sure you can imagine me with a necktie around my head, smashing bottles and jumping off furniture. It's difficult to think of, but not impossible, I'm sure."
She squinted at him, her head cocked slightly. She observed him, and then shook her head with a sunny grin. "Nope," she said. "Can't see it. I could see you doing really stupid dares though. Just to prove that you could."
"Oh yeah, that is something I'd do. But then again, I'd do anytime just to prove someone wrong." He leaned back, using his arms to hold him up.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, frowning as she worked on a particularily difficult knot. "Oh, I'm still upset that I missed 'Loopy Francis' by the way," she said. "I was going to take pictures."
"For me, it would be," she said, smiling sweetly at him. "Don't worry, I wouldn't show it to anyone." She stood up, and took her rope that she had been tying, and she leaned outside and glanced down at the forest floor. It was peaceful here, and she took a deep breath before throwing the end of the ladder over the side. "Look at that!" she exclaimed. "Exactly reaches the bottom."
"Huh. Good work. Hopefully it won't break." He thought for a moment. "I might back to the hospital tomorrow to see what I can find. Scavenge, you might say."
