Engraver Beetles

A simple story about being a partner.

It started with the Ips, the pesky engraver beetles that had no right tunneling hell through the beautiful trees of Colorado. Minus the speckle of dead trees throughout the mountainside, it was a picture perfect night in Glenwood Springs from the tiny cabin deck that the couple lounged on. Tension filled the fresh night air as Tara and Luis started on a bottle of cheap wine.

 

“Every time we come to the mountains there’s more swaths of trees eaten and destroyed by these stupid pests.” Tara took a big sip from her glass, swallowing hard. She looked at Luis and he was beautiful. In the firelight his light brown skin glowed and his messy hair and long eyelashes cast shadows on his face like tree branches do in undisturbed snow.

 

“It has definitely changed over the years.” He broke his view from the mountains to admire the woman he loves. He caught her eyes as he turned and her quickly looking away was painfully unsurprising. She was short and plump but built well from the work she did. She was stronger than she realized, in every way. Her short hair matched his, though much straighter and finer.

 

“I spend every day designing backyards for rich jerks just so they can have the perfect landscape. Neither of us, trained artists, could ever dream to create something as stunning as nature does and it’s not fair that the engraver beetles can take that away. Everyone just has their heads up their own asses like your mom,” She laughed, set down her glass, then fell silent.

 

“Tara…” Luis sighed, picking midnight blue paint from underneath his nails. “We came out here because we have both been stressed. Are you really going to spend the whole night complaining about beetles when that clearly is not what is bothering you?”

 

“Well, I can’t spend the night pretending like my problems aren’t still problems just because we’re four hours away from them.”

 

“How is four hours different from days? More beetles to eat away at us?”

 

“Again, my problem is my job, if we really run away it won’t be an issue anymore.”

 

“We have talked about this Tara; running away will not make you happier.”

 

“But I’ll be able to spend every day working with you in an undisclosed location where your family can’t find us. We could get some chickens, goats, and build a self-sustaining greenhouse. We could have hundreds of nights like this, curled up around a fire in our backyard fed from wood we’ve gathered ourselves…” Tara threw her legs up over Luis’s on the bench that felt like it could barely hold the problems weighing them down. She buried her face in Luis’s neck and breathed him in, ready to dedicate the rest of her life to being happy with him.

 

“You would get bored.”

 

“I would not!”

 

“Tara, you need to express yourself. I could paint in a cabin and have a career and feel satisfied, but you need new places to explore. You could not spend the rest of your life building one small world, it would be a waste of your talent. I love your work and I know you could not live without it. That is one of the many reasons that makes me love and respect you so much.”

 

“I should have gone to California with you last month.”

 

“It is not like you could stop my grandmother’s suffering.”

 

“I could do a better job carrying your pain.”

 

“Tara, my mom is feeding off the pain and suffering of my grandmother, it is sick. Her and my uncle dehumanize everyone as if they are the only good people in the world and know what is best for nanna. Trust me, I did not want you there to see that.” Luis angrily took a big swig from his cup as if the wine would help quench the fire burning in his gut.

 

“They don’t understand how their need for the spotlight hurts you and your grandma.”

 

“No love, and I am sorry that I keep complaining about them. They are just so miserable, and they get under my skin. I feel like every time I am around them, I start to act like them.”

 

“You aren’t like them Luis. When you love someone, you start to feel the same way as them and their toxic need for attention is what is making you feel ignored and miserable. You just need to keep healthy boundaries and distance when you begin to get overwhelmed.”

 

“Distance would be much easier if my mom did not call me every day saying it is to update me about nanna’s condition and then using the time to talk only about herself.”

 

After a bottle and a half of wine they began to shiver, the gas fire pit unable to provide enough heat for them to feel safe from the problems eating them away.

 

“I can’t believe you called me out like that earlier.” Tara simpered at Luis.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The beetle thing”

 

“It was very obvious.”

 

“You’re obvious.”

 

“Obviously in love with you”

 

Luis tickled Tara and she flung off the bench to the edge of the deck, shivering when the cold struck her. She did not move back immediately though and in that moment, all he wanted was to tangle his hands in her short hair and kiss her. So, he did. For the rest of the trip, they lost themselves in each other.