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moment. But he didn't, not for years.
    Word of Jonathan's many exploits only caused Adam to dive even deeper into his work. Eventually news came that Jon's elaborate parties were losing some of their luster. It was clear that his inheritance, though vast, did have its limitations. Adam felt only a passing sense of pity. It was bound to happen eventually, after all.  
    It was a warm summer afternoon on the day it happened, the thing that tore Adam and his Father apart. Adam was out in the fields, checking on the progress of the wheat. He was focused on his work as usual. Jotting detailed notes about every acre on a notepad, when he noticed a man walking down the driveway. The man was dirty and thin. His skin had a pallid, sickly tone, and his tousled hair had been died three or four different shades of blue.  
    Adam thought the man looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't quite place him. Then the front door of the house burst open with a crash that made him jump. He turned and looked to see his Father come sprinting out of the house at full speed. He knocked over a potted plant as He leapt from the doorstep, but He didn't stop even as the pot shattered on the cobblestone. Father ran; his arms open wide, shouting something that Adam couldn't quite make out until he drew close.
    " My son! My son! My Son has returned! " his Father shouted over and over again at the top of His lungs.
    With dawning understanding, Adam turned to look once more at the broken and disheveled man that was shuffling up the driveway. It was a pale and underfed facsimile of his younger brother, but there could be no question.  
    Father sprinted all the way down the drive, colliding with Jonathan so forcefully that they both nearly toppled over. But rather than falling, Father lifted Jon into the air in a great big bear hug. Howard came jogging just behind Father.
    " Bring a shirt, " Father said to the caretaker, " One of the nice ones. "
    Howard turned, but then Father called after him, " And find the biggest, fattest calf. I think we need to have a feast. " He then pulled the ring off His finger and slipped it on Jonathan's, " Yes, a feast, because my son was dead and now he is alive again. " Even from where he stood, Adam could see the tears rolling down his Father's face, " He was lost but now he is found. "
    " I was coming back to work for him, " Jonathan's voice broke Adam out of the memory as they both made their way down the hall together.
    " What? "
    " I spent all the money, " he said, lowering his head. " You must have known that. I didn't know you could spend that much money so fast, " he gave a half-hearted laugh. " I lost my apartment, and all of my 'friends' left. I was up to my ears in debt. I was a junkie, I couldn't get a job. "
    Adam paused at the top of the stairs. He had never heard why his brother had decided to come home. He assumed that when the money ran out, Jonathan had come running back to Father to beg for more.  
    " I tried to find work for months, " Jon continued. " Finally I managed to get something under the table at a pig farm. I only got paid a few bucks an hour to feed the pigs. I knew things were bad when the pig slop started looking tasty. " He gave another pathetic laugh, " I figured that Dad's workers have it fifty times better than this. All of them can put food on their own tables. "
    Adam rested a hand on his brother's back, " I didn't know. "
    " I was too ashamed to come back, but I might not have made it otherwise. I had this whole speech planned about how He didn't need to treat me as a son anymore, that I'd be happy to be treated just as one of His workers. " A fresh tear rolled down Jonathan's face, " But I didn't get a chance to say that speech. Dad grabbed me and squeezed the air out of me. Before I could speak, there was a ring on my finger, and I was being changed into fresh clothes. "
    Adam remained silent, not knowing what to say.
    " I know you left just after I came back, and I think I know why. " With