In this chap­ter of “When the World Tips Over,” we delve into Miles’s poignant emails to his miss­ing father, reveal­ing his emo­tion­al tur­moil and reflec­tive nature. Miles writes to his dad, express­ing the dif­fi­cul­ty of main­tain­ing a facade of nor­mal­cy for his moth­er, even as he feels drained, like a tree tapped for sap, deprived of vital­i­ty. His soli­tude is pal­pa­ble, as he acknowl­edges that he is the only one aware of his strug­gles.

In a vivid mem­o­ry, Miles recalls a day spent with his father when he was pushed on swings along­side his broth­er, Wyn­ton. This sim­ple yet pro­found moment con­trasts sharply with the feel­ings of aban­don­ment and sad­ness con­veyed through his words—his mem­o­ries marked with lone­li­ness and the sor­row of being left behind. Here, he shares a fab­ri­cat­ed sto­ry he told peers about his father dying hero­ical­ly while try­ing to save him, indi­cat­ing a yearn­ing for hero­ism, con­nec­tion, and the pro­tec­tive fig­ure he feels he lost.

The chap­ter shifts focus to Wyn­ton, who feels detached from the com­fort­ing sounds of his moth­er and sis­ter, per­ceiv­ing their voic­es as mere back­ground noise. He grap­ples with feel­ings of inad­e­qua­cy, reflect­ing on how he and Miles have drift­ed apart. He recalls a painful encounter on a dance floor, where Miles expressed a heart­felt wish that he had a “real broth­er,” a moment that cut deeply and led Wyn­ton to take dras­tic actions that night.

Through­out this reflec­tive explo­ration, Wyn­ton expe­ri­ences an exis­ten­tial cri­sis, ques­tion­ing his iden­ti­ty and pur­pose. With­out a phys­i­cal body, he feels reduced to his long­ings and regrets. The chap­ter beau­ti­ful­ly cap­tures the com­plex­i­ties of broth­er­hood amidst strug­gle, inter­weav­ing themes of famil­ial bonds, regret, and the search for a true con­nec­tion in the face of over­whelm­ing loss.