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Day 1 Ft. Sumner

Today was my birthday. It was a very sad birthday. My ma an pa were busy workin’ on gettin’ a wagon train ready for the trip. We are goin’ to Oregon cuz we want free land. Pa talked to people all day about groupin’ up so we would be safe from bandits an Indians. Ma said I shouldint bother her, she was buyin’ supplies for the trip. Everyone forgot it was my birthday. I was very sad. I went behind our new wagon an sat on a barol an I cried for a long time. My sister came to me. Marybell axd me what I was cryin’ for an I told her to leave me alone. I yelled at her an she cried to Ma. Ma lectured me, says that we are all we have now an I shud respect and protect my sister.

I was even more sad. No one memberd my birthday was today. I went an hid behind a tool shed. I was cryin there. Then a man came up to me an axd me what I was cryin for. I said “sir, its my birthday, I am 12 today. No one memberd it was my birthday an no one got me a present.”

The man talked to me an made me feel better. I supposed he was rite that my parents were just so busy they forgot. He took me to the store an bot me this journal as a present. I thanked the man very much, an asked his name. His name is Riley and my pa says he is a sad boy but he is goin to Oregon with us in are wagon train. Now I am happy cuz I have a friend. He writ me a note in the front of my journal that says this:

“Dear Charlie,

Today is a birthday that everyone forgot, but I have given you a chance to never forget. This Journal is so you can write down all your thoughts and adventures. Tomorrow you will set out on a new adventure, one that very few boys ever get to do. If you keep writing in this Journal, your words here will live on forever, and children of the future will know what it was like in your time and no one will ever forget you again.”

Your friend,

Riley Copperfield”

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      Jael had spent countless nights the last two years reading and re-reading the confusing biography of her father. This leather bound book with golden letters reading “Charles M. LaFleur” and a birth date that never had a filled space for his death.

      The original entry had simply read: 

      Day 1:

      “Today was my birthday. It was a very sad birthday. I was even more sad. No one memberd my birthday was today. I was cryin there. Then a man came up to me an axd me what I was cryin for. I said “sir, its my birthday, I am 12 today. No one memberd it was my birthday an no one got me a present.”

      The man talked to me an made me feel better. He took me to the store an bot me this journal as a present. I thanked the man very much, an asked his name. His name is Riley and my pa says he is a sad boy but he is going to Oregon with us. Now I am happy cuz I have a friend. He writ me a note in the front of my journal that says this:

      “Dear Charlie,

      Today is a birthday that everyone forgot, but I have given you a chance to never forget. This Journal is so you can write down all your thoughts and adventures. If you keep writing in this Journal, your words here will live on forever, and children of the future will know what it was like in your time and no one will ever forget you again.

      Your friend,

      Riley Copperfield” 

      Jael was astounded, how could she miss those words about wagon trains and Fort Sumner? She knew that was impossible, she nearly memorized the old journal but now it had more in it.

      Eventually, she shrugged it off. Perhaps Riley had slipped in some missing pages, or some forged ones, to make it seem like he was old enough to be on the Oregon Trail.

      “Crazy Hermit!” she said to herself as she looked around his living room. Jael couldn’t tell what color the wallpaper was because there were bookshelves were on every wall. They were filled with books, old and new. Tables and shelves were covered in trinkets and antiquities. The girl thought that perhaps most of these were worth a lot of money.

      She shook her head. No, she couldn’t steal from him. If she looted his house she would never learn about her father. She wanted to know more about it, even if this guy was probably making it all up. Besides, he had already given her a $100 bill.

      By now the sunlight was just reaching the windows, lightening the room with pale sun-rays. Dust was clearly circulating the room, visible only in the beams of light between the curtains. Jael looked around once more and decided the silence was too eerie. It was definitely time to buy clothes and breakfast, now.