“It was a new world.” They said. “It’s a new start.” They
claimed. “It’s a chance to do things on our own.” They said. It wasn’t. It was
dark and cold and there was nothing. No homes, no schools, no businesses, no
towns… nothing. It was a time where people turned against each other, and a
time where people stood together. It was a time where sometimes you couldn’t
tell left from right, and up from down. It was a time where you were either for
“your” king or against him, and it was time to choose a side. Patriots and Rebels were together, in one
town, but stood at two completely opposite ends. Patriots were for the “king”
and thought if you stood against him it was treason. Rebels were against the
king and thought that his rules of taxation without representation where
unfair, and that they came to America to start their new life, and that the
king was taking that away from them. Jane was of royal descent, coming to
America on a boat with her caretaker at her side. She was a loyal Patriot but
sometimes standing for what you know and standing for what is right is a hard
decision for a fourteen year old to make. Benjamin was a rebel, a widowed
father of seven, and standing up for what he believes is right. This “new
world” the people were speaking of, they were standing in it, but it wasn’t
what they had all dreamed it would be. So why do two totally different people
have so much in common? Is it because they are both standing for what is right?
Is it because they both know that sometimes the right thing to do can hurt many
people? Or is it because they both have lost a lot of things that someone
should never have to lose. Her parents, his wife. Her finance, his sons. Her
caretaker, his “help.”
Sometimes though standing alone is your best chance of
surviving. Even though it may not be the thing you want to do, it’s the thing
you have to do. Jane lost a lot before coming to America, for a new life with
her aunt and uncle. Her dad had just died a couple of months before, and her
mother died when she was a little kid. A new orphaned child, her caretaker Mrs.
Morley was all she had left. She was going to the new world to live with her
aunt and uncle; her dads brother. She was excited about the whole thing, not
knowing about all the problems it could in tale. Losing her parents was one of the hardest
things she had to go through. On the other had Benjamin lost his wife a few
months earlier as well. He was having a hard time raising his seven kids on his
own. With no mother his youngest daughter wasn’t talking. His sons were trying
to stay strong for their sisters. But with no mother in your life it is kind of
hard to do so. Even though they both lost pretty significant people in their
lives, you would think it could only get better from there. But for Jane and
Benjamin that wasn’t the case, from here it was only going to get worse.
No one was expecting what was coming next, for both of them
it wasn’t something they would want to face… ever. Have you ever thought what
it would be like to lose your kids? What about your finance? They were supposed
to grow up and live a happy life, you were supposed to spend the rest of your
life with them. Now where do you turn? What do you do next? I wouldn’t know
which way to turn. Well Jane lost her finance from internal bleeding that
couldn’t be stopped. She was crying and didn’t know whether to run away or
yell, or scream. She handled it a lot better than most people could. Benjamin
on the other hand lost two of his sons. They wanted to go to war and fight and help
take a stand for what they thought, was right. But Benjamin wouldn’t have
anything to do with it. Gabriel the oldest son, signed up for the army without
his father’s permission. While in the army his dad was at home with his six
younger siblings. He got stabbed. His brother was shot, and his dad didn’t know
what to do once they both died. Would you? Most people wouldn’t know what to
do. Do you run, do you yell, do you scream. Neither of them knew what to do, it
was too much of a shock to be able to do anything about it. They both handled
it a lot better than I think anyone ever thought they were going to. But
loosing something that big in your life wasn’t something they ever wanted to
happen.
As things started to look a little bit better. Benjamin’s
caretakers and the people who help around the house were taken away from him.
Jane’s caretaker Mrs. Morley went to live with her aunt’s elderly mother.
Benjamin went to war, for revenge. So his kids went to live with their aunt.
They were scared, and didn’t want to go. But they had no choice. He was scared
too. But he knew they were in good hands now. Jane on the other hand didn’t
know what to think about Mrs. Morley leaving. She hadn’t left Jane’s side since
her mother passed away. Jane knew that it was time to do things on her own, and
also knew that her aunt’s mother could really use someone to talk to. But Jane
wasn’t ready to let go yet. Loosing so much, without getting anything in return,
she didn’t like. But knowing that they would both be better off apart than
together she was able to let go. Jane and Benjamin both knew exactly what to do,
but they were both not ready to admit it was over, as much as they knew they
had to.
“It was a new world.” They claimed. But it really wasn’t.
Jane and Benjamin knew that. But other people in that town did not. They had
lost so much, to know that what was happening, was not fair. They took stands
for what they knew was right, whether if it was for revenge, or because they
wanted to make their own decision. Sometimes letting go of everything and
taking a stand for what is right, can help you. But sometimes it will stab you
in the back, literally.
