I Am Not Yours

A Reason To Dream

April 1897

"So...Mr. Gowen..."

"Please. Just Henry." He looked at the 23 year old woman beside him as they walked through the forest, headed for the creek, each with a fishing rod in their right hand while Henry carried the bait in his other.

"Henry." Abigail corrected herself with a grin. "Do you often go fishing with two fishing rods?" She half joked, considering he already had two in the back of his vehicle.

Henry softly laughed. "Yes, actually, I do."

"And why is that?" She wondered.

"Easier to catch fish that way. If one pole doesn't catch one, maybe the other will."

"Ah." She nodded in understanding. "I suppose that's quite efficient when going alone. I have never thought of that before."

"It works really well." He informed her. "Though it'll be nice to have some company this morning." He smiled at her.

"I left the house early because I wanted to be alone." She admitted to him. "But I'll admit, your presence isn't too awful."

"Gee, thanks." The 29 year old man jokingly teased. Abigail let out a soft laugh that made Henry's smile grow. "No, no. I appreciate your honesty." He said. "I haven't been around very honest people lately."

"What do you mean?" She asked as she could hear the creek's water grow louder as they approached it.

"A lot of men in my line of work are a bit....greedy and conniving, I guess you could say. They don't exactly run business with a clear conscience."

"And you?"

"Me?"

"Do you have a clear conscience?" Abigail wondered aloud.

"I-...I'll admit that I am not perfect and I have done some things I am not entirely proud of...which is part of why I was transferred here actually."

"What did you do?" The dirty-blonde woman asked as they finally reached the creek and Henry set the bait down on the bank.

"What I always do. I did what I was told. But my men started to ask questions and when I told them they would be fired if they didn't stop and the questions continued, I refused to fire them. So my higher ups decided to get rid of me and found somebody who would."

"That is despicable." Abigail exclaimed. "I am sorry that happened to you. But at least they didn't fire you."

"Yes, that is what I tell myself every day."

"Have you ever thought of getting another job?"

"Like what? This is the best job I've ever had. I'm not sure I could even find something else that pays quite as well."

"Oh, well I am sure you could find something." Abigail stated while they got their fishing rods ready. "What's your dream job?"

"I...never really had a dream job before. I guess I was never thinking about it. I was always more focused on the pay."

"Why is that?" She took some bait from Henry as he offered it to her and she placed it on her hook.

"I, uh...grew up dirt poor. Lost my parents as a kid. Had no other family. No money. So I always just focused on ways to get out of my situation. Never paid attention to what would make me happy, just....what would help me survive."

"Well...what do you ENJOY doing?" Abigail asked him, hoping she might be able to help him discover a dream job.

"What do you mean?"