Life Was... Good

July 1st, 1742, Georgia

             The next day was just like the previous one. Both Cyrus and Nathaniel did their chores, Nathan walked Ranger, Cyrus watered the plants in the garden, and they ate dinner together; it was just like any other day. That was until Cyrus had gone into town for some groceries. The town wasn’t that far from Cyrus’s home, maybe a twenty-minute walk, so he was content with going. While in town, he came across the paperboy; now, Cyrus normally didn’t buy the daily newspaper, but he had a gut feeling that he should. He paid the paperboy five cents for the newspaper, thanked him, and walked away. He immediately began to walk back home, and the walk felt longer than usual. When he finally arrived, he walked into the house, set the newspaper down on the dining table, and started putting the groceries away. Halfway through the process of putting the groceries away, Nathan walked into the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen, and sat down at the dining table, watching his dad put away the one or two bags of groceries he had bought. Cyrus glanced back at his son, sitting at the dining table before going back to putting groceries away. Nathan picked up the newspaper his dad had set on the table and began to read it. Cyrus finished putting away the groceries and looked back at his son, only to see that his son had a slightly troubled look on his face the further he read.

             “What does it say?” Cyrus looked at Nathan questioningly with one eyebrow slightly raised. Nathan didn’t answer immediately, so Cyrus walked over and read the news article over his son's shoulder. “Oh, God,” Cyrus said quietly.

             “The Spanish wouldn’t actually invade us, right, Dad?” Nathan asked cautiously as he looked up at his father, who was standing behind him.

             “I don’t think they would, no, but if they do,” Cyrus began, “it would probably be bad.” Nathan looked up at his dad, concerned.

              “We wouldn’t die, though, would we?” Nathan quickly glanced at his father, then back to the paper, then back to his father. Cyrus didn’t answer, so Nathan asked again. “We wouldn’t die, right?” He asked, sounding more persistent this time.

              “I hope not,” Cyrus answered. Nathan stands up, puts the paper back down on the dining room table, and walks towards the front door.

              “I’m going to take Ranger out on a walk,” Nathan said brusquely. Cyrus nodded. He could tell that his son needed some time to process what he had just heard; he was just a kid after all. Nathan walked over toward the door and whistled for Ranger to come out. Ranger immediately came running out of the living room, charging towards the front door. Considering Ranger was a well-behaved dog and was acclimated to his surroundings and where they lived, Nathan knew he was fine without a leash. It was also one of those areas where almost all of the residents in the community knew each other, so if Ranger somehow ended up running off, it was likely that people would be at Cyrus and Nathaniel’s house within a day or two to return Ranger if they found him; even if Cyrus hadn’t put up posters asking for people to look out for Ranger. Nathaniel walked outside with Ranger already a few feet ahead of him. Nathan was outside with Ranger for about two or three more hours before coming inside. He probably would’ve been outside for longer if it wasn’t getting dark. The rest of the night was quite boring, Nathan and Cyrus didn’t say much to each other other than the usual “goodnight” and “love you”. They both went to bed, and it was just as quiet as usual, but this time, they were a little more stressed because of what they heard from the newspaper. Life was alright.