Uncharted Paradise

Chapter 3

My father and I went hunting. He gave me a bow and arrow. In the middle of a silent forest, we saw a huge deer taller than my father. He swayed his bow, and with just a twinkle of an eye, the arrow stuck in its head. My father's eyes didn't show any mercy. But when its son showed up and smelled the dead body of its mother, it ran deep into the forest. I swayed my arrow, but my father stopped me. He said, 'Let the small one be free. Let it grow.'

I listened to my father. When we drew closer, we were amazed to see the newly born deer. My father said I should tend it.

My father's right hand, Mr. Eric, is the one who got the big deer. He is strong enough to lift the deer.

I saw an eagle and shot it. It fell down right in front of Mr. Eric's path. He grabbed it, and we went home. We rode a horse together with my father while the newly born deer is with me. Mr. Eric walked, with a big deer in his left hand and a big eagle in his right.

"You're a great hunter, son! You will be a great man someday. You take care of your mother this week. I'm going to America to prepare our itinerary and arrange things there. I will trade our gold there."

Time flies by quickly. It has been one month since my father left our home. We haven't received any news. My mother has been crying so hard, and I can't focus on my reading. She is so depressed that she can't sleep, we just gave her sleeping pills.

Mr. Eric is the one managing our land while we wait for my father's return. It's one month before December, but it seems like we won't be able to have our happy vacation.

I keep myself busy reading books while waiting for my father. Then one day, a letter arrived. My mother passed out after reading the letter. I saw her weeping day and night because my father died in the middle of his journey. Pirates killed him and threw his body into the ocean. My father's slave sent back the news with a letter report from America. His slave's hands were cut off, but now he is safe in America.

It has been almost a month since my father's passing. Our family has come to be with us, and it has been a month full of sorrow.

After of two months learning that my father had died, my mom became mentally unstable. I can't communicate with her anymore. One time, she went outside of our castle naked. She was crying and laughing uncontrollably. She had lost her sanity.

Ms. Susan took care of my mother in her room. After nine months when we received that my father died, she gave birth to my brother. Her mental state continued to deteriorate. We discovered her lifeless body next to my crying brother. She had stabbed herself.

I took on the responsibility of raising my brother. Mr. Eric, my father's loyal servant, managed our business. We had two advisors: my father's attorney and Mr. Eric. Ms. Susan remained faithful in maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of our castle. When my brother turned one year old, we were sent with my father's only brother to the east. We left our home.

My father's brother is Larry Simon. He is an alcoholic and has no family. Despite being wealthy, he would come home drunk every night.

One night in the mansion, my uncle returned home. He would bring a different man with him once a week. I noticed that during his almost year-long stay, my uncle's friends were always different. It seemed like every month; he would bring a man in his 20s.

When he arrived home, he was dizzy. He couldn't make it to his room, so the handsome man in his mid-20s helped my uncle to his room.

He forgot to close the door, and I saw him removing my uncle's clothes. I quickly ran to the second floor because I couldn't bear to witness what was going to happen next.

I kept the secret to myself. My uncle had no idea that I knew about his secret meetings with his weekly friend. Sometimes, from the second floor, we could hear their giggles and laughter coming from their room. It happened every Saturday at 12 am and 4 am in the morning. I thought they were working on something inside their room because I could hear the sound of a hammer banging repeatedly at midnight and around 4 am. I simply explained to my brother that they were engaged in a secret mission involving their gold bars, and they were very happy about it.