Chapter 1
The Journal Discovered.

The air felt brisk when I first began walking to the ancient mansion.  I could still see the dew on the bright green grass.  I continued down the soft ,fertile, dirt path.  Each step I took was soft and easy.  The storm last night had left leaves dripping little drops of water off of their tips.  Soon the dirt path changed to a more rugged, cobblestone path.  The stone was cold and a tad bit rough o n my feet.  The path felt a little bit rockier, but I could still walk easily.  After a short time walking, I saw the mighty Wellington mansion.  I could see the sun coming from the sides of the building; it was a sight to behold.  My eyes were blinded and I could not stare at the mansion too long.  I looked back, and soon my eyes adjusted.
The mansion was amazing, but it was not beautiful.  Any man could see that the mansion had been destroyed. Paint was chipping off of the once dark black siding.  The windows were shattered. Some of the windows carried lifeless plants; the other windows had vines growing on top of them. 
The Wellingtons were secluded people with plenty of money.  I’m here to find a secret vault said to be hidden inside the mansion.  First, I had to jump over a fence though.  Then I had to find a way to break into the mansion.  “The window,” I thought.  I climbed a nearby vine to enter the fortress of money and wealth.  I don’t know if you have guessed by now, but when I was this age, I was a robber.  All of it changed when I read The Journal though.
I walked through the corridors.  Each hallway contained at least ten rooms.  I had my work cut out for me, so I began looking in all of the bedrooms.  I took a few pieces of gold, which were attached to the beds, but I didn’t find much else.  I checked a few more rooms after that.  The treasure started to be more and more of a myth to me as I checked each empty room.  Then I went into the attic.  This was the point when I began my new life.

I entered the attic easily, by lockpicking the door.  I was surprised as soon as I saw what was inside.  The attic contained a swirling vortex.  Colors swirled around like a cyclone.  The vortex contained blue, white, and green.  I had never seen anything like this before.  I walked towards the vortex, hoping that it was the treasure people spoke of.  I was wrong now that I look back at it, but I found something much more important.  As I inched closer to the vortex, a journal flew out and hit my face.  It didn’t hurt too much, but It was surprising.  Inching closer and closer, I grabbed the book.  The title read “A Message to the Past.”

Chapter 2
The Journal is Revealed

I opened the first page of the journal and started to read.
This journal contains the story of my life.  I know that it will be hard to read.  I need you to read through it all though.  If you have this journal, you can change my future.
When you are reading this, I will likely be dead or in jail.  I used a government time portal to send this message.  I need you to help me.  I don’t care who you are, you just have to help me in some way.  My life is a wreck.  The only way for you to help is for you to change the past.

Chapter 3
The Saddest Man in the World

I quickly shut the book.  I was amazed that I had just found something this important. The book seemed somewhat big.  It had a fine leather back and clean white pages.  I decided to run back to my little hut.  I was never a wealthy man, but I was slightly educated.  Sadly, my home was made of leftover rags and sticks I found in random spots.  You can probably see why I became a thief. I opened the journal once again and began to read.
I am the saddest man who has ever lived.  I only have memories of times when my life was good.  If you find this book, help me.  Change the past and make me happy.  I can’t live like this anymore.  I guess if I were to begin my tale, I should start with my childhood. 

Chapter 4
The First Pages

“Hey, son come into the house, quickly,” called my father.  The voice was faint, but I was not too far from my home to hear it.  I began to run to my house.  I could see  the fields of grain to the right side of me.  I had grown up near a big farm when I was just a young boy.  I used to think of the fields as a golden wave that is everlasting.  I thought they had been blessed by the sun, and given the color of gold.  I miss those days of my childhood; my life has changed since those days.  I finally arrived at my home.  My parents were lower middle class.  We had money, but not too much. It was enough for me to live happily.  Our house was a medium sized one, but I love it still.  The walls were pearl white and the roof was a light brown.  The colors blended together perfectly making our house look beautiful.  I walked up to my house panting for air; I had just run as fast as I could back to my home.  Our door was dark brown with two white windows.  The pattern on them always reminded me of diamonds.
I slowly walked into the living room. That was when my life changed.  A man was taping my mother's mouth with duct tape.  My father was standing in the corner; he had never looked so scared.  He weakly said ,” Son, I’m sorry, but this man said he would let me and your mother live if I brought you here.”  I looked back at the thief.  The man was draped in all black with a long blue cape.  I could only see his eyes.  They were blue, but a dark shade.  I could see into his soul. All I saw was anger.  The man yelled,” You old fool; you would sacrifice your own son just so that you can live.  You’ll be the first one to die.”
I will not tell you what happened next.  I can only remember blood.   All you need to know is that my parents went to sleep for a long time that night.  The man stole all of our money, important objects, and food.  The government also took my house.  I had nothing left.  I fell to the ground and started to cry; it was all I could think of doing.

Chapter 5
The Beginning of a New Life

I did have a wealthy family take me into their hands.  It was after they saw this poem.

Fields of gold turned to sand.
Diamonds are now just glass.
Nothing remains.

I used to get joy by playing.
Now my joy is finding crumbs of food.
Nothing is left for me to live for.

My old friends do not know me anymore.
They have abandoned me into the dust.
No person stands at my side.

Rain, Rain pouring from the sky.
I stick out my tongue out in joy.
Water is my gold and food is my diamond.

Men stole from me.
They took everything I once had.
They destroyed it for fun.

The storm ends and all is done.
I only feel the sun's heat.
Its fire burns my tongue.

A rainbow appears in the sky.
I don’t see red and blue.
I can only see grey and black.

My old home belongs to another.
I can see them laugh and dance.
Rage fills my heart.

Death is all that I invite.
No hope pierces my heart.
Fear of death drives me though.

I can only hate.
I want and fear death.
I don’t know what to think.

The world hates me.
Storm clouds come once again.
But, no rain will fall.

Chapter 6
Inspiration

The day I got inspiration for that poem was the day when things seemed darkest for me.  That was the day that I had ran out of the little food and water I found.  After all of the drama at my household, I found a few pieces of food the robber didn’t take.  My soul was dark and the land was darker.  I trudged around, looking for scraps of food.  I went back to the field of wheat that once gave me pleasure.  I no longer saw a golden wave, but now I just saw worthless grain.  Farmers would make this wheat into bread.  They would then eat the bread and laugh with their friends and family.  Hate swelled up into my heart.  Then I felt a drop of water on my nose.  The drop was cool and refreshing.  Rain was the only clean source of water I had left.  I sometimes drank from the creek near my home.  The water there was dirty and brown.  But when it rained, the water was clean.  I danced and screamed shouts of joy.  I soon fell to my knees and thanked the world.  After my burst of joy, I found a large barrel.  I can still remember the barrel today.  It was light brown and had rims of wood on the side.  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.
I waited and soon the storm finished.  The sky was still gray and the dirt was still muddy.  I put my head into the barrel and took a big gulp of water.  Then two large children came near me.  One of the kids wore a ripped shirt with some destroyed blue jeans.  He wore dark sunglasses so I could not see into his eyes.  The other kid was quite large; he wore a striped tee shirt and khakis.  “Hey, squirt what ya got there,” said the kid with sunglasses.
“I think this poor kid is lost; maybe we could help him,” said the slightly bigger boy.  I really thought the two kids would help me, but there are always people who lie.  “Yeah, how about you go home squirt.  Oh, wait, your little mommy and daddy got shot,” the kid with sunglasses teased. 
“No, I heard they got cut up with some guy’s knife,” the big kid rudely stated.  The two of the kids laughed, but they did something far worse after that.
“Look there, a little barrel of water,” teased the big kid.
“Man, you really are worthless. Give me that barrel,” said the kid with sunglasses.
The two kids then broke the barrel with their bare hands.  I can still remember
water flying in all directions, my heart truly dying.  The kids then walked away
and laughed, leaving me to fall in the mud.  This was the first time that I felt hate.

Chapter 7
A New Home

I will not tell you what happened after that day because it is rather boring.  I just trudged on for another year, looking for a new home.  It was tough, and no person should ever have to go through it, but I did make the journey.
I soon found myself in a big city.  I don’t quite know what city I was in, but I did know that the people were tough.  I walked on the path; it felt cold and hard.  I could hear all of the cars making beeping noises.  Through all of the buzzing and beeping, I could hear a voice.  “Hey kid, can’t you see I’m walking here?”  said a man in a black suit.  “C’mon get out of the way.  Are you some kind of idiot?”  the man rudely remarked.  I looked up, but I only saw a tall man with glasses on.  I saw no joy in the man’s face.  “Kid, move already.  I’ve got an important meeting I have to get too,”  the man said angrily.  Then the man kicked me until I fell down.  “If you aren’t gonna move, I’m gonna have to move you,” he said with a faint smile.  Then he walked away without saying another word.  Once again I felt hate. 
I continued to walk around once it became night.  I no longer heard the engines of cars, I couldn't hear anything at all.  Street lamps illuminated the blackness of the night, and buildings were no longer lit up.  I could see all of the lights turn off earlier.  It was a spectacle.  It looked like a bunch of stars had turned off and went to sleep.  I wondered how much better the world would be without humans.  I could now properly see the street, it was no spectacle to me.  I could see that it was black with a few stripes of white exactly in the middle.  I saw signs that had weird symbols on them.  I was young and not that smart, but I did know the basics of how to read and write.
I will skip ahead now, just because the rest is a bit boring.  Aha, I will begin right where I found the orphanage.  A day had passed by the time I actually found the orphanage.  The day was bright and I could see clearly.  The noises didn’t bother me anymore, but I did see people walking on the street.  I can’t think of much to say about them, except that none of them looked particularly happy.  Then I saw the orphanage.  It stood out because instead of being tall like all of the other buildings, it was quite short.  I saw some windows, and I thought that they were worth looking through.  Inside of the windows, I saw children, but they did not look like they were happy.  In fact, they even looked like me.  I almost thought it was a mirror at the time.  I did see one kid though.  He was a small boy, younger than all of the rest.  He was actually smiling.  Then I looked through the window on the other side of the building.  I saw a young women smiling, mouthing words, and every once in a while, clapping her hands.  Then the woman looked at me.  I saw her get up and walk over to the door.  She then came outside and talked to me.  She asked me,“ What are you doing here? Don’t you have to go back to your home?”  I could see a smile on her face that actually reminded me of my mother’s.  Now that I think about it, her face looked nothing like my mother's. I was probably just making it up in my mind.  I swallowed, and spoke “Hello, I don’t have no mom to go to.  She was taken away from me by a very bad man.”
“So, you have no parents then,” said the women in a slightly sadder voice.  “No Ma’am, I have just been looking for a place to stay,” I said. 
“How long have you been looking?”  She said in a darker voice. 
“I have been looking for a real long time.  I don’t know how long, but I have seen all of the seasons,”  I replied. 
“Well I think I have found you a new home-come inside,” the women said happily.
“Thank you ma’am,” were the only words that came out of my mouth.

Chapter 8
Life gets Easy?

“Tarry, come here!” called the Miss Francis.  I skipped ahead a bit, but all you need to know is that now I can read, write, and do arithmetic.  I had written the poem and posted it up on a lamp post.
I ran downstairs as fast as possible.  I saw the woman from before; her name was Francis.  “I think we have found you a new home,” she said in excitement. “I would like you to see your new family, Mr. and Mrs. Dearinson.”  I looked up slightly to see a man and a women.  The two looked no different than most people, except their clothes, so I will not bother describing them to you.  The man looked down at me and said “Well hello there, I saw your poem and well, it touched my heart.” 
“Yes, yes we were very touched by the tragic side of it,” chimed in the women. 
“Well I guess I should introduce myself, My name is Robert and this is my wife Jessica,” the man announced.  I stared at the two for a short while without speaking.  I could not see forgiveness or charity in their heart.  I could only see greed and selfishness.  I was about to say that I did not want to go with them, but then they pulled up a piece of paper.  Robert announced,”this document gives me the legal right to be your parent.”
”Now lets go to your new home,” the woman said with a smile.  The next thing I knew was that I was being pulled into a limo.  While I was in the car, there were many sights to behold.  I saw things like giant buildings, but they were not too exciting.  The most exciting thing I saw was a park.  I know that usually parks are not the most exciting thing in the world, but I couldn’t resist seeing the children playing.  I asked my new father if I could play in the park with the other children.  He responded differently than I expected.  “Now listen here boy,” he said “I got you so that you can help me by writing those poems of yours.  Don’t you ever forget that you are the boy and I am your father.  I want you to obey every command that I give you.”  Then his wife looked at me and gave me a terrifying smile.

Chapter 9
The True Side of Greed.

I had arrived to the mansion soon.  I could see that my new parents were wealthy.  They had a huge mansion with hundreds of windows.  There was a garden that looked stunning.  I could see butler's cutting the shrubs, so that they looked like peacocks.  I only could see this much, since I was being hurried into the home.  Soon I realized what the real purpose for adopting me was.
I can’t remember much of the inside of the house.  All I could see was one lamp illuminating a poorly made room.  No furniture, but a springy old bed.  I was hungry and tired.  I was forced to write poems, if I wanted to sleep or eat.  The true reason the family adopted me was so that I could write them poems.  I never really was good at poetry, but I guess for my age, the poem was impressive.  I wrote that poem when I was just seven, but now I am ten.  I could write somewhat better poetry, but I still wasn’t good at it.  They probably just adopted me, thinking that one day I would be great at poetry.

This was my best piece of work,

Golden sun, shimmering.
Emerald grass, shifting.
Sapphire water, flowing.

Life is precious.
Everything is precious.
Nothing is evil.

I can remember my old friend.
People took me away.
They tore us apart.

A manor of wealth belongs to me.
Food has never looked so good.
But, I am never pleased.

I miss what I once had.
I miss who I once saw.
I miss what I once ate.

No wealth will make me happy.
I only want my old life.
I want to see a golden sun.

I want to run across emerald grass.
I want to swim in sapphire water.
I want to see my old friend.

The family was never content though.  Once I became fourteen, they left me on the street.  This is where I lived the rest of my life.  I have so much more to tell you; this was only my childhood.  I guess I will skip to when I was 19 now.

Chapter 10
Back to the Present

Okay I know this might confuse some, so right now the story is back to my life.  Just to be clear this part of the story is in the present.  I stared at the journal once more.  I could still see there was quite a bit left to read.  I stopped though. I wondered if I could continue to read this book.  I was not smart and it had taken me a month to read this far.  I still didn’t understand some parts, and I was losing motivation.  “Why would I want to read about this man?” I asked myself.  “How would reading about his depressing life help my life?” I wondered.  Then I slowly put down the book and said to myself, “Maybe another day.” 

Chapter 11
Realization

It had been three years since I read the journal.  The longer and longer I lived in that little shack made of garbage, the more desperate I became.  I could no longer stand muddy water or scraps of food. 
I began thinking dark thoughts. “Why should I have to live like this when other people get more?  What is so special about all of the other people in the world?  I deserve more than them.  I deserve just as much as others do.”
This is when I started robbing people.  Before now I took what was needed.  I stole from old homes and dead corpses.  Now it was time I took what I deserved.  I took an old bat, that I found in the dump.  Then I decided which house I wanted to rob.  I couldn’t steal from the rich.  Stealing from the poor was not going to reward me either.  I had to steal from people who had money, but not too much.  I found a nice house, that looked like it would be easy to steal from.  It was located next to a farm.  I decided that I would go, steal the goods, run from the house, and hide in the wheat fields.  It took me two days to plan what I was going to do.  Once my plan was flawless, I was ready to do it for real.  The door was unlocked.  This made it easy for me to get inside the house.
As soon as I entered the house, I threatened the two people inside of it.  “Do you two have anyone else living in this place?” I asked. 
“Yes,” the father replied, “our son is outside playing right now.” 
“Call him to the house and I promise not to hurt you,” I claimed.
“Hey son, come into the house, quickly,” the father yelped.  I waited  for a few minutes and soon the boy came into the house.  In fact, I was in the middle of duct taping his mother’s mouth.  Then the father weakly said,”Son, I’m sorry, but this man said he would let me and your mother live if I brought you here.”  This was the point when I remembered.  I remembered the journal I found in the attic years ago.  I remembered the pain that the boy felt.  I was even wearing the same clothes he described in the story.  This is when it hit me.  I was the thief who ruined this boy’s life. 
I dropped the bat.  I walked out the door, and began to cry.  Then the cops came.  I saw them holding their guns.  I didn’t care if I was going to jail.  I had just saved the boy from a life of pain.  I smiled and thought to myself.  “What is life worth if you only hurt, and never help.”