Chapter 8 The Happy and Sad Day

Chapter 8
The Happy and Sad Day


Once David got back from writing the letter he went back to the mountain, picked up Richard, and brought him back to George.
"Set him on the bed," George ordered. Richard started to move a little.
"He's alive?" George said. George went over to Richard and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Richard, Richard can you hear me?" Richard rolled over and nodded his head.
"He's alive!" George yelled out loud. "I've got to say, you are a tough young man." Richard smiled feeling good about himself.
"What's the last thing you remember, son?" George asked.
"Well, I was in some hole, and then it went black. Oh! Now I remember, I was putting dynamite in the hole to blow the mountain. But I still don't know how it went black!"
"I'm afraid we have bad news, Richard," one man said. "David sent a letter to your wife saying that you died."
"Then I'll send another one saying I'm alive," Richard said. The man shook his head, "We are all out of ink." Richard lied in the bed shocked.
"She's probably so worried right now," Richard said.
Richard got up from his bed and got on a boat. George ran after him, "Richard! Where are you going?"
"Back to work," Richard said.
"But... do you even feel good enough to work again? I mean you just smacked your head on rocks."
"I feel fine," Richard replied. As Richard's boat got closer to the mountain everyone at the mountain looked over that way.
"Who could that be?" David asked. David got in a row boat and paddled over to the boat.
"I'm sorry sir but, the canal isn't open yet," David said. "Please turn back around." Richard leaned over the wall of the boat.
"I'm actually here to help," Richard said.
"Richard!" David exclaimed. "It's... it's really you! How did you survive."
"I'm not quite sure," Richard said with a smile on his face. David looked over at everyone at the mountain and screamed, "He's alive!!" Everyone jumped up cheering and jumped in the water to greet Richard.
"Be careful of gators!" Richard warned them. Quickly everyone swam back to the island going very fast. When Richard and David got back, everyone gave Richard a pat on the back saying how tough he was.
"I bet we could shoot Richard right in the head and he'd survive!" one man said. Everyone laughed in agreement. Richard was laughing so hard and then he stopped. His face was very serious, then it began sort of sad.
"What's wrong Richard?" David asked.
"My wife doesn't even know I'm alive, while we're here celebrating, she's probably home crying." Now everyone was silent. Richard headed back on his boat and that was both a happy and sad day.

Chapter 7
The Letter

David got up and pulled Richard onto the land.
"Does anyone know where Richard lives?" David asked.
"I do!" a man replied.
"Who are you?" David asked.
"My name is Carl. Me and Richard go way back. The last time I saw him is when he was standing next to a sheriff and the sheriff told me to go home. We were best friends 'till then. In fact, I am the one who shot the gator off his back. That's when I found out that he was working on the canal too."
"Carl," David interrupted. "I asked where he lived."
"Oh right," Carl said. "He lives in the same house that he lived in when he was a kid. At eighteen his parents died and he owned the house. At twenty-two he married a girl named Rachel. They haven't moved since. Why do you need the address anyway?"
"Just give me the stupid address!" David yelled. Carl gave it to him and David left. David wrote a letter to Rachel and it went like this:
Dear Mrs. Rachel,
I'm afraid I have some terrible news for you. We had to blow a hole through the middle of a mountain to make a path through it for boats. We dug a five-foot hole to put the dynamite in and Richard was the one to do it. When he turned around to leave, he smacked his head on the rock. I managed to pull him out of the hole, but it still wasn't far enough. The explosion made him fly backwards along with me. I am terribly sorry for your loss, but I just would like you to know that Richard was the hardest worker there was; and the toughest. One time an alligator grabbed his foot and pulled him right into the water. He was getting twirled around faster than a tornado. He was able to hold his breath and fight off the gator. We came and a man named Carl shot at the gator but hit Richard right on the back. Richard was still alive and Carl shot again and finally hit the alligator. Richard was able to swim up and get on our boat. I'm surprised he didn't survive the mountain crash. Once again I'm terribly sorry for your loss.
Sincerely,
David Du Bose Gaillard
David put the letter and all of Richard's pay in the envelope and sent it in the mail.

Chapter 6 The Gaillard Cut

Chapter 6
The Gaillard Cut


A whole two years has passed and the canal was still not close to being done. Richard was helping with the locks when John Stevens came up to him and said, "Richard, I have some news that you won't want to hear." Richard stopped what he was doing immediately and looked at John.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I am quitting Chief Engineer," John said.
"What?!" Richard exclaimed. "Who's gonna take your place?"
"I talked it over with George Goethals, next year he is gonna take over."
"Why are you leaving?" Richard asked. John shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know." Just don't like it here. Richard, I want you to tell everybody tonight about my decision."
"If you say so," Richard said. At eight o'clock that night, Richard spread the news.
"Can I get everyone's attention!" he yelled. "We have bad news, and good news."
"What's the bad news?" everyone asked.
"The bad news is... well... John is quitting Chief Engineer." Right after Richard said that everyone got really loud with shock.
"What's the good news?!" they yelled.
"Next year, George Goethals is taking John's place," Richard said. The crowd was silent with disbelief.
"Thanks for all of your time," Richard said. That night Richard thought a lot about the canal. As he was thinking, he fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Richard woke up to a man tapping on his shoulder.
"Hi there," the man said. "I'm David Du Bose Gaillard." But you can just call me David."
"Hi David, I'm Richard. Why did you wake me up?"
"Follow me son, and you'll figure it out." David brought Richard on a boat ride through the canal. As they were riding, they stopped when they saw a big mountain in front of them.
"The reason I woke you up is to show you this mountain," David said. "Do you expect to get ships past this mountain?"
"No," Richard said. David picked up a bunch of dynamite.
"With this dynamite, we are going to blow a hole right through this mountain so people can get past." David said.
"When do we blow the hole?" Richard asked.
"Right now." Richard and David went back to where everyone was sleeping and woke them up telling them the idea. A couple hours later everyone was ready and they went to the mountain. A couple of men dug a little whole in the mountain to place the dynamite in.
"Richard," David said. "Do you mind doing the honors?" David held up the dynamite.
"Sure." Richard took the dynamite and crawled into the five-foot hole with a match. He lit the match and put it on the fuse. When Richard lifted his head to turn around he smacked his head on the mountain. Richard got knocked out.
"Get him out of there!" David screamed. David grabbed Richard's feet and pulled him out of the hole. He got Richard about five feet away from the hole when the dynamite exploded. The force of the explosion made Richard and David fly all the way back to the edge of the land. David landed on top of Richard onto the hard rock. They bounced into the water and everyone ran over to where they were. David came up from under water pulling Richard up with him.
"Are you okay?" one man asked.
"I am," David said. "But Richard... he didn't make it."

Chapter 5
Another Dream


As Richard was lying in bed he started to fall asleep. He had another flashback. It started exactly where it ended from.
Richard helped Rachel to her feet.
“Bring me to my dad,” Rachel said. “He’s a doctor.” Rachel told Richard where she lived and Richard carried her all the way there.
“Rachel!” her dad screamed. “What happened?”
“She saved my life,” Richard said. Rachel’s dad looked at Richard confused. “I was about to get hit by a car and your daughter saved me.”
“Rachel, you did that for this nice young man,” Rachel’s mother butted in. Rachel nodded. Her mother smiled at Richard. Richard looked confused.
“Ma’am, did you hear wrong?” Richard asked. “Rachel did this for me.”
“I know, you just seem like a very nice boy,” she said. Rachel’s father looked directly at her mother.
“Don’t even think about it, Martha,” he said. Richard started to catch on.
“I think Rachel’s mom wants me and Rachel to get married when we get older,” he thought to himself.
“Get out boy,” Rachel’s father said. “Rachel needs to rest.”
Richard walked out of the house, meeting his friends right outside of the door.
“Wow!” one said. “A girl saved your life.”
“Your point?” Richard asked.
“Girls are stupid,” he said. Richard tackled his friend in anger.
“She saved my life!” Richard screamed. “The only one who’s stupid is you Carl!” Carl rolled Richard on his back and threw a punch.
“I get straight A’s in school and you know it!” Carl screamed. Richard rolled Carl on his back now and he punched Carl. Richard jumped up and walked away. When Richard left, Carl got up too.
“Get him!” he screamed. The five boys all chased after Richard. Now Richard was running fast. He found a police officer.
“Officer!” Richard screamed. “Those boys are trying to beat me up, I need help.” Richard stopped next to the officer feeling safe. When Richard’s friends got to where he and the officer were they stopped.
“Boys,” the officer said. “Time to go home.” Richard grinned directly at Carl. Carl stuck his tongue out at Richard.
“Thank you officer; I don’t know what I did,” Richard said. The officer grinned at Richard, but it was like the officer could read Richard’s mind. That grin was saying that he knew Richard did something to get those boys mad.
“Richard, Richard,” a nurse said. He woke up from his long dream. “You were out for two hours.”

Chapter 4 The Alligator

Chapter 4
The Alligator


Richard woke up and it was morning time. The sun was up and it was a hot day.
“I better get moving,” he said. Richard finally arrived at Panama after 43 days. Everyone there was speaking Spanish.
“How am I ever gonna find someone who speaks English?” Richard asked himself.
“Hello there,” a man said. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing okay,” Richard said. “I’m just trying to find someone in charge of the canal.”
“Well then you found him,” the man said. “I’m John Stevens and this is my friend Colonel William Gorgas. I will be the Chief Engineer and William is the Sanitation Officer. He will get rid of all the mosquitoes that cause yellow fever.”
“Nice to meet you,” Richard said shaking William’s hand. A month later they started on the canal. Richard found a path in between sharp rocks and put buoy on each side showing what path the boats have to take so they don’t hit the rocks. He started to leave to see what he had to do next and something grabbed his foot. Richard looked back and an alligator was biting his foot. Richard screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Someone help me!” he screamed. The alligator pulled him into the water. Richard got on its back and started twirling it around. The alligator bit his hand and dragged him under water. Richard tried to punch the alligator but it did nothing. The alligator wrapped Richard up and twirled him so fast he began to get dizzy. It was hard for him to survive because he couldn’t breathe and he was dizzy. Richard looked up and saw a bunch of people in a boat. One man leaned over and shot his gun attempting to shoot the gator. Richard saw blood and thought that the man shot the alligator; but the gator kept on fighting. Richard looked at himself and saw that the blood was coming from his back. He started to yell and yell. Luckily he was under water because he screamed loud. He heard another gun shot. When he saw blood he checked himself. When he turned back around he saw the alligator sinking to the bottom. Richard swam back to the top and got in the boat. He collapsed on the hard wooden floor.
“Sorry about your back mate,” the man with the gun said.
“Hey I’m not dead, the gator is,” Richard said. John Stevens was on the boat.
“You’re a tough man, Rich,” John said. “Everyone else who got attacked by a gator didn’t come back up.”
“You’ve got a long breath too,” William Gorgas said.
“Which spots hurt?” John asked.
“My foot, hand, and back,” Richard said. “The alligator grabbed my foot and pulled me in the water. Then, he bit my hand and pulled me under water. Then! Someone shot my back!” The man who shot Richard grinned looking embarrassed.
“Well, we’ve got to get you some rest, you’re injured,” John said.

Chapter 3 The Dream

Chapter 3
The Dream


The next morning Richard decided to head out. He thanked Aladino for being so kind and giving him delicious food. Richard started to walk away when Aladino stopped him.
“Richard! You’re not gonna walk the whole way are you?”
“It’s not an option; my wagon got destroyed.” Along with all my stuff.”
“Take my wagon; I don’t use it.” Richard looked at him.
“Are you sure?” Richard asked.
“I’m sure.” Aladino showed Richard where the wagon was and he gave him some food, blankets, and pillows.
After eighteen hours of traveling Richard parked his wagon on the side of the dirt road. He ate one of the tacos that Aladino gave him for a late dinner; then he went to bed. That night Richard had a dream; but it wasn’t an ordinary dream. It was a flash back of when he was a kid. It was twelve years earlier when Richard was twelve years old in the year of 1892. He was playing with all of his friends. They were playing football in the road. Richard got the ball and started to run. One of his friends tackled him and Richard smacked his head. There was a car coming and it didn’t see Richard. He tried to get out of the way before he got hit. The car was getting closer and closer. Just as it was about to run over Richard, a random ten year old girl that he didn’t even know jumped in front of the car and got hit. Richard got up forgetting that he even hit his head. The girl was lying on the ground barely able to open her eyes.



“You saved my life,” Richard said.
“There was nothing else to do,” she said. Richard helped her to her feet.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Rachel.”

Chapter 2 The Chase

Chapter 2
The Chase


The next morning Richard got in his wagon getting ready to go.
"Don't forget to write to me every day Richard," Rachel said.
" I won't," Richard said.
"You promise?"
"I promise." Richard was wearing his nice blue overalls with a green, plaid, long sleeve shirt. As he started to leave in his wagon, Rachel stopped him.
"You better promise me, right now, right here, that you will never wear those nice clothes that you're wearing right now while you're building the canal.
"You've got my word." Finally, Richard left their apartment and Rachel became a small little dot.
Five hours later Richard stopped for a lunch break. His wagon went three miles per hour and he planned to travel eighteen hours a day. It should take 41 days of traveling. "Thirteen more hours of traveling for today ," Richard thought to himself. When he finished one of the sandwiches Rachel packed for him, he went back on the road.
As Richard was driving a guy in a car pulled up next to him.
"Hey Mr." the guy yelled. "This is 1904!"
"I beg your pardon," Richard replied.
"Cars were invented nineteen years ago!" The man in the car turned to his right side and leaned down as if he were picking something up. When he got back to sitting upward, he had a shot gun in his hand. Richard quickly drove away from the car. The man shot and hit the bag of sandwiches Rachel made. They fell on the ground behind the wagon and the car ran them over.
"What did I ever do to you!" Richard shouted.
"No! It's what you didn't do!" the man shouted back.
"What in the world are you talking about?!"
"You didn't upgrade!" Richard didn't reply this time because now he was completely confused.
"You have a wagon!" the man shouted. "Everyone else has a car! The man drove up right next to Richard. He had the sights aimed right on him. Right before the man could pull the trigger, Richard jumped out of the wagon and on to the hard dirt road. A second after that, Richard heard the gun shot. The bullet hit the front wheel of the wagon and the wagon flipped, crashed, and everything was destroyed. Richard stood to his feet and stumbled on every step he made. When he reached the wagon all his stuff was destroyed. He tripped over one of the wheels, hit his face, and saw only blackness.
Richard woke after many days and saw a man hovering over him with a taco. The man had a mustache with a cowboy hat. His skin color was in between white and black.
"Ole' senor," The man said with an accent. "Taco?" Without answering, Richard snatched the taco and gobbled it down.
"Where am I?" Richard asked.
"You are in Mexico, my home."
"How did I get all the way to Mexico?" Richard asked.
"Well," Aladino said. "I was in Pennsylvania visiting relatives, and when I started on my way back home, I saw you lying on the side of the road. So I brought you to Mexico to help you out."
"Well, thank-you, luckily this is where I was heading. I'm heading to Panama."
"Let me guess," the man said. "You are helping with the canal?" Richard nodded his head.
"Hey do you have a name?" Richard asked.
"Si, my name is Aladino. What's yours?"
"Richard."
Aladino started to laugh his head off.
"I don't see what's so funny," Richard said.
"That's what your mother named you! Richard! Out of all the names in the world that's your name! Let's name our son Aladino, no let's name him Richard," Aladino said sarcastically. He started to laugh some more. Richard cracked a smile too. He couldn't help laughing even though his name didn't sound funny.

The Panama Canal

Introduction

The building of the Panama Canal is a real event that went on in the early nineteen hundreds. Richard Coleman is a fictional character in this story. He and his wife (Rachel) live in New York City and Richard is out of work. He hears about the building of the Panama Canal. Richard decides to go to make some money.

Chapter 1
The news


It was a sunny day in New York City. The sky was blue, and there were no clouds. Richard and Rachel decided to go to Central Park to have a picnic. The grass was greener than ever, and they found a nice shady spot under a big tree. The newspaper for today was in the lunch box. It was 1904 and Richard read the news and had a great idea.
“Americans are going to Panama to build a canal,” he read. “Workers will get 29-59 cents an hour.” Richard stared at Rachel with wide eyes.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “I mean… that’s good money but… I… how long would you be gone?”
“It doesn’t say,” Richard replied.
“Well… what’s the purpose of this canal anyway?"
“The paper says that it starts at the Atlantic Ocean, crosses through Panama, and ends at the Pacific,” he answered. “So, I would assume it’s for travelers to cross through without having to go all the way around South America. “Look,” Richard showed Rachel a map on the newspaper. “Panama is the last country under Mexico; it is right over South America. Sailors always have to go around all of South America to get to the west side of North America. Now they’ll be able to cut right through Panama. Because…"
“Okay I get it!” Rachel yelled. Tears were filling her eyes. “Panama is touching South America and six other countries are above making a line ending with Guatemala which touches North America.
“Rachel, why are you acting like this?” Richard asked.
“The newspaper says Panama is 2,218 miles away from New York!” she yelled. “Having you that far away for a couple of years… it’s just… I can’t even think of it!”
“I know how you feel,” Richard said. “But, we’ll make a lot of money.” It’s a great idea for sailors. Richard sat there waiting anxiously for Rachel’s answer.
“I guess we should go home and get you all packed up to leave tomorrow.” When they got home they packed up and Richard would leave the next morning.