August 22, 1931

My name is Francais Godwin and I am one of many travelers that came from the great country of America to traverse the unique place known as The Empire of Japan. I am an average nineteen year old boy who has short blond hair. I’ve heard many things about this continent from my friends back home; however I find that an enriching experience can say more than that of textbooks and words. It has been nearly a month since I boarded this fine vessel and it has been a splendid month indeed. Although I must work as one of the crew members since my family couldn't support my trip, I don’t find it any less wonderful.

Francais was an author with a profound knowledge for the different arts as well as his great poems that he wrote that matched his colleagues. He was at the mere age of fifteen when he finished his work early for all his classes and decided to go exploring the world by joining the army’s shipping industry. He has visited many places from a young age, but nothing interested him more than of the unique flavor in Japan because of its old pride and tradition was still valued even through the advances of technology. Even though Francais knew that they were the enemy to Britain right now, he studied hard to achieve this dream of spending his days living in that faraway place away from the US. Recently his father abandoned him, his mother and his sister to waste his days drinking and abusing people in Louisiana. Francais only visited the south once and that one time was more than enough to see the horrors if his country.

“I have a chance to finally be a good guy, instead of someone who is nothing more than another tool for a country with no morals.” He thought as the ship docked the bay and the cargo was to be delivered. He took a deep breath becoming entranced by the sea air and sound of townsfolk.

“Hey Franky, I told you to stop screwing and help unload the trucks.” Boss yelled stopping my daydream. Boss was an officer who knew when to tell us maggots to get to work. I immediately got to work to get the boss off my back, but in the corner of my eye I saw a bright light blinding my eyes. It made my heart skip a beat, and then I began to hear random words.

“Sa….me. Fra…” It was a faint voice; still it shook its way into my very being stunning my movement for a brief moment. A second later the feeling had stopped, yet I knew something was strange was happening; however this was on a whole new level. My heart started to calm down, but my body was shaking intensely as if it knew fear.

“Hey is anyone there? Boss, did you just hear a voice?” I asked the boss before returning to work.

“Hey get to work or you’re on the first ship outta here Frankie.” As I lifted the cargo with a crane, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching me from afar. If something wants a piece of me then I’ll happily give it a well-deserved answer.

“On it boss.” I told him as I lifted a sack of potatoes for the ship, but my spine felt overwhelming; however I still continued to work without a single problem since I was used to this type of work. My mind was slightly dizzy, yet I pressed on knowing that I was not the only one relying on this job; my sister needs to grow up right even if I’m not able to be around her. Hopefully mother can keep herself safe while I’m away. Well I might as well try to have fun while I’m here because I have a feeling that something interesting is going to happen. Something burned inside, but I didn't know what it was so I ignored it.

Reviews

[Elisa]

Thank you so much for sharing this! Here are my thoughts:
This first chapter makes me interested in seeing what happens to Franky in later chapters. The descriptions are good; they make me really visualize the scene. I also think that Franky's backstory is super intriguing, and I can't wait to find out more about that.
Some suggestions I have would be to keep the point of view consistent. The switch between first person and third person in the middle of the chapter can get a little confusing. If you want to give background about Franky, I would do that in a prologue chapter. That can be in third person. On that same note, is Franky a genius? He finished school (I'm assuming high school) at fifteen years old? If it's college, that's even more impressive! Anyway, if he is a genius, then the really formal diction throughout the chapter would make perfect sense. However, if that's not the case, I would make Franky's thoughts less formal and more colloquial. Finally, I'm a little confused about his motivation to go on this trip. Is he doing it just to explore the world for fun, or is he doing it to support his family? i would just flesh that out a little more.

But yeah, that's my two cents. Thank you so much for sending me this, and Write On!

[Nyu]

I really liked this one. There is a lot of wisdom in it. I loved when he says, “I have a chance to finally be a good guy, instead of someone who is nothing more than another tool for a country with such no morals.”Beautiful and well put.

[One Lost Anti-Hero]

I think thats a typing error.