Edward Cooper's journey to Jamestown Colony

August 17, 1607

Dear Mother,

        How are you? I hope everything is fine back there in England. Did you go to the doctor recently? I hope the bleeding has stopped. Did the medicine work? If it doesn’t work, make sure to find another doctor to consult on the problem because it might be pivotal.

Our ship arrived to the new world, and a comrade named John Smith befriended me. We talked about family, work, and life we had in England. We shared our interest about anthologies of poems, and books. During our conversations, I noticed that he speaks in a concise manner, and makes people listen to him with an invisible force. I conjectured that he must have been a nobleman of high rank in England to have spoken in such an educated manner. And his elegant disposition gives him this noble aura that makes people respect him.

        After a few days settling down in the New World which we now call the Virginia Colony, the demand of food soon became imperative. My slaves had barely enough to eat, and I soon realized that they cannot be my pivot forever; I had to depend on myself.  

        One day, when I met John I asked him if he also had the lack of food. He gritted his teeth and stated that the reason why this is happening is because of the arrogance that noblemen have and how they rebuff the idea of working in the fields, and many people have already starved to death.

        Soon after that, John decided to make a spontaneous speech in front of everyone right after mealtime, wishing to inform everyone of their situation and convince the noblemen to work. Most of us agreed on his concept, which made him our leader since then. The motto “He who does not work, does not eat” created by him was prevalent in our colony.

        John managed the colony and it became well-organized and prosperous. By supporting his idea on the first place, John wanted to recommend me to the House of Burgesses. However, there were plenty of jealous colonists that disagreed with that. Guile, trickery, deception, lies, were all used despicably. I hope this does not end in tragedy. Mother, if you were here, you would know how to console me right now; every time I think of you, it makes me homesick.

Love from your son,

Edward Cooper

The Sound of Darkness

The Sound of Darkness
Today's writing challenge is to create an account of the murder from the point of view of the murder victim, the suspect, the witness, or the police based inn the details from the "Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.
 At this point, Anastasia Robbins was suffering from an excruciating wound on her wrist. She wrapped a bandage around it gingerly, knowing that her wound will recover quickly but abrasions happen so frequently her heart isn't resilient anymore. Her husband, Tom, has been so angry with her he had moved to another house, beating her up even though Anastasia had been beseeching him for days and promised not to limit him drink alcohol anymore. In a Sunday night, Anastasia came home with cuts, and after taking a shower, she hurried on to sleep. Clad in a green nightgown, she put on medicine in a cursory manner. She grimaced as the blood began trickling down her knee. She lay down on the bed, but her head refused to let her sleep in peace. She had visions of murder, with blurry faces. She was so horrified, she imagined Tom as the murderer and herself as the victim, she felt dehydrated as she had the image in her head. She heard a gruesome shriek, she immediately thought that it was her own, but it occurred to her that it was another’s voice. She tried to sleep, but soon succumbed.

It was clear that the sound came from the dark mansion on the other side. She believed that she once saw an old man walking out of there, and the neighbors often described him as a kind, thoughtful person who was diseased by an eye infection.

He is a businessman, she recalled. Anastasia remembered the gossip the women around the neighborhood talked about. His store’s inventory of diamonds and gold were very valuable and high in price. She remembered, that the rumor of the old man’s endeavor was to let his housekeeper, have a nice place to live, not worry about money anymore and being able earn money for himself and not rely on anyone else.

The housekeeper was always creepy in Anastasia’s eyes though. He always wears a wild smile that simulates a crocodile, and a smile that reminds her of a wolf. She wonders how the housekeeper would thank the old man after deriving all the food and shelter that the old man has provided for him. The old man’s security was beyond great, he has iron bars and an electrified solid metal gate. No robber would dare to go in there crossing the security obstacles. That’s completely madness. She surmised that the old man just dropped an expensive flower pot or something of the sort. In case of an emergency, Anastasia decided to call the cops just in case, she was certain that anyone in the neighborhood could have heard that terrifying sound, and they could corroborate with her about the whole situation. After that, she hoped that nothing will haunt her anymore. Not Tom, not the old man, not herself. She hoped that her night would go in peace, undisturbed.