The Life and time's of Samuel Ford

The short story is about a man who travels from california to alaska to scatter his wife's ashes.

 

 

 

 

 

The Life and Times of Samuel Ford

 

 

1906 was a terrible year for the residents of San Francisco as one of the most devastating earthquakes ever recorded hit their home. But that wasn’t the only tragedy to happen in 1906, there was also murders, suicides, arson attacks and much more, but the story you are about to hear is about one mans life being torn to pieces in a matter of days. His life was personal destroyed and devastated in that year, his name was Samuel Ford and this is his story.

  A group of field mice ran through the thin yellow grass of Monterey Californian as the sun slowly rose. The mice were very fast as they darted in-between the blades of grass, while the mice roamed around the hills the dragonflies swooped around the grass with elegance. The frogs crooked in a near by pond as they sat on big green lily that laid on a small, still pond, the water of the pond and the grass was now steaming as the morning sun warmed upon the night mildew. The sky was blood red, the grass was cold in the morning light and still the mice ran with there little feet through the hills of California.

  A crow stood proudly on a thin branch, his black beck was silhouetted against the red sky, the crow lifted of the branch and flew to the fresh air with speed. The crow glided through the air while looking for food down below, after few minutes the crow spotted a bug in the grass, the bird darted to the bug and snapped the insect in its yellow beak, as the crow lifted back into the sky and a feather that had been loosed for a few day finely fell off as the bird flew away with his breakfast. The black feather lay still in the yellow blades of grass while nearby a large jackrabbit hopped up a hill to his den. The jackrabbit ears hung low and they flopped as the animal hopped and sniffed his way up the hill. And then nothing moved in the hills and plains of California. Silence fell, as everything breathing stood still, it was like a photograph has been taken and all involved in the photo were doing there part by not moving including the crows feather.

  Then after a few moments the wind picked up and a huge gust of wind swooped across the hills and the fields, the long steams of grass swayed like they were dancing, the branches of trees cracked while the dead leaves and a single crow feather lifted of the ground and into the sky like a firework taking of on the 4^th of July. The black feather glided away from the hills like a paper aeroplane, the gust of wind helped it glided up and down in the sky, the feather passed through the fields and over the pond until it lost momentum and it ended its flight on a train track that ran through the yellow hills.

  The feather lay still on one of the planks of wood that made up the train track. Then a slight rumble penetrated through the thin wooded plank, the rumble and movement of the plank of wood that the feather lay on got stronger by the seconded. A train appeared in the desistence. The train stemmed forward with immense speed as the black feather lay in its way. As the train wheels rode towards the feather the track shacked and trimmed until the train was upon the black feather. The train sent the

 

feather spinning of the track and into to air. It finely glided in the air next to the speeding train.

   There feather was just hanging in the air as the massive train shot bye, the end of the train was in sight as a gust of wind carried the feather directly along side the train and finally the feather fell into an open widow of the last carriage.

  The crows black feather glided through the wooden carriage and pass three people, the first person the feather flew by was a old man with a walking stick sitting at the front of the carriage, he looked very well off as he looked out of the trains widow, the seconded person was a elderly women dressed in her finest clothes as she sat in the middle of the quite empty carriage and finally the feather landed on the right leg of the third person. He was in his late forties and he had a big black moustache that he loved, he wore a brown log brim hat at an angel that nearly covered his brown eyes, he wore a black suite and waste coat, he had a long pipe that hung lazily out of his mouth the he was smoking and his face had a troubled expression, one of much sadness. His name was Samuel ford.

  Shafts of sun light shot through the windows of the carriage, Samuel had to lower his hat to shad his eyes. He sat there looking at the feather that had just landed on his right knee; he picked it up and felt the light and delicate feather. He held it up to the shaft of sunlight and studied the feather. At first it looked jet black but  in the bright light it had a soft brown colure ruining through the feather, Samuel put the feather into his old suitcase that sat next to him on the train. He had now four items in his suitcase, the other three things were a bag of tobacco, a book on the history on the Roman Empire that his dad had passed down to him and always told Sam to read it through out his life.

  And the last object Samuel picked out and held the object in the shaft of sunlight was the most priceless item in his suitcase, it was the most important thing he had ever held and it was the thing he loved more then anything else in the universe. He held a small metal box which held his dead wife’s ashes inside.

  Samuel looked at the metal box and tears rolled down his left check as he thought about his late wife. Hus wife had meant the whole world to him; she was Samuels’s life and soul. Like all husbands, Sam would do anything for his wife as he had no one in the world he loved more then his wife. They had been married for 15 years and every second and day had been amazing to Mr Ford as he was in ore of his wife. That was until a week ago when his life stopped cold dead while he watched his wife die in his hands. Samuel had not thought about the incident since it had happened but as he looked way from his wife’s ashes and to the passing scenery the whole day flooded back to him. He did not want to remember her death but as he looked out if the speeding train the images of pine trees shooting by the train widows merged into that horrible day that happed exactly a week ago.

  The day his wife passed away started with Samuel ford leaving their home early and going out hunting near his home in the Californian hills.

  He walked all morning through the fields and forests of his home grounds, he had his shot-gun hanging over his arm, and an empty bag on his back. By mid afternoon his hunting was finished. He was enjoying a slow walk back to his home with his shot-gun hung open over his right arm and his bag was now heavy as it had had two quails dead inside. Samuel had shot the quails with bird shot cartridge, so the quails that lay inside of his bag looked like they were sleeping as there was only a little

bullet hole in there body that had killed them.

 Samuel was enjoying his pleasant walk back home was he had killed two quails and was feeling very strong and healthy. He smoked his pipe as he turned the corner to his home that was at the end of a wide field. He walked up the dirt path to his farm house with a confident swagger. As he opened the front door he placed his bag down, took his hat off and put his pipe in his jacket pocket. Samuel then walked into there kitchen ready to kiss his wife and tell her abut his hunt, but as soon as he walked into the kitchen his heart missed a beat as he saw a puddle of blood on a wooded cutting board. He shouted her name as he looked at the cutting board, there was a bloody knife and a semi-cut up chicken, he looked over at the sink and there was more blood and then he followed the drops of blood out of the kitchen. Sam ran after the blood trail while he shouted for his wife. The blood trial led out side. He ran outside and saw in the distance the body of his wife laying on the dusty ground. He ran over to her and looked down at the dead body. She must have tried to run to her nearest neighbour, Miss Johnson who lived over a mile away. But she did not get far. She had tied a rag around the gut hand and wrist, the rag was soaked with blood. Samuel looked at the dark sand around his wife body, the blood loss was devastating, her blood had sipped in to the earth around her. He turned his wife’s body over and looked down at her white pale face, he new she had been outside for well over two hours. He held her in his hands and cried at the top of his voice. All was silent in the country side of Monterey that afternoon, a bird didn’t sing and a frog didn’t croak, the only noise anyone could her was the crying of Samuel Ford.

   Samuels’s eyes were full of tears as he opened them and looked at the carriage of the train he was ridding on.

  Samuel was on his way to Alaska, it would take around five days to get to the port where he would get the next ship that was leaving mainland America and that was heading to the icy cold land of Alaska. The reason he was going to Alaska was a simple one, it was because of his wife whish on life that wasn’t fuelled, all Samuel wife wanted to for is to see the beauty of the Alaska’s wild. She spoke every day about going there on a trip. Samuel was planning on talking his wife there once he had saved enough money but that was talking quiet a long time so he bought his wife a postcard of Alaska and wrote on the back ‘I will take you to Alaska one day.’ She loved the drawing of the landscape on the postcard; she looked at it every night before going to bed.

  When she passed away Samuel drunk himself to sleep every night for the next 3 days. Finally on the forth day after dealing with arrangements about cremating her body Samuel looked at the postcard of Alaska and decided he would take his wife ashes to the woodlands of that icy landscape and scatter his dead wives remains over the very land where she always wanted to go. He had not thought about what he was going top do with his life as he was only concerned with one objective and that was to let his wife see Alaska.

  Sam sold everything he owned including his home an all that was in it. He took out his suitcase on the day he left his home packed it with his tobacco, a book on the Roman Empire and a small metal box that had his wife inside. The train rolled on through the California wilderness and Samuel thought about nothing apart form getting to his goal and fulfilling the promise he had made.

  For the next five days he read his book, smoked his pipe and cried over his dead

wife. He ate his one meal in the dinner hall of the train every night and then he went to sleep while gazing out of the window of the speeding train. Every night before going to sleep on the train Samuel smoked his pipe in the darkness of his cabin. The orange glow of the pipe reflected on the face of this hurting man. His brown eyes were intense while he puffed his pipe and felt his moustache. He would place the hat over his eyes and fall to sleep where he did not think about his troubles that flooded his every day life for the pass week.

  Nearly a week on the train and he was finally stepped of the train and into the port where he would collect his ride to his file destination, Alaska. Samuel walked with his pipe hanging out of his mouth, his brown hat slanted down over his face and his moustache was drooping over his lips as he had not been trimming it. He walked straight away through the busy port and while he bumped into people and there was loads of shouting, Samuel did not here anything as all he wanted to do was get on the boat that would take him and his wife to where he wanted to go. The port was covered with snow, there was snow everywhere as Sam walked steadily through the icy streets looking for the right ship, after about an hour of making deals with the captions of ships, Sam bought a one way ticket to Alaska on huge ship that would be leaving at sun set.

  Samuel went to the nearest bar and sat down at the stall, he put his suitcase down next to him. He ordered a large whisky and downed it in the crowed bar, but to Sam it was empty as he only looked at the glass of whiskey that was standing in front of him. He oared another large whiskey and took a gulp, it burned his inside and he felt good, the first time since that terrible day. He wasn’t happy but the whiskey made him warm and he was now looking forward to something to eat before getting on the ship. He ordered a huge bowl of bacon and leak soup that came with a huge chunk of hard wholemeal bread. Samuel took spoonful of the hot soup and took large bits out of the chunk of bread while he sipped his whiskey and waited for his ride. Finally after his meal he was drinking the remainder of his whisky when he looked across the bar and at the bottle of spirits that were lined up next to the wall. All the glass bottles were burning orange, Samuel had to blink as it was so bright, but then he realised, he looked to the right and saw the sinking sun out side the bars window. Samuel paid for his food and drink and ran out side with is suitcase in his right hand. He got to that ship on time and was sitting down on the deck and smoking his pipe in minutes as the ship left the main land of America and headed to Alaska. Samuel ford smoked his pipe and looked at the sun as it sank into the cold sea.

  The few days that Samuel was on the ship he read and smoked just like he did on the train. The scenery was better then the train ride and he would spend hour’s sitting on the deck with his arms on the rails and just gazing out at the still ocean. He would smoke his pipe and gaze at the sea life that swam next to the ship. He always tried to spot a fish but after a few days he was nearly at his destination and all he had seen were a few jelly fish that were floating on the blue ocean. The sun was high in the cold sky as the ship was sailing towards the icy landscape of the one place where Samuel and his wife wanted to go and see. Sam looked out at the sea and that’s when he saw a sperm whale rise out off the sea and spry a waterfall of misty water, the huge whale dived back down and lastly the massive tail sunk beneath the waves, Samuel smiled for the first time since that morning of his wife death. He continued to stare out at sea to spot another whale but he did not see one again as the ship finally

reached his destination.

  Samuel Ford walked of the ship and placed his foot on Alaska, he looked down at his suit case and smiled and then he smiled at the scenery that was lying ahead of him. He was proud that he had fulfilled his promise to his wife. As he walked through the nearby town he smiled as he new he wife was enjoying what she was seeing.

  Samuel new this was not good enough for his wife as this was not like the drawing on the postcard, so he walked into the near by convinents shop and bought supplies for his hike he was abut to take into the wild.

  He bought a few days worth of beef jerky and a few cans of beans. He bought a big knife and a couple of box of matches, the last thing he bought was a pair of leather gloves as his hand were starting to turn red from the cod as he was not really dressed fro this climate. He placed the gloves on his cold hands and paid for all his goods. Samuel Ford had only $3.50 to his name when he walked out of the shop with all the goods in his now extremely heavy suitcase.

  He looked into the distance and he saw the mountain peaks and the pine trees and he knew he had to go that way to fell his promises. So he headed of in that direction. First he walked through the snowy town and at about midday he reached a main road, this is where Samuel turned of the road and walked into hills and plains of the wildness. He walked in one direction as he looked head at the peaks of the mountains in the far distance. He had no plan apart from when he will see the right place Samuel Ford will scatter his wife ashes.

  The cold was very intense to Samuels’s body as he had lived in the warm climate of California his whole life. Ever since he was born he had played in the sun and swam in the warm seas of the California coast. Now he was walking ankle deep in snow, he cheeks were red raw from the cold as well as he nose whish he could not fell any more. The gloves that he had bought had been a life saver as he would have found it hard to light his pipe if he didn’t have the gloves on. He carried the suit cased in his right hand and he smoked his pipe that was the only warm heat he could fell was the the heat off the tobacco around his mouth. Through out the day he chewed beef jerky to keep his energy up and also he tried hard to enjoy the scenery as that what his wife would have loved. But in this clod he was really having bad time enjoying the snowy landscapes as he could not fell his feet anymore.

  The first night in the Alaska wildness he collected a few loges that he had found on his long walk and he cut many twigs and branches of the many trees with his new knife that he had bought. Samuel sat on a bed of fern leaves and watched his fire he had created come to life. A huge pile of dead wood was ablaze with flames, the flames rose high and Samuel knew he had made it to big but he also knew he would die before the sunrise the next morning if he didn’t make such a big fire. He ate his beef jerky and warmed up his can of beans on the fire. He ate the beans with the knife and felt much better as he felt warmth inside his body for the first time that day. He took his shoes off and his wet soaks and put his feet up next to the blazing fire. He placed the metal box of his wife ashes on next to him and keep on looking down at it and smiled at the small box while he warmed his body by the flames.

  After he had eaten and felled his pipe up with tobacco and was quietly smoking his pipe next to the warm fire he suddenly remembered he had not drank any liquid in the last 24 hours. He was suddenly very scared as there was no water anywhere as all the lakes were frozen solid, He knew he couldn’t eat ice and snow as he knew that would

be the worst thing to do as it would burn and blister your lips and make you really cold inside. So Samuel quickly stuffed his empery can of beans with snow and placed it next to the dieing fire. So through out the night he watched the snow turn to water in the can and then he put more snow in the water that was in the can and watched that melt while he placed twigs on the fire to keep in alight. He finally fell to sleep; luckily the fire didn’t go out until the sun rose as Samuel would have surely frozen to death.

  As soon as Samuel woke he crawled over to the can of snow that was now melted into cold water, the fire was still smoking and still had warmth so he drank all the water in the can and then felled it up again with snow an placed more twigs on the fire and lit the fire again. It came to life in seconds. The sun was just rising over the snowy peaks as Samuel started his walk way from his camp. He ate beef jerky and then lit his pipe as he walked and really appreciated the scenery. The sky was red from the morning sun and the shafts of light shone through the branches of the pine tree as he walked through them. He thought it looked more beautiful then his beloved California.

  Samuel walked throughout day and loved looking at the wildlife that inhabited this place, as it was in deep winter he didn’t see that much but he watched a rabbet hop through the snow and leave its footprints. He watched and hawk fly over head, the bird swooped over him and towards the mountains where he was going himself. And this is how the next day and night went with Samuel walking and talking to his dead wife. He made the same camp fire as the night before and he ate the rest of his beans. In the morning after eating the remainder of beef jerky for his breakfast he couldn’t believe he had run out of food in 48 hours.

  On the forth day he was weak and nearly frozen in his legs as he struggled to walk to the perfect point where he would scatter his wife’s ashes. That night he used his knife to cut as many braches with all the energy he had left. He finally made the fire and he was now warm but very hungry and tired. As he sat smoking the last of his tobacco and gazing into the flames, he then herd a twig brake then another, he suddenly turned to his right and a saw big rabbit walking and shaking towards the fire, straight away Samuel took of his gloves and grabbed the shaking animal and got his knife out and sliced the neck of the poor animal. Warm blood poured of Samuels’s cold hands; it felt wonderful as the warm blood tricked over his hands. Samuel licked the warm blood of his hand and then picked up the rabbet and squeezed the blood into his mouth. Samuel then gutted the rabbit and burnt all the hair of the carcass, he then spit roasted if for about two hours. He ate half the rabbet and saved the other half for the next day which would be the day when he laid his wife to rest.

   The next day he walked and walked until filly he reached the point where he knew he would go no further as his body was nearly dead and it was a perfect point where he would leave his wife see the landscape of Alaska. The point where it would happen was on a high rock that had a huge mountain behind it and in front of it a perfect postcard picture of Alaska. The trees and the lakes twinkled in the morning sun as Samuel sat down on the rock and ate the rest of the rabbet. The chucked away the carcass after he was finished and then he opened his suitcase and then opened the small metal box and looked down at his wives ashes.

 ‘Now you can see Alaska my darling. Go and see and rest in peace.’ Samuel said as he stood up and chucked the ashes out of the box and watched the black dust that was

once his wife fly of in the wind away from Sam and into the wild of Alaska.

  He sat back down on the rock, and looked out at the scenery. He sat and gazed for the whole day until the sun started to sink and then he tried to move but he couldn’t and he knew what was going top happen to him. He smiled and watched the huge sun despair.

  The next morning the sun came out and on a big rock in the centre of wildness of Alaska sat the frozen body with a smile on its face. A pipe hang out of the body’s mouth, his moustache was as hard as an icicle and in his right hand laid a black feather. It was the frozen body of Samuel Ford.