stardustcboy's Diaryland
Diary
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The Story of Little Sancho - Chapter 1: The boy, his life, and his tragedy.
I shall tell you a story, for now it is time that it is told, of a young boy, now a man� THE STORY OF LITTLE SANCHO � CHAPTER 1: The boy, his life, and his tragedy. Once upon a time there was a boy, whom I now know, who�s name is Little Sancho. He was born in a small Mexican farming town in southern Colorado to a mother named Janie. When little Sancho was born, his father, Daniel, was away in the war and was not there to see his son whence he first opened his eyes to the world. When little Sancho was still but a babe his father returned from the war and was a silent and brooding man.
To this day no one knows what Daniel saw out there on the frontlines, but it can be surmised that it had changed his life greatly for he was not the happy man that left when he finally returned to his wife. The years passed and little Sancho grew to be a young boy. His family was a poor uneducated Mexican family who worked hard in the fields for their wages. Despite his poverty, little Sancho was a creative and imaginative boy, who would make games and toys out of things like sticks and rocks. He would play in the fields while his parents worked and dream of far-away places as is the way of the child. then one day there was an addition to the family, little Sancho�s younger brother, Eugene.
From the moment Eugene was born, Daniel, little Sancho�s father became a different man. He beamed with a newfound light and energy and again he seemed to be the man he was long ago before the war. Yet, around little Sancho, he was still angry and brooding; and as time went on it became more and more evident to little Sancho that Eugene was treated differently by his father than was he.
There was a time when little Sancho had been given a train set as a gift for Christmas. He loved his train set and played with it all the time. When Eugene got a hold of it, he broke it into many pieces (he was but a baby then). Daniel did not grow cross with Eugene but he did not replace or fix little Sancho�s train set either. So little Sancho, sad that he had lost his train, took pieces of wood and painted them to look like trains and used them to play with instead. When little Sancho had taken some of his brother�s toy cars, his father scolded him and gave him a whooping. So little Sancho gave the toy cars back to Eugene and made some of his own out of rocks that he painted. Why did his father treat Eugene different? Did he not love little Sancho too? Why did Eugene get toys while little Sancho had to play with painted pieces of wood and rocks? In the end, little Sancho would never know.
When little Sancho was about 12, his family went on a trip to Texas to see other relatives. They loaded up their car with luggage and drove down the winding route 66. they spent a week or so in Texas with little Sancho�s uncles and aunts and cousins laughing and singing. When a week had passed little Sancho and his family packed up their car again and began their return trip home. there were five people in the car. Daniel, Janie, Eugene, little Sancho and one of his cousins named Marisol who was coming back to Colorado with them to see stay with her aunt.
The drive along route 66 was peaceful and beautiful. Long stretches of desert through narrow canyons and high bluffs. Eugene sat in the front seat between his father and mother, and little Sancho sat in the back seat with his cousin. When the night had fallen all the children had fallen asleep. Eugene snuggled softly between his mom and dad, and little Sancho cramped in the left corner of the rear seat (his cousin had fallen asleep stretched out).
Somewhere along that long dusty highway, a family was heading the opposite direction in a white van. They were probably headed to see their families too and they too had also fallen asleep during the night. When the road curved sharply the two vehicles met in a head-on collision for the driver of the van had also fallen asleep.
Little Sancho does not remember much of that night. He speaks of standing outside the wreckage, seeing himself and his family inside. He remembers lying in the emergency room and seeing the doctors bustling around the body of his little brother. He remembers loss and darkness and finally sweet, loving unconsciousness. Among nine people, little Sancho and the driver of the van were the only survivors of the accident that fateful night. Little Sancho had but a scratch upon his forhead; but he would forever have a scar upon his heart for he had lost his entire family. his mother, his father, and his little brother had been taken from him in a single instant and he was alone, an orphan.
Little Sancho was returned home to his Uncle Bill who was to be his guardian. He remembers seeing the pine boxes return at the train station, the final resting places of his mother, father and brother. He saw them buried in a small cemetery. This was not the end of the pain for little Sancho, for this story has much more in store for him and destiny would see that he would struggle for many long years of his life�
10:32 a.m. - 2004-10-16
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