Things weren't always this empty. Before there was a massive house, with family dinners and tons of chores. Now, as I sit in my small cabin far from everything I've ever known, I'm starting to second guess my decision. I had been so sure of myself, so very ready to leave Appaloosa Plains and finally search out my purpose in life, could I have been foolish? Did I make the right decision?
I can hear Apache barking outside, the sound jarring me from my worries and grounding me here. I moved to Hidden Springs to get away from what was expected of me, sitting in a barn raising and racing horse after horse simply wasn't enough. I wanted to help people with more than their bottom line, to save lives, but my family wasn't as stoked with the idea as I was. Me and my mother had lived in Isla Paradiso, and seeing her work as a lifeguard showed me what it was like to save the lives of others. Unfortunately, my mother had nearly drowned on the job, driving her to relocate us back in Appaloosa Plains and work the "family business". When I told her of my dream to become a Firefighter, she looked as if she wanted to puke, wondering why I wanted to risk my life when there was a "better option". For me, there was no such thing as a better option, not when I could help those who needed me.
So I turned her down, which of course did not go as well as a person would hope, and during the argument that ensued I was stricken of the family name. I could have been nicer to my mother, could have been a better son and tried to convince her that leaving was the only thing that would make me happy, but I was stressed and took to the conversation with a cold edge. We made up afterward, but I could tell there was a rift where before there had once been an inseparable bond, and she gave me leave to make my own way. With nothing but the money I had saved up from the horses I had trained, and Apache at my side, I made for Hidden Springs. Thinking it all over again, I can't help but feel a little bit freer, as if the weight of the family was no longer upon my shoulders. That didn't stop the new pressure that fell on me as I headed to the town hall to have my new name registered, I was now without my family's influence to get me places, no one knew who I was or anything about where I came from. I would have to start from scratch just as my Grandfather had done all those years ago, and as I walked down the steps leading from Town Hall, I began my journey as Gideon Keane.