The narrator is an 11-year-old boy whose family is fleeing their Virginia home in 1861 to escape the violence of the Civil War. Despite his father's wishes to leave immediately, the narrator takes a treasured blue stone from his childhood without permission. During their hazardous wagon journey, the sounds of battle grow closer and startle the horses. The horses bolt, throwing the narrator from the wagon and injuring his arm as his family and their belongings disappear down the road without him.

1. Introduction If definite change deceives you, read no more. The year was 1861. I was 11 years of age when Pa was planning on moving to a remote distance from our current home in Manassas, Virginia with Ma and me. However, the journey didn’t go as planned… Entry one Today my parents decided to move far to Appomattox, Virginia. We will pack our belongings and store them in the family carriage. Pa says that we must leave on Wednesday. Ma says that we must leave to escape the war or we might suffer injury, but I tell Pa that if we leave than the Confederate Army will be defeated. Pa won’t listen; I just want to stay here, at home. Pa wants the Confederates to win, but I however, don’t. In my opinion we should be The United States of America. I have never told Pa of my opinion. Pa never wants to bring up the topic over a meal. Or ever, for that matter. I think its cause from the looks of things so far, General Robert E Lee won’t be able to defeated General Grant’s Union Soldiers. So far Lee has made his second retreat. I haven’t heard Ma’s opinion of the war. She cries whenever word reaches our home that a neighbor’s kin won’t return from the war. I believe we all wish the war was over.