against all odds

[lordoftheshire]

'God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed' 

Isaac Green was born into the rapidly evolving state of Texas in the summer of 1866, only 16 months after the end of the Civil American War, to recently emancipated Wesley and Lucina Green. They cemented their blossoming relationship and set out to succeed as free people; success in the form of owning a homestead and raising a family. Economic hardships followed, and their initial hopes dwindled. They no longer envisioned a place to call their own - instead wondering when their next filling meal would be. Growing apathy eventually led to Wesley negotiating a sharecropping agreement with a landowner that did not care for anything beyond easy profits and reinventing his power through legal methods.

Isaac's childhood involved hard manual labour from the moment he was old enough, mostly supporting Wesley with the farm. He quickly learned what was expected of him; to learn and to make himself as valuable to society as he could, and as a curious young boy, he enjoyed every new skill and experience his parents granted him. On the other hand, the resources to provide Isaac with any type of official education or training were scarce. and with Wesley's aging hands, he needed all the help he could get at home.

Lucinda did what she could and came to an agreement with a local widowed man that offered reading and writing lessons for the youngster in exchange for long hours taking care of the housework around his home. As Isaac's reading improved, his imagination and desire for more than crops increased. With each passing year, his ego inflated with childlike wonder and thoughts of exciting lives he could live, blissfully unaware of just how poor they were.

His ignorance was short-lived. In 1875, a decade after signing the agreement, Lucinda passed away after a short battle with illness. Wesley's grief was heightened by not getting the chance to fulfil his promise of owning their own land some day, and his bitterness became stronger than his optimism and ambition. He drowned his sorrows in liquor and belittled his son's naivety. Isaac absorbed his father's sadness and his mother's absence and no longer dreamed of becoming more than a farmer. He worked long days and nights, hoping the harder he worked, the sooner he would be able to free his father from meeting the same end.  As Lucinda always told him; 'God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed'. 

Not much had changed by 1884. Isaac had gone from curious boy to man of the house, despite barely being old enough to call himself a man. Wesley had fallen ill years prior to undiagnosed liver failure, only barking orders and supplying his liver with further poison until the moment he died. Left fully with his own thoughts for the first time in years, and hearing about the potential found in New Austin Territory, Isaac knew it was better to risk his chances running away from all previous responsibilities than to take his aspirations to the grave with him. He packed up the necessities and set off North to find real fortune and success in the land of opportunity. 

Spoiler

This thread will showcase RP of Isaac Green's adventures.