"The Dusty Diary"
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership over any characters mentioned in this short story. All characters are property of SEGA, and this story is for entertainment purpouses only! This short story takes place in an alternate time line. It focuses around the Sonic characters, and what their lives would be like, if they had lived in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression in the early 1900's. The following are journal enteries taken from the diary of a young farmer known by as Shadow the Hedgehog. This is the story of his struggles during the Dust Bowl. Please enjoy!
October 10, 1918 - My is Shadow the Hedgehog. At the moment, I am twenty-six years old, and I have been living happily in the Oklahoma plains for the past five years. I have been blessed to be a farmer in such prosperous plains with my loving family. I have a darling wife, Maria Hedgehog, and a healthy newborn daughter, Amy Hedgehog, whom is only a few months old. I must admit, things have been a bit rough ever since the Great War started, but there has been rumors that it's almost over. Seeing how our government has all of those debts to pay, I sure hope so.
August 30, 1930 - Things have been a lot tougher on the Hedgehog family lately. Our farm hasn't been doing as successfully as it had been in the past. For some reason, we've been experiencing a dreadful drought in our area. Our crops have been dying, and the ones that survive are barely able to make it up to the height of my waist. Also, with the start of this "Great Depression" thing, we can barely pay the taxes on our home! Hundreds of farmers, like me, have been having the same turmoil. It's been getting harder to feed my family, and I'm beginning to worry about the kids. My wife gave birth again a few years ago to my beautiful son, Tails Hedgehog, whom is now eight years old. I swear, they're getting thinner by the minute. Although, I am sure that this drought will pass. How long could it possibly last?
May 13, 1934- I don't know what to do anymore! How could everything have gone so wrong? It has been over four years, and our land just can't get any decent rainfall. Without this rain, we have been getting hit with dust storms left and right! They have since dubbed our area the "Dust Bowl"! The majority of our crops just die, and whenever I try to plant some food, the topsoil, and the seeds just get carried away by the winds. We just got hit with a terrible black blizzard about two or three days ago. I swear, I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. Some say the storm was so big, it even reached Washington D.C.! I doubt it, but speaking of which, I really wish they could do more for us here. It almost seems like they don't even care that we're here. I could sense the fear inside of my dearest Maria. I get more worried about the safety of our children every day. No matter what we do, there always seems to be dust everywhere. It's in our house, in our food, and even in our water! Not only that, young Tails has been a little ill lately. We think that it's pneumonia, but we're not entirely sure. I hope he can hang on.
April 18, 1935- Oh bloody hell, I can't stand it anymore! Everyday I am fearing for my life, and for the life of my family! About four days ago, one of the worst black blizzards of the decade hit my area. A black cloud of dust that had to be miles high, swept over my farm, and engulfed my home! The day soon became night, and our tiny house was shaking. I couldn't even tell whether our not my eyes were opened or closed. By the time it ended, it almost buried our house, it wiped out most of my sickly crops, and nearly half of what's left of my cattle choked to death on the dirt from the storm! I seriously believed that the three of us were all going to die! That's more than I can say for my poor Tails. A few month ago, the poor lad apparently gave up his fight with his pneumonia and passed away. He's currently buried about two miles from the farm, and there is not a day that goes by that I wish that it was me buried there instead of him. I'm not taking any chances with my sweet Amy, although! Lately, the government has been getting more involved with our recovery, and they highly suggest that we wear masks to prevent ourselves from breathing in too much dirt. I make sure Amy wears her's any time she leaves the house! I refuse to make the same mistake I made with Tails! Oh God, why was I so negligent? Thirteen years old is too young for a boy to die! Many people in my town have already given up on this land, and moved away. Before they left, my neighbors, the Chaotix, tried to convince me to pack it up, head out west, to California, and leave the Dust Bowl behind. Dust Bowl, Shmust Bowl, I'm not moving to California! Besides, my family can't possibly afford to move to a new home anyway! I hate to say it, but us Hedgehogs are pretty much stuck here. With all of my crops dying, I don't know why we haven't starved to death yet, and it's a miracle that we still live in a house! Oh God, are we in Hell? No, I don't think so, but I can't imagine Hell being much different!
October 10, 1939- I never thought I would be saying this again, but, thanks be to God! After nearly a decade of nothing but, drought, starvation, disease, despair, and fright, our troubles are starting to come to an end. Lately we have been getting some rain, and our crops are starting to grow again! If only Tails could see it. At least Amy survived long enough to escape the bitter darkness known as the Dust Bowl. She has really matured into a beautiful young lady, and I know in my heart, she will make some guy very happy. I guess none of that matters now. Many people believe that one of the main causes of the Dust Bowl's creation was due to hundreds of ignorant farmers, who tore up any land they could find for planting, and wasted all the top soil that had taken so long to be created. I am not going to make the same mistakes I made while farming all of those years ago! It was foolish of me to believe that all of that good top soil was going to be there forever. For some time now, there have been people who were sent over here to show farmers, like me, more resourceful ways to grow crops and how reuse soil, without completely using it all up. It's nice to see that our government has finally decided to focus on our farming problems in Oklahoma. I think I might learn a thing or two from them. Yes, even through all of these depressing times, my desire for farming still burns. I will continue my career as a farmer, I will find more resourceful ways to conserve our farm land, and I promise that I will make my wife, Maria, proud!
Well, what did you think? I will be honest with you, this is definately NOT my best work. In reality, when I first wrote this, it was originaly a U.S. History project. When I got an A+ on it, I decided to place it on FanFiction, and replace some of the names, to give it a more "Sonic" feel. If you do want to see some of my best work, I also have another story here entitled Mario & Sonic: Crossover Chaos!. Try checking it out! Anyway, I thank you for reading my short story, bye!