Frances Bonnefoy was walking along the beautiful hillsides of the new land his crew had just discovered. It had taken months on a tiny ship with horrifying food and revolting conditions. Sickness was unavoidable and it had rendered many of the crew members incapacitated, but Francis had endured it for the sake of his people. In France, the land was overcrowded, overpopulated and there just wasn't anywhere else to go. Finally, when he saw there was just I-this-I much patience left in everyone before a riot started, Mr. Bonneyfoy decided to take his chances and sail across the supposedly "flat" earth and risk life and limb to find more land.
Now, after all of the long days on that wretched ship, he was had practically thrown himself off the ship and onto the beautiful wooded land that lie before him. As far as the eye could see there were pine and Maple trees, rich soil and space!
After walking quite a ways into the forest, Francis had stumbled into a large, hilly meadow. He pulled himself to the top of the largest hill in the field and collapsed in the lush green grass. He'd never seen a land so beautiful, and he hoped with all his mind,body and soul that not too much of it would come to be filled with people.
After a quick bit of charting and mapping of the terrain around him, the man rose to his feet and began to trek back to the ship. As he came around a large tree, he started. There was a child! He froze, not knowing what to do. Had people already discovered this place? Slowly he bent down, reaching his hand out to turn the child around. The moment his fingers touched the kid's shoulders, the child screamed. Well, kind of...It sounded as if the boy had screamed, but it was to quiet, like he was afraid of expressing terror.
Shaken by the sudden noise, Francis fell back onto his behind, crashing into decaying leaves and rocks."Hé, ne vous inquiétez pas, je ne vais pas vous faire de mal!" Mr. Bonnefoy child was now cowering by a large pine tree, trying to hide his face from the French man.
Cautiously, the small boy uncovered his face and slowly peeked up at Francis with piercing blue eyes. Francis took this as a good sing, so, very very slowly, he moved onto his knees and scooted closer to the mystery child.
"Bonjour. Mon nom est Francis Bonnefoy. Qui êtes-vous?" he inquired, hoping that the boy understood French.
The little boy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he whispered, "I don't know," his eyes began to glitter with tears. "I don't know, I just woke up here and-" he broke off, beginning to quietly
"Don't worry child, I'll make sure you're safe." Francis wrapped the boy in his arms. "Well, if you don't know who you are, you musn't remember your name either. So, I'll call you..." he paused, trying to this of a good name. Finally he stated,"Canada. I'll call you Canada."
The young boy wiped away his tears, looked up at the man and said, "Hello, daddy."