A/N: Hello everyone! I am MusicalNinja15, and this is my very first Waltons story! This is very exciting to me since my family and I absolutely LOVE The Waltons. Just some general info, John-Boy is my favorite character and I cried when he left for New York. It is not fair to us Richard Thomas fans that we had to have a different John-Boy for the rest of the series...
Anyway, I thought this would be a cute and humorous story. I hope everyone likes it. To my followers, thank you for clicking on this, and I would appreciate if you could give me feedback, even if you have never seen The Waltons before...
To The Waltons readers, I am proud to have this as the 47th story on this category, and I hope you enjoy it! Leave a review if you feel like it! Hope you all have a laugh!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Waltons...
The Discovery
During the end of the Depression, the days of our youth on Walton's Mountain brought many surprises, adventures, and good times. But on a hot summer day, not only I, but my brothers, sisters, mother and father, and grandparents received a tool that would change our lives in many glorious ways. However, it was also a time where my writing was threatened…
"Can we turn it on, mama?" Elizabeth asked with wide eyes. The small red head had to be the most excited as she bounced on top of her father's lap.
Olivia, with her hand rested underneath her chin, gave her youngest child a look. "Now Elizabeth, you know how I feel about these things…" she trailed off as she directed her attention from the living room to the item in the corner.
John-Boy, who was visiting for the summer from New York, stood behind grandma's rocking chair, and studied the lonely object, taking in every detail as if he was writing it. The object had been the talk of not only Jefferson County, but the whole world, and everyone was getting one.
It was the newest, biggest, electronic device ever invented, and it was even more advanced than the radio. The Baldwins got it first, then the Godseys, and then Mr. and Mrs. Fordwick. Soon enough, almost everyone the Waltons family knew had the device.
It was out of constant pestering and begging their parents and grandparents that the Walton children were allowed to get the item.
It had been hours since their father had gone to Charlottesville and brought the item back home to the living room and everyone, especially the children, were eagerly awaiting permission to play with the object.
John-Boy stared at the long, black chord plugged into the wall, its long body twisted high and low to the top of the desk where the item was sitting, waiting patiently to be turned on.
Connected to the wire, was a shiny and bulky computer.
Grandpa broke the silence as he cleared his throat. "Well," he spoke roughly. "We are not gettin' any younger here. So, I'd think we better turn this computer on, hmm?"
Elizabeth and Jim-Bob cheered and skipped towards the desk to bring the item to life. "Ready, everyone?" the young boy asked, his eyes darting towards his mother.
Olivia looked to her husband, she was clearly apprehensive. "John, you turn it on," she demanded.
He raised an eyebrow as he took his arm away around her shoulders. "Whatever you say, Liv…"
He gave a small grunt as he got up from the couch and walked towards the computer. He bent down underneath the desk and pushed a button on the large box that was connected to the computer.
Within an instant, the item sprang to life, bursting with energy. A celestial melody was heard from speakers as the electronic welcomed the family.
Grandma, who had refused to get the device the most, jolted in surprise. "Good, Lord!" she exclaimed while rocking back and forth in her chair.
Everyone crowded around the computer in wonder as they watched it demonstrate the many abilities it had. There were so many possibilities to the item; it was as if it was made to make their lives easier.
John-Boy observed his family's reactions. They all seemed very intrigued and interested, yet cautious. The young man was enjoying his stay at his home for the summer, but he still had a lot of work to do on his second novel. As exciting as this computer was, John-Boy Walton was itching to set his fingertips on his beloved typewriter.
He brushed his thin hair with his hand and watched his family explore the device a little more until an idea for his book sparked his interest and he went upstairs to write it down on this tablet.
Hours later, John-Boy's thoughts were interrupted by a loud commotion coming from the living room. He could hear Erin and Elizabeth protest as his mother instructed the girls to help with supper, and the writer listened intently to the conversation between the three ladies. Minutes later, John-Boy decided to head down to the living room to listen to the news on the radio.
By the desk, John-Boy noticed his two youngest siblings with their eyes glued to the computer screen. He took his hand off of the radio dial and stepped towards Jim-Bob and Elizabeth. They seemed to be mesmerized by a game that consisted of matching colorful shapes. He watched the two as they worked together as a team to find a missing purple square. The author continued to observe his brother and sister until his grandfather turned on the radio and began listening to the evening news.
As the Walton clan gathered around the table for supper, John called to Jason. "Son, get off that thing and come have dinner."
Jason jerked from the desk chair and paused the classical song he was listening to. "Sorry Daddy," he said as he sat down next to Erin. "It's just that this thing is very interesting. I can listen to any composition of music for free. I reckon I don't ever have to borrow another record from the Conservatory!"
"That's nice, son," his father replied as everyone joined hands together to say grace.
"You know, Grandma," Olivia spoke as she plopped some mashed potatoes on her plate. "Corabeth Godsey mentioned to me that there is a way to get recipes on the computer," she explained.
Grandma set her fork down on her plate in a somewhat angry manner. "There is nothing like a home-cooked meal from your ancestors," she said as she shook her head. "I doubt that metal box can give us instructions on how to make food as good as my grandmother," she paused as she raised a finger in the air. "I tell you that device is nothing but trouble…"
The other woman sighed. "I was just suggesting, Grandma. We don't have to try it if you don't want to."
John-Boy suppressed a chuckle. He had a feeling that his grandmother would give into the computer eventually, everyone always did when new things came around, just like the radio.
Later that evening, John-Boy ruffled his blond hair with a pencil as he looked over at the small ideas he had written down on his tablet. He frowned as he realized he didn't like the wording for one of the sentences and hastily erased his mistake. He heard giggles emerge from the other side of the room as he did so. He glanced over to the desk and saw Mary Ellen and Erin squeal with delight as they pointed at the computer screen. The two sisters were taking personality quizzes on the computer, trying to figure out what animal best represented them.
"Look!" Erin exclaimed. "There's even a quiz on if a boy likes you or not!"
"Ooh!" Mary Ellen replied as she clicked eagerly on the quiz with the mouse. "Let's do that one."
Her husband, Curt, stood up from the arm chair. "How about you don't do that one, honey," he said. "It's getting late…"
Mary Ellen rolled her eyes. "Fine, Curt, we'll go now."
He smiled back. "Finally, I thought you were never going to get off of that thing."
His wife laughed as she hugged her family members and thanked them for the lovely meal. The couple called goodbye to everyone as they left for their own house, leaving the rest of the Waltons to their evening.
Erin jumped up and down as she got her results from the "Does He Like You?" quiz. John-Boy surmised what the answer was; some boy definitely liked his sister.
Erin's victory dance was cut off short by Ben, who wanted a turn on the computer to look at sale ads for cars. Erin reluctantly let him get on the device and happily skipped up the stairs to her bedroom, her brown hair shinning as she hummed a love song.
John-Boy rolled his blue eyes as he turned his attention back to his writing. That computer was putting too many ideas into that girl's head.
After Jim-Bob and Elizabeth had been scolded for the third time by Olivia to get off of the computer and go to bed, John-Boy set his tablet down and approached the electronic. Not once had he explored the computer and its many possibilities, not once had he tapped the button on the mouse. He explained to his family, as they went upstairs to go to sleep, that he wanted to go on the device for a while. They agreed and left the room, leaving John-Boy alone with the computer.
John-Boy observed the small icons that were shown at the bottom screen. There were many to choose from. He placed his right hand on the mouse and clicked on a symbol that said "Microsoft Word". The second he did so, the screen changed into a format that the writer had never seen before. On the screen was a picture of a piece of paper. A flashing black line appeared on the paper in a rhythmic pattern.
Confused, John-Boy tapped a letter on the keyboard. Suddenly, the letter "T" was shown on the piece of paper. His eyes widened as he pressed another letter and it appeared right next to the "T". Within a few minutes, John-Boy realized that it was electronic paper. He studied a button on the keyboard that read "Backspace" and pressed it, and the letters he had just typed magically disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Shocked, the writer began to type more and more until he had written a paragraph.
He was simply amazed at the device. It could do everything that his typewriter could do. Then it hit him, he couldn't erase the letters on his typewriter. He laughed, this was even better than the typewriter! He decided as he excitedly typed a few more sentences that when he went back to New York, he was definitely going to buy a computer, no matter how much it cost. It would help him a lot with his writing.
He glanced to the side of the Microsoft Word program and noticed that there was a small object in the corner of the screen. It seemed like it was a floating paperclip with a face. John-Boy frowned at it, it seemed like it was telling him how to perform some maneuver for the computer. It was called printing. Curiously, the author followed the strange paperclip's instructions and clicked the "Print" icon.
The young man jumped out of his chair as a loud noise killed the serene quietness of the house. The other accessory that his family had purchased, a printer, was working with great speed. A piece of paper slid out of the printer and the noise stopped immediately. Cautiously, John-Boy moved towards the printer and picked up the paper. To his surprise, it was just what he had written. With his mouth open, John-Boy read his work on the paper. This printer was much faster than his press. It was less work too, there was no physical workout involved. He just had to click and it printed for him.
He grinned, as he realized that he was beginning to love this computer. It was going to make his writing a lot more fun. Eager for more information about writing on the computer, John-Boy clicked on a different icon. There was a search box on the screen and the writer typed in: "Things to know about publishing your first story".
Immediately, hundreds of different sources appeared on the screen. He looked at each website thoroughly, each click making the smile on his face to grow wider.
Then, he noticed an odd word that he had never seen before. He furrowed his eyebrows together and leaned in closer to the computer. "What's fanfiction?" he asked aloud as he curiously clicked on the website.
The boy was fascinated. This was something he had never, ever thought he would see in his entire life. Fanfiction contained hundreds of stories from his favorite books and radio shows. It was as if he had a whole library at his fingertips.
He clicked on Charles Dickens and began to read. But after a moment of reading it, he stopped as he noticed that it was not Dickens' writing style. Something was wrong. He clicked on a different author, Mark Twain and tried to read another story. But alas, John-Boy got the same results; it was not Twain's work. What was this site?
After a while more of researching, John-Boy gasped.
Fanfiction was a website where fans of a certain franchise could publish their own stories. The writer nodded as he assumed that the authors on the site had worked just as hard as he did to get their story published on there. But then, the young man suddenly noticed that there was a headline at the top right-hand corner that read: "Join for Free."
A strangled sound came out of John-Boy's throat as he tried to breathe. These other writers could get their work published for free?
Anger suddenly rose inside of the boy. These people didn't have to work as hard as he did to get their work published? He had spent five years of his life working on a novel when these writers got their stories published for free? That didn't make sense at all… it was cruel. He had worked for hours on end to publish his newspaper and novel only to find that hundreds of other authors got their work published on the computer?
A shaky breath escaped John-Boy's lips as he pressed the palms of his hands to his head. How could this be? Did he get fooled by his publishing company in New York? He had to figure it out…
Hours later, just as the sun was rising, John-Boy let out a sigh of relief as he learned that fanfiction or any other writing website was just for the fun and practice in the art of writing. The stories weren't really published; no one could buy a copy of it as a book. In fact, fanfiction was just about writing for your favorite books, like A Christmas Carol, or Huckleberry Finn.
The twenty year old shook his head as he turned the computer off, he had gotten worked up for nothing…
He rubbed his eyes as he ascended up the stairs to his bedroom, he was extremely tired. Right as he turned the knob to his room, his mother, wearing her robe, emerged into the hallway to go start breakfast.
"John-Boy," Olivia whispered, her voice was groggy with sleep. "What are you doing out of bed?"
The writer let out a yawn. "I was on the computer…" he said as he slipped inside his room.
Olivia stood frozen with her hands clenched as she comprehended what her son had just admitted. He had stayed up the entire night on that electronic system? She grumbled as she realized her mother-in-law was right about that thing. That computer was nothing but trouble…
That morning, the Waltons home was quiet the whole day as not to disturb me while I rested. The computer did indeed threaten my writing for a few hours, but with this discovery of the device, I learned of a faster and better way to write my novels. I continued to publish many books in New York, and was never again confused about fanfiction.
The End
A/N: Hope you all liked it! I enjoyed writing it for you! Reviews, favorites, and follows are appreciated as always! Maybe I'll have another story up again soon!
Catch you later!