Panning for Forgiveness

By Olivia M., 10th Grade

Jack Anderson was a young man who made the journey west in search of gold. In his mid-twenties, Jack was tall and thin. Scruffy, unshaven chestnut brown hair covered his upper lip and jaw while his hands were rough and dirty. When he was about twenty-three, he had borrowed a sum of money from his kind brother, Johnny. He had foolishly gone to the casino that night and gambled it all away, leaving him with nothing. Not even a penny. Consequently, had been in such a stage of shock with himself that he had decided he wouldn’t tell him. That was, of course, until their father, who was normally quite agreeable, found out and informed Johnny about Jack’s wrongdoings. He hadn’t seen his family since, as he had left that night in a tizzy. Crawling out of the small, broken window, he had quickly saddled Old Sally, his trusty pinto mare, and left for California in search of gold.

“I hope Johnny will forgive me,” Jack muttered to himself. He was bent over the creek, dipping his pan into the mud, hoping with every bone in his body, that soon there would be tiny sparkles of gold sitting in the pan, winking at him.

Old Sally was munching happily on some grass when Jack looked up to wipe off his hands and take a drink. He stumbled over to his small campsite on the shore of the creek and braced his back. All of the bending over was starting to take a toll on his muscles, but his regret drove him on to attempt to make it up to Johnny. The sound of footsteps woke him out of the daydreaming state he was in and he whirled around. Sally pricked her ears. Jack thought the fellow may be drunk, so he quickly grabbed his canteen to give to the man.

“Jack . . . why did you . . . why did you do that?” the figure wailed. His words were slurred and his steps became angrier. When The man’s face came into light, Jack backed up. It was Johnny. His eyes were dim, his clothes were ripped, his lip was bleeding but now, he walked without a purpose.

“Johnny, let me help you,” Jack carefully offered. Picking up a cloth, Jack held it out along with a canteen to Johnny.

Johnny, who did not acknowledge that Jack was trying to help, smacked the offerings away from him and advanced on Jack, hands held out to grab his shoulders. Jack swiftly, briskly dodged and sent Johnny stumbling into the creek.

“Johnny, stop!” Jack cried, but all Johnny did was go for him again, jumping at his feet to trip him. Quickly, Jack jumped out of the way. “Talk to me! Stop fighting!”

Johnny stood, his eyes filled with tears. “You left without a word! Papa wasn’t happy, so displeased in fact that he wished you’d never been his son!”

Jack froze, taken aback at those words.

“I was gonna find ya and tell you it was okay, but ya kept running from me!” Johnny cried. “ I got mugged. Some wrangler took my horse and saddle bags. Left me with nothin’. If only I’d been smart enough to not give ya that money! Or none of this would’a happened”

“I’m sorry, Johnny. I really am! Why do you think I’m out here panning for gold? I’m trying to find it so I can make it up to ya!” Jack explained. Taking the canteen and cloth again, he held them out for his brother. This time, he took them and sat down, wiping his face with the rag and taking small sips of the water that Jack had provided.

“I lost everythin’,” Johnny muttered.

“Don’t be thinkin’ like that, Johnny. You’re wasted; you need rest. Stay here. I’m gonna keep pannin’ and hope I come across somethin’,” Jack sighed under his breath, turning to the pan on the shore. He rinsed out the remaining mud ro reveal small sparkles of gold smiling back at him. His eyes slowly widened, his hands shook and he jumped for joy.

“I struck gold, Johnny! I did!” he cried, showing the sobering man his find. Johnny, as wasted as he was, managed to pull a smile and picked the tiny pieces up.

Going back to pan for more, Jack was hoping he’d find more. He brought up the pan. To his delight, there were more small chunks of sparkly, yellow rocks! Confidently, Jack pranced over to show Johnny, and when Johnny saw them, his smile grew bigger. When they both journeyed home, they cashed the gold at the pawn shop and Jack gave Johnny the money he owed him. Jack and Johnny’s relationship healed and all forgiveness was given. Turns out, the gold rush, the one that tore many families apart, healed this one.