The Story of Jeremiah Smith - Part One - 1777 - 1810

The Story of Jeremiah Smith - Part One - 1777 - 1810

What defines us as children? Is it our name, our age, our family, our abode? Is it the games we play, the rules we follow, the environment we live in? We have little or no choice as children. We are shaped by all those elements around us, but it is that defining world that generally makes us feel safe.

As we grow, we eventually establish our own identity; we change ourselves. We do this gradually, at our own pace. The mistakes we make are usually of little consequence in the great scheme of things, but they remain with us and help us on our journey to grow ‘up’. Our mistakes can be assuaged by our safety nets. Slowly we find new environments, new acquaintances, new games to play, new rules to follow. We make choices and the definition of ourselves changes.

While our exterior persona ebbs and flows towards a final product, our interior always holds tight to the child we once were. We become our own safety net, but we still carry with us our original definition - now we extend on it.

So, what happens to a child whose defining influences are taken away before the chance to make choices without a safety net arrives? What becomes of a child torn away from familiar environments, accepted rules, acknowledged familial love and thrown into a world of horror, torture and hopelessness? Can the innocence of childhood ever be recovered; what becomes of the definition of self?

Jeremiah Smith was not yet 10 years old when every last vestige of his safety net was taken away forever. The child inside him was abandoned and he had to call on instinctive survival tactics to continue on to adulthood.

This book is Part One of Jeremiah's story. Part Two (1810 - 1848) is a work in progress.