December 5, 1917
Everyone hugged, they were super excited to see Uncle Larry. "You Petersons are the best. I know it was supposed to be a surprise but Bill told me."
"Bill, why did you ruin the surprise?" Lesa said annoyed.
"Well, I didn't want to scare him. How would you feel if a random family came into our home?"
"Hey Uncle Larry, where should I put my stuff?" Henry said as he was looking around the apartment.
"Over there on the left. I cleaned your bed sheets so you should be nice and cozy tonight," Uncle Larry proudly shared.
"Sweet!"Henry said excitedly.
"And you two are going to sleep in the room next to Henry's room. Oh, I forgot to mention, I forgot to clean your bed sheets."
"It's okay Larry," Lesa laughed. "Yeah, it's fine," Bill replied.
"Good!" Everyone got settled in their rooms while Larry made supper.
December 5 1917
I just got to my uncle's place and it's big. I don't know why my parents said he needed help. Also my bed is clean but my parents isn't! How funny is that? I'm signing off now. Henry
A little while later Larry happily yelled, "I got a deck of cards if anyone wants to play!"
"OKAY!" said the Petersons. They sat down on the living room couch and Bill started talking as he shuffled the cards. "Hey, your rental is kinda big. Did anyone live with you before?"
"Yeah, there were two other people," said Larry. "Their names were Steve and Joe. They were brothers and they went to fight in the war for their country. Now it's just me living in this big place all by myself. I just hope they're still alive."
"Why didn't you fight in the war?" Henry said curiously. "Because I would be fighting against Steve and Joe. You see Steve and Joe were from Germany but I'm from Canada so we would be fighting against each other. Now you guys should get a game of Go Fish in before supper. We're having beans, potatoes and steak."
"Uncle Larry, thank you! I love beans!" Henry said excitedly.
"It's a good thing you like it because I've got tons of them. You can take some home if your parents let you."
"Mom. Dad. Can I?" Henry asked.
"Why not son? It would be perfect for your school lunches."
They played a game of Go Fish and Henry won, even though he peeked at everyone's cards. They sat down for dinner and started talking. "Uncle Larry, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"I'm just going to a job interview." Henry was curious. "What job?"
"A job at a school. I want to be a janitor." Uncle Larry explained.
"Why would you want to be a janitor?"
"Because I need money. Life isn't free. Anyways Henry, what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"It would be fun if we checked out Halifax," Henry thought. "Ok I can drop you off near the school if you want?"
"That sounds great," shouted Henry. "Thanks Uncle Larry! Hey dad, can we go check out the waterfront later?"
"If it's ok with your mom." Bill suggested. "Can I mom? Please!"
"Sure sweetie, I picked up a map on the train so we could use that to guide us." Henry's mom thought of everything.
December 5 1917
I'm so excited I get to go check out Halifax today and tomorrow! I'm going to eat my supper as fast as possible. I'm signing off now. Henry
They were walking down to the waterfront and heard someone playing bagpipes. Lesa loved it but Henry thought it sounded like a squeaky door. "Oh Henry, don't you think it sounds beautiful?" Mom said cheerfully. "No, it sounds like a squeaky door," laughed Henry.
"Henry! He could hear you!" Mom was annoyed and embarrassed. "So what, we'll never see him again."
"It's still very rude!" mom whispered quietly to Henry. The guy playing the bagpipes stopped playing and gave Henry and his mom a glare then he continued like nothing happened.
Bill began calling, "Henry, Lesa come on! At this rate we will get back to Larrys, at midnight." Henry and Lesa started walking.
"Coming Bill!" yelled Lesa.
They walked the waterfront for a little bit longer and Henry got pooped on by a bird and whined like crazy.
"Look at this boat, isn't it amazing?" Bill said happily.
"No. Not really. It's just a boat." Henry replied.
"That's like saying it's just millions of dollars." "Why is it here?"
"Because it's going out to war and it's filled with bombs."
"BOMBS! What if they exploded dad?" Henry said nervously. "That won't happen." Real life fact: Boats stopped in Halifax because it was the closest port to Europe.
"You don't want to jinx yourself dad." "What does jinx mean?"
"AHHH! you're sooooo old."
"Don't disrespect your elders!"
"Don't you two boys get in a fight. We should head back, it's getting late." They walked back to Larry's rental and found him asleep on the couch with a newspaper in his hand. They all went to their rooms to go to sleep but Henry pulled out his journal and started writing.
December 5, 1917
I just finished my walk on the waterfront and I saw a ginormous boat. My dad says it has bombs on it and it's going out to war. I'm signing off now. Henry