During July in the summer, only a month after Arthur Morgan turned 12 years old, he fell sick with a nasty cold.
The boy who always bought the food was bedridden for weeks, so there wasn't much food in the house for a while.
It was also around the time Copper got sick. Well, sick was just a word that Arthur used to make himself feel better. Copper got old.
As soon as Arthur was able to get out of bed and get dressed on his own, he soon realized how sick Copper was becoming.
The beloved dog could barely get on Arthur's bed anymore, and, if Copper was able to get to town, he didn't bark at birds or cats. He just laid in the shade of the houses.
The child was falling depressed as he watched his best friend pass away. Soon enough, one faithful humid morning, Copper was gone.
Arthur climbed out of bed to find Copper's brown form laying on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Copper's soul had been taken by angels, fading like the early morning stars, leaving only a stiff cold shell in their wake.
Arthur wasn't much of a faithful boy, but he hoped his loyal dog had made it to heaven. Maybe he'd be able to see him when he dies, if he wasn't going down under.
Arthur didn't even shed a tear. Lyle strolled in, finally. "About time," his father said. "We should probably burn it now so it doesn't stink."
Arthur took the dog outside. He wasn't going to burn it. He buried him. The humid day didn't help, so he could only dig a shallow grave. He then planted a strip of wood in the grass where a tombstone would be, simply carving "Beloved Copper".
Lyle saw this through the window of their home. Arthur got 10 lashes with the belt for not following directions, but the grave was never dug up.
That night, in the silence and the dark, without a large warm lump of a dog at his feet, Arthur wept for the first time in a while.
Arthur sobbed. Hopelessness consumed the child. His only will to survive was gone, lost with his mother, Copper, and the broken skin on his back. He realized that as soon as he had the opportunity, he had to get out of here.
He had to find a better place for himself.
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Bad Beginnings (A RDR2 Fanfic)
Fanfiction--- "Do you have a name, son?" the man asked. Arthur looked up. No one ever asked. What was his name? Oh yeah. "Arthur Morgan, sir." "Dutch Van Der Linde," the man replied, reaching out his hand to shake. Arthur accepted it. His hand seemed little...
