It's been a long time since I've written anything by hand, but seeing as none of my Starfleet equipment works here I thought this would be the best way to do it. I picked up this journal at the general store in Sweetwater just before the shootout. I don't know what compelled me to buy it. I'm not much of a writer. But I've been keeping an audio log of my adventures in Derleth on my tricorder and it seems a shame not to talk about this week as well. There's so much to say. But there's only one thing I want to write about.
Dolores.
I met her outside of the Mariposa. She dropped a can while she was packing up her saddle bag. I was just trying to be chivalrous, but there was something about her that just compelled me to talk to her. I know. Hard to believe. Me? Holding a conversation with someone so fine and friendly without succumbing to my own embarrassment? Nothing short of a miracle, I know! But I did. And she's wonderful. She's perfec
She reminds me of Elsa in a way. There's a calmness about her. A natural curiosity for the world. A kindness that you don't find in people often. It was a good reminder that I shouldn't just give up on my feelings. Not that I have! I'm glad that Elsa was able to return home to
her family and her kingdom. But sometimes I feel like I'm just background noise to the rest of the people at Derleth.
Dolores doesn't make me feel that way. She makes me feel like the main character in a story. Like the hero. Like how I imagine it must feel to be Loki or Natasha or Eliot or Captains Pike and Kirk. I've never seen myself that way. But when I'm with Dolores I just feel noticed. And not just because someone needs medical attention.
She showed me her father's ranch. It was beautiful up until a group of drunken thieves murdered him. They tried to hurt Dolores too, but I stopped them. Well, I helped her stop them. I didn't shoot any of them or anything. I don't think I could bring myself to do that. But we were able to escape uninjured. I feel so awful for what happened to her father, but she's so determined to not let it destroy her.
I admire her courage. I wish I could be that brave.
We've been traveling together for a few days now. Dolores had a strange memory of a place and we're trying to find it. She thinks it might be a clue to something in her past that she lost. I want to help her find it, but I'm worried about what we might come across on the way. I'm also worried about what'll happen on the last day. I know it's foolish to hope that Derleth might let her come with us. But I do.