Warning, there are MAJOR FEELS ahead. Grab your tissues, pillows, blankets, and whatever else you may need to prepare yourself.

The old storage room in America's house was always a room that was locked whenever Amanda went to try and look into the room. She asked a few times what was behind the locked door and America would always answer with the same response; "Just some old stuff from my past kiddo." 

Amanda would moan about it and she would complain about not being able to know what was behind the door. She stood outside the door and stared at it for a long time. How come I can't know what's inside it? She wondered. I just wanna take a peek. Is that too much to ask for?

A few days later, Amanda woke-up and went downstairs to see a sight that she never thought she would ever see in her life; it was the storage room door proped wide open. Amanda rushed to look into the room to see that it was dusty and had boxes stacked up as high as the eye could see. She poked her head inside the unfamiliar room and then heard a noise. Amanda quickly ran out of the room and hid behind the door. When she peaked back inside, she saw that the source of that noise was her Father moving boxes around. 

What is Dad doing in there? She thought as America stacked a box onto a smaller stack.

As she watched her Dad clean, Amanda decided to venture back inside. She quietly tiptoed inside and over to her Dad, who was sorting through some old items that were inside the box he was currently looking through. "Let's see here, what should I do with this stuff?" America wondered as he looked through the small box.

"What kind of stuff is in there?" Amanda asked, making America jump in surprise.

He looked down to his side to see Amanda standing right there with a smile on her face. "Amanda, what are you doing in here?" America questioned.

"The door was open, Dad. I saw you were looking through those boxes and I decided to see what was up." The young girl got on her tiptoes and tried to peer into the box. "What'cha got in there Dad?"

America couldn't help but smile at Amanda and her curiosity. He lowered the box for her to see inside. In said box was a bunch of old toys from America's Cowboy days. "Just some old toys I was thinking of throwing out."

"Can I see 'em? There might be one I like in there."

"Sure." He handed her the box and Amanda began to search through it. She picked it up and then placed it on another box. She then looked through the box and then found a faded brown cowboy hat. America looked over at Amanda and smiled when he saw the hat. "I remember this old thing. I use to wear it all the time." 

"So this is the hat you wore all the time?" Amanda asked. 

"Yep." He took the faded hat and placed it on her head. "Looks good on you kiddo." 

Amanda giggled and then looked through more of the toys and found a lasso. "Cool. Can I use this Dad?" 

"Just don't break anything is all I ask." 

"Sweet! Thanks Dad!" Amanda took the box and lasso and ran up to her room to play with the "new" toys she got. She started twirling the lasso around several times and then tried to tie up a horse toy she had found in the box but missed. "Dang it. Let's try that again." This went on for several minutes until Amanda decided to ask her Dad the proper technique to use the rope. She went downstairs and went to the storage room to ask him some more questions. "Hey Dad I-" 

Amanda stopped in mid-sentence when she saw that her Dad was looking at something in his hands. She walked over to him and saw that in his hands was an old musket. It had a huge scratch on it, which America seemed to stare at for a while. He sighed as he looked at it. 

"You okay Dad?" Amanda asked, making America jump out of his train of thought.

"Oh, Amanda, I didn't know you were there," he admitted. "Guess I was just thinking is all." 

"About what?" 

"...Old times." 

Amanda got a better look at the musket and then at her Dad. "Isn't that from the American Revolution?" 

"Yep." 

"How'd it get scratched up?"

America sighed and placed the musket down. He then turned to look at his daughter who waited to hear what he was going to tell her. Well it's not like I can't tell her, right? America thought. I mean, she already knows about it a little bit. Besides, she's going to find out eventually. With a huge sigh, America prepared to tell his little girl the story...well, maybe not at the moment though. "How about I tell you when you're older?" 

"But Dad," Amanda moaned. "I wanna know about it now. Please?" She mustered up the best puppy-dog eyes she could and America caved in. 

"Okay, okay. How about I cut you a deal; if you can help me clean this room out, then I could consider telling you the story, 'kay?" 

"Okay! What should I clean first?" 

"You can help out by moving some of these boxes out into the hall." 

"Got it." 

So America and Amanda attempted to clean the storage room. However, America made it somewhat difficult to do. Every time Amanda wanted to move a box, America would say something like, "Oh hold on kiddo, we an't throw that out," or "That's a keepsake sweetie. Just put it back where you found it please,". After a while, it got under Amanda's skin and she felt like her Dad was doing this on purpose to keep from telling her the story. 

After being told for the fourteenth time to put another box back, Amanda placed the box down, placed her hands on her hips, tapped her foot impatiently with her arms crossed over her chest, and gave her Dad a good glare. "Dad, you're doing this on purpose aren't you?" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Dad, you know exactly what I'm talking about! Every time I go to throw out a box, you always tell me to put it back because it's a "keepsake". You're doing this so you don't have to tell me the story." 

America sighed and then sat down on one of the sturdier boxes. Amanda went up and sat right next to him. Then America smiled sadly. "Guess you caught me in the act. I'm gonna have to tell you that story now aren't I?" 

"Yes you are." 

"Okay. Here we go." So America told her the story about the musket. Amanda sat there and listened carefully to what her Dad had to say and made sure to be respectful while he spoke. When he was done, he looked down at Amanda who was just staring at him. "Amanda?" 

"...You sure went through a lot, huh?" 

"Yeah, you could say that." 

Amanda leaned her head against America's shoulder. She didn't say anything and America knew why. He wrapped his arm around her and held her closely to his side. Then he looked over at the musket. Some things are better left in the past, he thought before looking back at Amanda. It's best to focus on the here and now.