John's Journal

While we were at the library, I asked the librarian if she had heard of the Golden Wing. She said, "I don't know what the Golden Wing is." I said to her, "I found a book in a library in Oklahoma, that's where I live, that talks about treasures. One of the stories was about a plane that crashed and it was called The Golden Wing." The librarian said, "I think I've seen airplane crashes on TV, but I don't remember one called The Golden Wing." I asked, "Has there ever been a plane crash in this area?" She said, "Not that I know of, but there was a little boy, long ago, that was from Abernathy. He grew up to be a pilot. I heard that his plane crashed, but it was never found." I asked, "Did you ever talk to him?" She replied back, "We met in college. You know what, he said that when he was done with college he wanted to get a gold airplane." I asked, "Do you know his name?" She said, "I haven't thought about it in years. Let's see, it was John something. Let me think a second. John Hill...or Hitch. Hatch, that's what it was. John Hatch." Mom asked her, "Does he have family that still lives here in Abernathy?" The librarian said, "Not that I know of. When we met at college I said that I was from Abernathy and he told me he used to live here." I asked, "Is his house still here?" She said, "Yes, no one has lived there since they left. It's west of town." She wrote down the directions of how to get there.

Dad, mom and I got in the truck and followed the directions to a house that was in bad shape. Part of it was falling down. We carefully started to walk through the house when all of the sudden, I fell through a door that was on the floor. While I was falling down the steps, mom was screaming. She thought it killed me. I said, "I'm okay," when I got to the bottom. Mom said, "Whew!" I landed right next to a book. I picked it up. It was dusty so I blowed on it. It had written on the front, "John's Journal." I yelled, "I found a book down here. It's John's journal." Then I heard a noise. It sounded like a "ssss." I gasped there for a second. I've seen all four Indiana Jones movies. And in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Indy escaped that snake pit. So, I knew what to do. I remembered that scene when he landed by that cobra. When I was watching it, mom said, "When it moves, he has to move fast." So, I knew just what to do. Move fast! I got up and moved fast back up the stairs. I told mom and dad, "A snake almost got me down there. I had to move fast." Dad said, "You really scared us, son." I said, "It scared me, too. Look what I found." We started looking through the journal. There were stories and pictures. One page had a picture of an airplane that he had colored gold. We looked around at little bit more and then headed back to town. We went back to the library to ask more questions.

When we walked in, the librarian said, "I've got someone that you would like to meet." I said, "Oh, who's that?" She replied, "Her name is Ms. Allison. She was a high school teacher back when John Hatch was in school. I thought she might be able to tell you something about him." We walked over to this older lady. The librarian said to the women, "Ms. Allison, this is the young man I was telling you about. He was needing some information on John Hatch." Ms. Allison said, "Hello. What is your name?" I said, "I'm Roy Parks and this is my mom and dad. We were just out at John's old house. I was walking and fell through a door in the floor. It really scared me." Mom said, "Me, too!" Ms. Allison said, "That must have been a sight." I said, "Yes ma'am, I'm sure it was. I was okay, but I still hurt myself a little. I found John's Journal down there. In it, we found a picture of an airplane that was colored gold. Do you know anything about it?" Ms. Allison told us, "I remember John. He was a very smart, very polite young man. He was always drawing on something. He was very creative. He brought me a picture that he drew. It was a dinosaur, a dragon and a truck that was all the same thing. I think I still have that picture somewhere." We showed her the journal. She said, "This is John's Journal alright. He carried it with him every day just to keep track of his ideas and drawings. His family moved when he was in the 10th grade. They went to Carlsbad, New Mexico. His dad took a job as a Park Ranger at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We heard years later that John died in a plane crash, but has never been found." I said, "That might be what we're looking for." I told her about the treasure book. She said, "His parents were John, Sr. and Emma Hatch. So, John, the pilot, was actually John, Jr. Last I knew, his mom and dad still lived in Carlsbad." I said, "Looks like we're headed to New Mexico. Thank you, Ms. Allison, for all your help." Ms. Allison said, "You are a very polite young man. You remind me of John. Well, good luck. I hope you find what you're looking for."

We thanked the librarian, and left to pack up. Same thing I said last time. We found something interesting, but the search continues for The Golden Wing.