As Ben lay there in his semi-conscious state, his body racked with pain from head to toe, the intensely bright light that hung above him seemed to bore itself into his very soul. It happened so quickly and without warning causing him to catapult over the handlebars of his bicycle coming to a bone-crushing heap at the side of the road. He’d only caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of an object being thrown before it clocked him to the side of his head leaving him with clouded thoughts of WHY ME?! An angry familiar voice by the gurney where he lay in the emergency room muttered a vivid threat through gritted teeth, “When I get ahold of that kid, I’ll beat the living tar out of him!” “No you won’t son, you’re not that kind of boy.” For Ben Okura, being Japanese American took on a whole new meaning as he was to become one of the homeland’s first civilian casualties of World War II. Ben didn’t know it yet; but, at that moment, he’d already started down an unimaginable darkened road filled with intrigue, danger, and adventure to places he’d never been. He would have to settle up with fate and meet his destiny.
Ever since the beginning of World War II on that fateful Sunday on December 7, 1941, trials and tribulations have been Ben Okura’s constant companion. He is currently accused of being a traitor, saboteur, or any other thing they can pin on him, but that pales in comparison to what he now faces. Having only recently arrived at the prisoner of war camp known as Topaz, Ben is suddenly being forced, by tragic circumstances, to escape. Things in his life are changing even faster. It is imperative that he escape from Topaz in the next few minutes! His stomach is churning at the very thought of leaving his mama behind, but he must! His mama and the Tanaka family are making hurried plans which will be implemented momentarily. Leaving Topaz is fraught with danger; but, at the forefront of his mind, is that failure to succeed isn’t an option! Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a more interesting cast of characters than he will meet on his escape route into the future. Ben will learn in spades that Faith Does Precede The Miracle!
TANFORAN RACETRACK HORSE STALLS DESTINED TO BECOME HOME FOR JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNEES! On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy inflicted a serious blow on the United States military assets at Pearl Harbor. For Ben Okura, a Japanese American boy living in California, his life as he knew it was to change drastically. President Roosevelt ordered all Japanese Americans living along the west coast of the United States sent to internment camps. Ben’s new life was to begin at the Tanforan Assembly Center. He and his mama were now separated from everything they had known and loved. His life had already been turned upside-down and he thought it couldn’t get worse. Ben found himself being trapped and manipulated by strange people who, for some reason, were out to get him. In his wildest dreams, he never could understand why he was now being hounded by the FBI as a supposed traitor. Ben began to believe his new problems could all be traced back to mind-bending meetings with a strange man held in what was to become the mysterious barrack 49, apartment 1. Ben began to doubt his own sanity. Who is Ben Okura really?
As Ben lay there in his semi-conscious state, his body racked with pain from head to toe, the intensely bright light that hung above him seemed to bore itself into his very soul. It happened so quickly and without warning causing him to catapult over the handlebars of his bicycle coming to a bone-crushing heap at the side of the road. He’d only caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of an object being thrown before it clocked him to the side of his head leaving him with clouded thoughts of WHY ME?! An angry familiar voice by the gurney where he lay in the emergency room muttered a vivid threat through gritted teeth, “When I get ahold of that kid, I’ll beat the living tar out of him!” “No you won’t son, you’re not that kind of boy.” For Ben Okura, being Japanese American took on a whole new meaning as he was to become one of the homeland’s first civilian casualties of World War II. Ben didn’t know it yet; but, at that moment, he’d already started down an unimaginable darkened road filled with intrigue, danger, and adventure to places he’d never been. He would have to settle up with fate and meet his destiny.
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