A bullied teenage boy from Dallas reluctantly agrees to a camping trip with his estranged father in West Texas and is magically transported back to the 1890s, where he meets his great great grandfather and helps protect his family farm from murderous cowboys.

If you look at the title, (Wild Wild Wes) it's clear, this is a story about a young boy who's transported to the wild west and through his experiences, learns to deal with his bullies.

I'm not saying a story about a boy who goes on a camping trip with his father and grows isn't a good story; it simply is a different story.

Personally, I like the hook. A modern kid transported to the wild west, through which learns to stand up for himself.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court but set in the Wild West.

>>that's still to be decided.

A big problem then.

Relationships are two way streets. The idea is that the boy doesn't want to repair the relationship. He's pissed and resentful (and a teenager) and he just wants to get through the camping weekend as fast as possible so he can get his father out of his life. But through the adventures in the past, the boy returns with a new perspective, ready to "put the past behind him" and repair the relationship with his dad. So it's really about the boy's character development, not the father's, which is why I want the father to stay behind.

As far as how the time travel/magic works, that's still to be decided. But from the father's perspective, the boy would only have been gone for a few hours, but from the boy's perspective it's more like a couple days.

>>it seems strange that the father is left behind

Indeed. So much so in my mind that it raises questions that distract me from the plot. Like: how does it happen? What's the "magic" that transports the kid back to the past? And why only the kid -- why not both of them? (So they can work out their estrangement together -- aren't relationships 2 way streets?) What is the causal relationship between the estranged relationship in the present and the great grandfather's problems in 1890?

Jim/dpg, the idea is that the boy has character growth from his adventures in the past but also connects to his family history which puts him in a position to repair his relationship with his father. (for instance, maybe the father was never around because he was busy trying to save the family business that the boy ends up helping to found in the past with the great grandfather)

I agree it seems strange that the father is left behind while the "magical" journey happens. In my mind it's something like The Never Ending Story or similar fantasy tales where the child protag has an adventure that helps them with real life back at home.

Agree with Jim Corona. What's the point of setting up an estranged relationship with his father in the present -- and then tossing him into the past?