h4le-bopp:

Why I think it was Dylan who wrote „Just a day“:

There is a lot of speculation about who of the boys wrote that small piece “Just a day”. It even does not seem clear where it was found- some sources say it was found among Dylan’s school works. Other sources say, it was found on Eric’s Computer.
Most sources seem to come to the conclusion, that it was Eric who wrote it. I think that this is very unlikely and I want to explain why.

At first, whoever wrote that piece used the word “halcyon” on one occasion. As most of you will know, this word was fundamental to Dylan’s worldview and his fantasies about other dimensions and realities, where he hoped to find pure bliss and happiness.
Eric, however, does not use this word a single time in his writings. Not even that, but the whole concept of what this word represents, is absolutely contrary to his worldview. Eric celebrated war, destruction, animalistic instincts and brutality. It is hard to see why he should use a word that means something like “peaceful” in a positive way.
Another clue is that whoever wrote that piece does describe his brother in negative terms:
“I always remember my brother trying to impress everyone, and myself thinking what a waste of time that would be”.
Despite that fact, that both had older brothers, only one of them is known to talk about his sibling in negative terms: Dylan. Eric reportedly admired his older brother Kevin, went to his football games and if I remember correctly than he named his brother as the family-person which was most close to him, when asked after getting caught for the Van Break-In.
Dylan however told the authorities, that he didn’t have much to do with his brother anymore, since Byron got kicked out of home. And he openly judged his brother during angry rants during the Basement Tapes, telling that Byron and his friends once harassed him. Thus, the comment does not seem like anything Eric would say about his brother, but it perfectly fits into the negative attitude, Dylan had towards his brother.
The next hint is only a small detail, yet still of importance: whoever wrote that text repeatedly uses an “&” instead of “and”. Guess whose writing style is known for that? Exactly, it’s Dylan.
Also noteworthy is the concept of nature that the text expresses. The whole scenery is described as beautiful, majestic and peaceful. The writer makes detailed mention of the water and its qualities, revealing an almost mystical understanding of nature.
Now, does this fit how Eric or Dylan did understand nature? Here is, how Eric did understand nature: “the few who stick to their natural instincts are casted out as psychos or lunatics or strangers or just plain different. crazy, strange, weird, wild, these words are not bad or degrading. If humans were let to live how we would naturally, it would be chaos and anarchy and the human race wouldn’t probably last that long, but hey guess what, that’s how it’s supposed to be!!!!!”
Eric does not use the word “nature” or “natural” a single time, without putting it in a connection with war or destruction. Even when he writes about his childhood times, where he played in the woods, he turns the essay into a description of him participating in a war.
Dylan, however, was obsessed with peacefulness, bliss and beauty. He desperately longed for such an existence. He also had a very mystical understanding of the world, as we exemplarily can see in the way he used symbols like the Chaos-star, the Thought Boxes etc. as representations of forces.

If we consider all of this- does it seem likely that Eric wrote this essay? I don’t think so.