Journal 113

I woke up early and put on a dozen layers of clothes. The walk out to the Spurs Fort was a cold quiet one. I knew something wasn’t right the moment the Spurs Fort was in sight. The sign that used to read Welcome to the Spurs Fort now said Aloysius is the Way.

I walked up to the gate and asked the guards standing in my way if I could talk to Joshua. I didn’t like the reply I received. Joshua was doing the will of Aloysius, and he couldn’t be disturbed. I wasn’t amused. I told the guard that Joshua would talk to me because I was his best friend. I tried to run past the guards, but they tackled me to the ground before I reached the main house steps.

I yelled and fought off my attackers the best I could. The ruckus I made out on the front lawn brought Anna out to the front porch. Anna told the guards to let me up. I told Anna I wanted to see and speak to Joshua. Anna repeated what the guards had said. She said that Joshua was busy and couldn’t be disturbed. I told Anna I wasn’t leaving if I couldn’t talk to Joshua.

I don’t know if it was the determination in my face or my anger that I was spewing all over the front lawn, but Anna instructed the guards to let me go and invited me into the house. She had redecorated the main house. It looked very much like a religious shrine. A shrine dedicated to the will of Aloysius.

I waited by the fireplace for an hour before Anna brought Joshua into the room. Joshua looked as if he was feeling better, but he had a blank stare on his face. I asked Joshua how he had been. He said he was feeling much better now that Aloysius had healed his soul. Joshua smiled a little smile and asked me if I had come to join the love that was Aloysius. I think my heart broke a little at that moment. My Joshua, my friend, was no longer the Joshua that I knew. I excused myself and then walked the long way back to Bear Country.