story – Madie's Journal

Book 1 – Journal Entry 11

June 21, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

The Journal Club has finished with the flyers for the up-and-coming festival. Evan, and J.T. have done a wonderful job again. It amazes me how creative they can be. They will be distributing the flyers around town today. The festival is the one time of the year when everyone gets together and has a good time. We forget about our sorrows and pain and enjoy ourselves. I am a little worried about the Central Bobcats. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they don’t cause any trouble. Sherriff Pete is working on obtaining people for security of the festivities. It is going to be a challenge for him. He is asking for help from around the community.

I heard Lisa practicing her guitar this morning and singing. She has such a beautiful voice. She usually tries to sing happy songs but sometimes you can hear a little sadness in her voice. She keeps the sad songs to herself. No one bothers her when she goes to the roof to sing and play. I am not sure if she knows that we can still hear her up there. It’s her place of solitude, so we leave her alone.

Madie

Book 1 – Journal Entry 10

June 20, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

It rained all night long. I love the rain. I seem to sleep well when it rains. It is going to be a busy day. I promised Casey I would watch the baby a little while so that she can take care of herself. She is the cutest baby. I hope Casey gets to enjoy her for a long time. I am not so sure I would want to take on the responsibility of having a baby. There are so many things to worry about. Babies don’t seem to do as well as they used to. No medicine. there is limited things you can do when they get ill. No one talks about the things that can go wrong. I wonder if Casey worries about the baby getting ill. I would worry.

25. Tony walking to the showers — Tony walking to the showers

I saw Tony up walking around a little while ago. He was heading toward the showers. It’s a good thing because he was starting to smell really bad. If he had been severely ill for much longer it was going to be a challenge to get people to sit with him.

Book 1 – Journal Entry 9

June 19, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

I forgot to take my journal with me yesterday. I went for a walk, a long walk. Went by my old home and someone was living there. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It has a very homey feel. I wanted to run up to the people living there and say, “get out this is my home.” I didn’t, I just stood there. I stood there for a long time until my stomach said It was time to eat. I said goodbye to my home and went looking for food.

Update, Tony is getting better. He is still sore and bruised, but he isn’t dead. This is a good thing because without him Bear country just wouldn’t be the same.

As for Scat, he is still missing. I am beginning to think we will never see him again. It has been days, and he is so little.

Madie

Book 1 – A little sparing at the gym

June 17, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Scat fighting at the Central Bobcat Campus

Scat trembled in the center of the ring; fists raised more out of fear than readiness. The gym echoed with the goon’s cruel and loud insults. He wanted the boy to strike first. But Scat was afraid, he shuffled left, then right, his heart pounding as he tried to stay out of reach. When the goon finally lunged, Scat ducked and moved to the far side of the ring. Scat scanned the gym as he moved, eyes darting to the doors, the rafters, even the shadows where the other goons watched and jeered. Somewhere in his mind, he searched for a way out, a gap in the crowd, a loose board in the floor, anything. But there was no escape.

Book 1 – Journal Entry 8

June 16, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Madie sitting outside writing in her journal 2

It has been a long day. Matt and Jonas have still not returned with Scat. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Scat is doing fine and that he didn’t get caught by the Central Bobcats. Tony was his best friend, is his best friend.

Speaking of Tony, he is still recovering. We are still taking turns looking after him. He is not taking in a lot of fluids, but his color is improving slightly. I need to put a Thankyou in the Bear News for everyone that helped out in the middle of the night.

Sherrif Pete putting up the schedule in the admin hallway

We held elections today for sheriff. Sheriff Pete will take over as the man in charge of security. He has started looking for people to fill the deputy sheriff positions.

Now for some good news. Casey finally delivered her baby. Her labor lasted for days. She was in labor, then she wasn’t, she was in labor then she wasn’t. I felt bad for her because she was in constant pain. Everything turned out fine in the end. Mom and baby are doing well. As soon as Casey is up to it we are going to have a naming ceremony. The ceremony usually occurs about two weeks after the babies birth which will put it around the end of the month.

Book 1 – Locked up at Central Campus

June 15, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Scat had been confined to the room for two days; hunger gnawed at his insides. The scraps of food tossed into the room by one of the goons was barely enough to feed a toddler. It did little to dull the ache in his stomach.

He wasn’t alone. Other boys shared the space, each of them quiet and trying to avoid attention. The only times the door creaked open were for three grim purposes: to march them to the bathroom, to force them into chores, or worst of all to drag one of them to the gym.

The Central gym had become a place of dread. No one wanted to be chosen. The Goons never explained, never asked. They simply pointed, and the unlucky boy was taken.

Those who returned, if they returned, came back limping, bleeding, broken in body and spirit. Eyes dull, ribs bruised, sometimes unable to stand on their own. The silence afterward was always the loudest part, boys staring at the floor, pretending not to see, knowing it could be their turn next.

Scat didn’t cry. Not yet. But fear was settling deep in his bones, and hunger was only one of the many things eating away at him.

Book 1 – The Central Goons visit the Bear News

June 15, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

JT had been trimming festival flyers that afternoon, when the chime above the front door rang out, he barely looked up. Most days, it meant someone hoping to place a lost-dog notice or a desperate personal ad. But this time, it wasn’t a lonely heart. Two of the Central Goons stepped through the door, bringing with them the cold, unwelcome presence of Xavier Boulder’s influence. They didn’t bother with small talk. One of them, broad-shouldered and sneering, announced they were acting on Xavier’s orders. Central was recruiting. They wanted muscle. Guards. Enforcers.

JT kept his tone even, his hands steady. Supplies were low, he told them. Nothing could be printed, not now.
They weren’t interested in excuses. One of the Goons stepped in close, his voice low and threatening. The message was simple: if the posters weren’t ready in two days, they’d return and flatten the Bear News.

JT didn’t flinch until they left. But after the door shut and their footsteps faded, a silence settled over the room that felt heavier than before. He tried to shake it off, went back to trimming flyers like nothing had changed.
But it had.

Book 1 -A Pregnant Casey

June 15, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Casey had been restless for hours, caught in a cycle of shallow sleep and discomfort. The third trip to the bathroom came with a groan, the familiar urgency driving her from the warmth of her tangled sheets. The baby pressed unrelentingly against her bladder, as if even in the womb it demanded space and attention.

Her back throbbed with a dull, constant ache. Her eyelids hung heavy, but rest refused to come. Every muscle in her body felt drained, as if simply being was a task too great.

There was no lack of love only weariness. She was deeply grateful for the life growing inside her, for the small kicks and flutters that reminded her she was never truly alone. But in the quiet hours of early morning, when the world was still and she was not, that gratitude was layered with longing.

She wanted it to be over. Not the motherhood, not the bond but the heaviness, the waiting. More than anything, Casey wanted to hold her baby in her arms, to trade aching anticipation for the weight of new life cradled against her chest.

Book 1 Journal Entry 7

June 14, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Madie sitting outside writing in her journal

Tony is getting worse, and Scat is missing. I couldn’t find him anywhere this morning. He didn’t show for breakfast. His bike is also missing. He is too little to be out in the city alone. If he is caught by the Central Bobcats, it could be disastrous.

Lisa took over sitting with Tony after Scat. She said he was obviously upset and mentioned something about finding medicine to help. If I thought medicine was available I would have been the first person to go and find some. Unfortunately, finding medicine for even the common cold is just not possible. The pharmacies were emptied out long ago. You can occasionally come across something to barter but there is no guarantee that what you are bartering for is actually in the bottle. The only time medicine appears on the market is when some desperate soul is trying to save a dying loved one. People have been known to sell their soul for medicine, and it turn out to be nothing at all. Some awful concoction someone has put together.

Jonas talking to a kiosk owner about Scat

Matt and Jonas volunteered to go and look for Scat. I would have gone but I have things that need my attention here.

Madie

Book 1 – Scat Captured by the Central Goons

June 13, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Scat captured by the Central Goons at the mall

The Central Goons had grown bolder in recent weeks. No longer content with intimidation alone, they had begun snatching boys off the streets, anyone small enough to drag away, anyone without someone watching. The boys taken were forced into hard labor on the Central Campus, their days filled with hunger, cleaning, and obeying. The unfortunate were thrown into savage warm-up fights, nothing more than living punching bags for Xavier Boulder’s goons to train on.

At that moment, Scat had just reached his bike. The trade was done, the precious medicine secured. He was ready to return to Bear Country, to save his friend Tony.

Scat didn’t see the two Goons until it was too late. He tried to escape their grasp but failed.