tween fiction – Page 2 – Madie's Journal

Book 1- A Successful Trade for Medicine

June 12, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Scat murmured his thanks as they stepped out the backside of the mall, the sharp afternoon light catching the dust in the air. Sam handed him the medicine without ceremony, her face calm, unreadable as always. She had covered the rest of the trade with the pharmacist, a quiet favor, but not a small one.

“Meet me at the market plaza tonight,” she said, slipping her hands into her coat pockets. “I could use your help with a little distraction… and maybe picking a few pockets.”

She paused, just long enough to let the next words carry weight. “I hope this medicine helps Tony.”

Then she turned and walked away, leaving Scat standing with the bottle in his hand.

Book 1 – A Fair Trade

June 11, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Sam, Queen of the Gutter Rats, felt a flicker of irritation toward Scat, though she knew he wasn’t to blame. She hadn’t warned him what the pharmacist might demand in trade. The man was unpredictable, sometimes picky, other times needlessly cruel. Scat, unaware of the risks, had laid everything he owned on the counter: every last coin and a battered old pocket watch, his hands trembling slightly as he hoped it would be enough.

Book 1 – The Pharmacist

June 10, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

He called himself “The Pharmacist,” but he didn’t care about healing anyone. His concoctions were mostly fakes, cheap mixtures that did more harm than good. If you died taking his medicine, that was on you. All he cared about was making trades and scamming the desperate, those trying to save someone they loved, or just escape their pain for a while.

Book 1 – Sam and Scat meet at the mall

June 9, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Scat and Sam meeting on the backside of the mall

Scat was desperate to find medicine for Tony. The old mall was a ruin, collapsed ceilings, shattered glass, and the smell of rot hanging in the air. No one went there anymore, not unless they were out of options or out of their mind. People said only the desperate or the doomed walked through its doors. But Sam insisted it would be fine. They were going through the back way, a more direct route to the pharmacist.

Book 1 – Scat Meeting Sam at the park

June 8, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Scat was desperate. Tony was burning up, barely able to move, and antibiotics were his only hope.
There was only one person he could turn to and that person was Sam.

Sam, known on the streets as the “Queen of the Gutter Rats”, had more than earned her title. If something needed to be found, bartered for, or quietly lifted, Sam was the one who could make it happen.

She listened to Scat’s story in silence, arms crossed, one brow raised.
“I can help you get medicine,” she said finally. “I know a guy… but it’s gonna cost you.”

She hesitated, then added, “He’s inside the mall. Meet me there in two hours, I’ve got an errand to run first.”

Scat choked. “Inside the mall?” He stared at her. “You want to go into the mall?”

Everyone had heard the scary stories. People who went into the mall didn’t come out the same… if they came out at all. Sane people stayed far away from that place.

But Sam just shrugged, already turning away.
“Two hours,” she said over her shoulder, then vanished down the alley.

Book 1 Journal Entry 6

June 7, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

Madie sitting with Tony in admin hallway

We moved Tony from the basement up to the admin hallway. He is not doing well. His eye seems to be better, but his stomach is extremely bloated and painful to the touch. He isn’t holding any food done but we are insisting that he drink water. I honestly don’t know if this is doing any good or if it is doing harm, but I heard once that you shouldn’t let people get dehydrated.

Marty, Gretchen and Cecelia at the main library

Marty, Gretchen and Cecilia have headed out to the main library to do some research on Tony’s condition. With any luck they will come back with some answers on what we should do to help him. In the meantime, the kids are taking turns sitting with Tony and trying to keep him comfortable.

Madie

Book 1 Journal Entry 4

June 5, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

I Dreamt about being home again last night. I swear I could almost feel and smell the clean sheets. It felt like a weekend. One of those mornings when you had a great nights sleep. A familiar smell wakes you. My mom was in the kitchen making her famous biscuits. I miss those biscuits. I miss the strawberry jam. I don’t know what woke me from my dream but it was a let down when I realized it wasn’t real.

Madie

Book 1 -Journal Entry 3

June 4, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

I take back the “I’m bored” thing. We held a meeting tonight to discuss what could be done about our missing fuel. The consensus was nothing. Asking for the fuel back wasn’t an option, taking the fuel back wasn’t an option, although two people who shall remain nameless thought, we should storm central and take it back. Can you say Matt and Jonas. This was voted down because of the possibility of casualties, on our side. We decided to install a security detail during the night hours. Everyone over the age of 12 would be required to keep watch at two-hour intervals. Our resources are few and we don’t need to be losing anything else. We have strength in numbers, and we can protect ourselves when necessary.

At the meeting we also discussed the up-and-coming festival. Like last year we plan to have a feast, music and games. The Journal club will be putting up fliers to announce the event to the community. Everyone is invited, except for central of course. With luck they won’t grace us with their presence at this year’s event.

Madie

Book 1 Journal Entry 1

June 2, 2025 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

I finally found a new journal to write in. I found it at the plaza. I paid a hefty price. But I desperately needed something to write my thoughts down in. You would think that a person living inside a school building would have access to paper. Not in this school. Except for the stash the journal club keeps under lock and key, the only paper in this school is the student records. This paper of course is already written on and serves no useful purpose to me.

Marty, Gretchen and Cecelia in the media center

Not a lot to tell about Bear Country except that things have been quiet for weeks. I am a little bored. Actually, really bored. Everyone is off doing their own thing. I was hoping maybe I could get someone to play a game of cards. Spades perhaps. It is a fun game, but no one was interested. I even asked the library trio Marty, Gretchen and Cecelia. Day in and day out they sit in the media center and read. Surely, they could use a diversion. They weren’t interested. Marty said they were doing research. This sounded somewhat interesting so I asked if I could help. They all three looked at me and in unison said “No”. Before I knew what was happening, they pushed me out of the media center. And they locked the door. Those three are a wealth of information. A little odd and secretive and they are rarely seen alone but they can be very helpful at times. I am only a little hurt that they didn’t want to play with me. Oh well, their loss.

Tate and Kylie standing in their garden taking notes.

The agriculture club is trying their best to supply us with a variety of fruits and vegetables but an unfortunate accident with a bug infestation has damaged much of their crops. In an effort to keep us from starving to death the agriculture club has asked for volunteers. They need people to help with the crops that are left. I will be spending much of my time next week helping in the fields. Oh joy!! It’s not that I mind helping out. I just hate manual labor. Better to help now than to starve later.

Madie

Book 1 Journal Entry 13

September 23, 2004 Marsha Loftis Comments 0 Comment

I woke up early this morning. I didn’t sleep very well last night. I kept thinking about what Tony said to me yesterday. By the way he is now avoiding me. I tried to talk to him this morning but he wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. To get my mind off things I went to the plaza to see if I could find another pair of shoes. No shoes, but I did run in to a kid with a very well trained dog. They were doing some amazing tricks and entertaining the crowd. The dog listened so well. And then a couple of central goons showed up. They enjoy causing trouble and as usual they did. They started tossing trash at the dog and pushing around his owner. I wanted to see the dog eat one of them. They would have deserved it. Unfortunately, the dog was well trained and didn’t attack but he did display an impressive display of I am going to eat your heart out if you don’t leave my owner alone. With help from the crowd the central goons crawled away in disgrace.

I can feel trouble in the air. The Central Bobcats continue to make life difficult. I heard that the hulk is recruiting goons. I need to organize a meeting with the town leaders to see if we can do something about Central. Unfortunately, people are getting more and more afraid. People like to look the other way when it doesn’t involve them. I have a feeling this is going to involve the whole town soon.

Madie