From the journal of Marie Costa, May 17

May 17, 2017

Sarah, Alice and Jake have decided to go see if any of their roommates or family are still alive. Finding Danny and Miguel alive has given them hope that someone might still be alive. Sarah is going to see if her best friend and roommate is alive. Alice is going to check on her mother and sister, while Jake is checking on his father and grandfather. If any of them are alive, they are going to bring them back to our cabin. We might have to figure out how to get more room for people to sleep. Maybe trailers or RV's?

Miguel still hasn't said a word. He just follows his father around and gets upset if he can't see him. He hasn't smiled either. Jorge has taken to holding him on his lap every chance he can and has been reading to Miguel for hours from a couple books of fairy tales he brought from home. I made him special pancakes this morning for breakfast, making his shaped like Mickey Mouse. Jorge told him to say thank you, but he just looked up at me with his large eyes.
Danny, on the other hand, is doing much better. Being 16 and used to being on his own while Frank worked. He spent his time watching movies, since they had solar power, and playing video games. He only had one other person drive down the driveway before we did, and he threatened the person with the shotgun. The guy backed his car back down the driveway. He had plenty of food, running water and entertainment.

The rest of them are considering if it is worth going to check on someone. I know for sure that Will and I have no one to check on. But Isabella has a lot of family in his area. Her parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. Although, for her family, this was the meeting place, so there is the chance that some of them might show up here.
Linda and Lisa had significant others they lived with, but neither of them have anyone else in this town to check on. Linda's children live with her ex-husband, but they are all the way in California. Lisa has two grown children, one in Ney York and one in Miami. Since there are no phones and no way to make it all the way to either place, they just have to not dwell on it and concentrate on surviving.
We are already getting tight in the cabin, so I am going to ask anyone who leaves to keep their eyes open for trailers or RV's. We are going to have to start making this place work for us and not us trying to fit our lives into what is here. We can change whatever we need to. This morning, we brought a set of bunk beds into the living room that weren't being used in one of the rooms. Jake has agreed to sleep in the living room with Will, Frank and Danny so Miguel can have his own bed in the room with Jorge. There is no more room in this place and anyone else brought back, without bringing a trailer or RV, will have to sleep on the floor. Will is already sleeping on the lumpy couch since there isn't another bed for him.
I am just glad we brought so much food, water and drinks with us. We have enough food to feed all of us for over a year, so we have enough to have more people. But we need to start thinking about where and how we are going to grow some fresh food. Then we need to get some seeds and probably a greenhouse. There is a lot of stuff we are going to have to do so we have a future. We are going to have to have another meeting.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.