From the journal of Nikki Feather, June 3

This journal comes from a young lady who survived in an Rangers tower in Northern Washington. Nikki Feather had been staying up the tower while being the local communities lookout and had an ample suppy of food and water, supplied by all the people she was watching over. When the horde came, she was unable to leave. That was at the beginning of May.

June 3, 2017

Well, I have now been up here a full month and let me tell you, it sucks. Everyone left ahead of the horde so my walkies are no use anymore. I think the only thing keeping me sane up here for the three months before the horde came was being able to reach out and talk to everyone in my town whenever I felt the need. Everyone kept their walkies on and would talk to any of the three of us lookouts whenever we needed to the company.

I spent hours talking to my best friend Amanda. She would tell me jokes, usually bad ones, and tell me stories about what was happening in town. I heard all about old Mr Dumphrey side swiping the mayors truck parked downtown. He did it when the Harvey's little dog ran out into the road. The dog wasn't hit, but the mayor's truck was not so lucky.
Amanda told me about the kids at the high school pulling their senior prank by putting all the desks, chairs and tables on the roofs of the building. It looked like the classrooms had jumped throught the ceiling and set themselves up on the roof. I laughed for at least ten minutes as she told me how all the teachers and parents  were reacting when they saw it.
I talked to Michael, the town historian, for hours about the natives who lived here long before the white man had made it to this part of the world. I learned how not 100 feet from where I was perched, there used to be a hunting camp used yearly when it was time to hunt in this area. I learned what plants in the forest they collected and ate and what plants were used a medicine. Michael came out here and spent a week teaching me their hunting techniques, fighting techniques and gathering practices. It was a great time and I would talk to him almost every day about something or other.
Jason, he was my neighbor, spent hours with his radio on next to the TV while he watched old stand up comedies he had downloaded to his computer. It was really cool, being up in the forest, up in the trees, listening to old George Carlin, Eddy Murphy or Jeff Dunham. I spent many nights laying on the roof of the Tower, looking at the stars, listening or talking on the radio.

Then the horde came and everyone left. I had to stay to get in touch with everyone, even the guys in the other towers. I found out that they were clear and made sure they got out of the area. By the time I got in touch with the last people, Clara and Marcus Clark, the horde had already reached the bottom of my tower. I wasn't able to leave and the horde rolled by for a week. Once they were gone, I decided to wait here to see if anyone came back. I kept the radio on, and transmitted every four hours for two weeks. No one came back.
Since then, I haven't left because I don't know where to go. Here, I have food, water, safety and a warm place to sleep. I'm gonna have to to go into town for supplies in the next couple of weeks, maybe I'll go sooner, just to have something to do. I need to go by the library for some newer and better reading material. I should go by Michael's place too. I can grab to bow and some other hunting and surviving supplies. Tomorrow, I'll plan out where I need to go and what I need to find. If I'm lucky, someone I know will be in town an maybe the just lost their walkie along the way. I sure hope so.

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.