The Heart-Shaped Locket Club

This is life as we know it. For as long as any of us can remember it's been this way. They say everything dried after the flood, turning everything into sand. Sand. As far as the eye can see. You could walk for hours and still more sand. They say it's because we didn't listen. We watched all the ice melt and we remained in our ways; big and boxy. They even say that we haven't changed one bit. Maybe because they don't let us but definitely not because we don't want to. I keep saying ‘we’ ‘we’ ‘we’ I almost sound French, so you may be wondering who i'm referring to.

You have coincidentally traversed onto the diary of The Heart-shaped Locket Club. You’ve also taken it upon yourself to read this diary… Cheeky! Well as long as you're reading this, might as well meet the members of such a doomed and godforsaken club stranded in this desert hellscape. This diary was started by yours truly, as a way to keep record of the passing days that seem to become indistinguishable from one another. Unfortunately, this story does not begin with your humble narrator; but rather a dulled piece of jewelry withered by this dry dismal ecosystem and a very delusional optimist who so happens to lead this enclave on to an insurmountable and implausible journey to a place that has only been whispered about and may as well be a figment of our imagination.

Suzie leads us because of her optimism. It's the kind that inspires you against all odds. She also has a way of telling a story; with her words anything can be enigmatic. My favorite story would probably be how we came to be but I'll leave Suzie to tell that one. After Suzie found the locket and its contents she started on a journey to find where it came from and if it could be returned. Along the way she found us. Carlisle, The twins Betty and Barry, and I. Together we've walked, run, skipped, more miles than grains of sand under our feet. As a matter of fact we’ve got an inside running joke about it. It goes something like this:

“Jeez! It feels like we’ve been walking forever.” Betty would say exasperatedly

“Yeah Suzie! When are we going to take a break?” Barry would call after.

“Hmm, I don’t know guys… This sand feels kind of familiar.” Carlisle kneeling, grasping at the sand “Wouldn’t you say Suz?”

She’d chuckle and glance back at this disheveled group of nomads and say.

“Well if that's the case Carlisle, then we probably took a wrong turn somewhere and have to keep walking at least three miles in that direction.” Pointing off to some random horizon.

The twins would groan and we all couldn't help but laugh at how gullible they are. Then they’d get defensive claiming it isn't fair for us to treat them like kids. However they’d give up their anger once they'd see Suz sitting on the sand digging through her knapsack while Carlisle and I would be searching for drift wood and scorpions. To burn, to sit on, to eat. In no time we’d have camp set up and be eating roasted scorpions by the fire as Suzie would begin one of her evening stories. After the stories, grub, and jokes around the fire we’d build; we’d start to nod off. Leaving one of us to stay up and get everything ready for the next day of aimless walking. This person also holds the responsibility of recording the day in this very diary. We all share it so we can all remember, also because there isn't another journal to write in. We don't have much to hide anyway as we are alone -albeit together- in this desolate land. I think we’d also all agree that before each other we’d spent enough of a lifetime wandering around this sand alone.

So tonight; I write.

-Gizmo

Dawn- Betty & Barry woke up complainin’. It’s my day so I start the gettin’ goin’ that way we’re walkin’ before the mornin’ sun. This usually happens on my days because I think they appreciate the coolness of the mornin’ before the sun gets high and mighty! Usually the twins would be beggin’ to to sleep in. Today, they seem to have beaten me to the punch. Guess they’re gettin’ used to my routine. Probably should switch it up. Keep them on their toes. I’ve also found gettin’ up earlier lets us get farther on our journey. I believe Suzie when she says we’ll make it and I can tell we’ll be there soon. The air is starting to feel different. More, dare I say… Wet? We walked for about 2 hours before we started to play tag. I find this helps us pass the time until lunch.

Lunch- For lunch we usually have some MRE’s that we’ve rationed for a while now and we're comin’ up on our last leg. Soon we won't have lunch if we don't find the owner of this locket. After lunch we start walkin’ again and after I’d say, about an hour or hour and a half, it started to rain. For the first time in a terribly long time it started to rain. I forgot how it felt! The last time it rained it was before even meetin’ these hooligans. The rain was cold and the droplets were fat. Thing is, this rain was strange. It had a way of passing in waves, and there were no clouds in the sky. The twins couldn't stop playin' about in it, but I couldn't help but wonder what a strange day it had already been.

Dusk- Come Evenin’ we were all buzzin’ about it. So, we had Suzi tell us the Story of the locket again. Mainly because it's the most inspirin’ story of all. You see, it is a silverish heart-shaped locket. On it the letters “J.M” are engraved. Jessi Monroe, we call her. When you open the locket there are two pictures. On the left, little Jessi laughin’ in Mr. Monroe’s lap and on the right a picture of Mrs. Monroe sittin’ at a vanity lookin’ into the mirror. This is a family you can tell loves each other. Therefore, it must be imperative that we get this locket to little Jessi. After all, she should have it when the goin’ get tough. So it's our mission to get this locket back to her. Thus making us “The Heart-Shaped Locket Club”.

-Carlisle :)

Whenever it's my day, Barry usually helps me out and today was no exception. But he always knows that I'll be sharing the load with him on his day. It's always been that way. He usually does more of the heavy lifting chores because my arms are too flimsy. Leaving me to do the more time-consuming chores since I’m faster. Today we played a really fun game that we haven’t actually played before. Carlisle said he had a dream about it last night and should try playing it. It was so silly, that by the end of it we couldn’t stop laughing. Every Time we’d stop one of us would look at the other and immediately erupt into a fit of laughter once again. This made us hungry. Carlisle said he wasn’t hungry, but I don't think that was true. When dinner came around, he caught a lot more scorpions and inhaled three roasties! Eating four of them is enough toxic build-up to be poisonous. Eating three can make you really sick. This made Carlisle retire early. Today was fun but I hope tomorrow is better.

-Betty

Betty and I were the first to be up in the morning again. We’d taken it upon ourselves to check in on everyone. Especially Carlisle, since he’d eaten so many “Roasties” last night. Poor guy couldn't even move in the morning. He started to babble something about moving on without him. You’ve gotta love Carlisle and his commitment to our journey. Unfortunately for him we weren't going to leave him behind. So we devised a plan that morning, because it was my day and Betty usually helps me out; we decided it would be best if we stayed behind caring for Carlisle while Gizmo and Suzie move ahead to search for any changes. And so it was. Carlisle started to feel better by the afternoon. This is good because I could tell Betty was starting to get very worried about him. However, after he regurgitated the scorpion that was making him sick he seemed infinitely better. Soon after Carlisle would also help out with starting the dinner chores. That's when it happened. While chatting amongst ourselves, we heard shouting from a distance. We looked up to see Suzie and Gizmo rolling, stumbling towards us in desperation, yelling “Guys! GUYS!” “It's there!” We’re there!”. By the time they reached us they were out of breath. Panting and panicking, they were at a loss of words. Once Gizmo caught their breath, they began “We’ve reached the end of the desert hellscape. Half a day’s journey in that northwest direction and there's a wall we have to get over.” They paused. “ After that we’re home free.”

-Barry

How could we sleep last night? All we could do was wonder out loud. We spent hours talking about the events that were to transpire tomorrow. So you could imagine our excitement in the morning. By dawn we were already moving ahead. By lunch we were scheming on how to get over the wall. Gizmo figured some sort of climbing contraption with a grappling attachment they had. We threw the contraption over the wall and began to climb. Barry first to help Betty up, then Gizmo, Carlisle after, and finally me. As I pulled myself over, I looked up and saw for the first time in a long time something other than sand. Sitting on the wall, Gizmo asked me to tell the story of how we came to be. So I started.

“It all began with the locket. Having woken up stranded in the desert with only the clothes on my back, I was determined to find out what happened. I looked around the endless sand, when I was suddenly blinded. I walked towards the blinding light to find this silver, engraved heart-shaped locket. I thought to myself ‘This might give me the answers I need.’ So I started on my journey and after a day I found gizmo. After another day and a half we found Carlisle and the twins. Turning my journey into our journey. We gave the locket a story and Jessi a name. Hopefully it can give us some answers.”

After the story, we felt the burst of inspiration that we needed to finish the mission. So we walked towards a large glass wall and peered inside. Our hearts dropped. They were gone, and it looked like they weren't coming back. We then turned to see our surroundings. Only a portion of the grass was green. Everything else seemed dead, falling apart, or both. We decided we’d walk and sit in the shade. Sitting there looking at the sky, I couldn’t help but wonder if I led my friends to failure; when suddenly, Betty perked up, pointed and yelled “Look guys! A shooting star! Make a wish.” At that moment I realized how minuscule we were to our environment and our universe. That and what was hurtling towards us was not a shooting star but a missile. Making this the last journal entry and obliterating our experience. I only wished I got the locket to little Jessi.

- Suzie