{"id":111,"date":"2025-05-23T17:19:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/?page_id=111"},"modified":"2025-07-02T12:38:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T19:38:27","slug":"mirandas-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/mirandas-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Miranda&#8217;s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2><strong>April 16th, The Day It Happened<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I never anticipated my day would end up like this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean, literally just hours ago my afternoon was completely normal. Woke up, did some homework, had a nice lunch, and took a nap. I knew this evening was going to be funky because I leave for class at 5:20, then around 7 my family was taking our pets to the vet. They\u2019d be done before I got out of school, but I already arranged plans with my friends that we were all going to have a late night hangout at Ben and Lexi\u2019s. So nothing regarding home really changes for me, but it was different from the normal schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Aside from the rolling in thunderstorm which was strange, nothing still seemed out of the ordinary on the drive up to Evergreen. I pulled in, got to the room on time, even had a few minutes to chat with Claire and watch them make what\u2019s probably their 15th character in Baldur\u2019s Gate. Even class time itself was, by all accounts, utterly normal. Around 7:50 it finally hit Sam that she forgot her computer, so they entrusted us to not pull a Lord of the Flies while she ran to the COM building. We assumed it would be quick, as Sam has a slideshow to show us for our upcoming creative assignment. How wrong we were and how trivial that seems, now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I felt it before I saw it. Was right in the middle of taking my meds when I felt a rumble in my feet. My water bottle shook. An earthquake? No, this was much worse. A bright red glow broke through the sky, and when we all turned to look, lightning cracked onto the concrete below. Red. Shortly after an earthquake. I duck and cover. The glass splinters, but thankfully doesn\u2019t shatter (thanks riot-proof windows). Strangely enough, the earthquake didn&#8217;t last long. Maybe about five minutes. Cautiously, we all crawled out from under our tables. What do we do now? I tried to call my family, no signal. Same with my friends. Nothing. Not even texts were going out. This is bad, something is down and blocking all cell signals from going out (and probably coming in) to campus. Some people were very quick to respond. Those with places to stay made their way back to their apartments to examine the damage. A lot of others decided the HCC would be the best place to gather and check in on each other. Considering I don\u2019t live on campus, or really know my way around super well, I followed the larger group to the HCC, where thankfully I met up again with Claire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around 8:30 we heard this wretched roar from the campus forest. As if this emergency wasn\u2019t bad enough. I can\u2019t contact people, and staff isn\u2019t going to want me to leave until they get a solid headcount. For now I can only just stay put.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2026Well, that\u2019s not entirely true. No one is really organized, so Claire lets me know they\u2019re going back to their apartment to check on Grace and her partner. I was going to come with, splitting up didn\u2019t seem safe at the moment, but then I remembered I have a car. I can at least get some things out of it if we\u2019re going to be here awhile. We agree to split up and meet back up at the HCC after.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The trip back to my car proved more perilous than I thought. The concrete being cracked and splintered meant difficult terrain, and all the foliage, after glowing a bright green, seemed to grow and expand before my eyes at a massive rate. Hundreds of alarms were going off in my head. Yet there was nothing I could do to quell them. I knew this. At least not right now. I had to hold onto the hope that we\u2019d get released soon and that everything was actually okay and red lightning was actually a new weather phenomenon. Of course, this was just something I\u2019m telling myself. But what else do I have?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I made it to my car with little issue. A bit shaken up from the earthquake but otherwise unaffected. I grab all my emergency gear, the jacket I keep in the trunk, and my car buddy, Poncho, or Sir Poncho Darwin Gladius Xavier III Esquire Junior Senior Sophomore. Then I lock everything up and start walking back. At this point it\u2019s around 9:30. People with first aid training are working on calming the nerves of everybody, and what staff remain are attempting to rally the rest of the students into some organized group. It\u2019s working somewhat, but not very well. Claire gets back about half an hour later, having successfully(?) found everyone else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now at 10:00, there\u2019s no sign of improvement, I\u2019m getting tired, and most people are hunkering down somewhat for the night. I do the same, though it\u2019s not a restful night&#8217;s sleep. I\u2019m tired, gross, and not in a comfortable situation. Waking up periodically throughout the night occurs all too common, and every time I wake up to Claire staring intently into the fire. Sometime in the middle of the night, I think around 3? I heard murmurs of people trying to go into the forest, and coming right back out where they started. Haha, that\u2019s not stressful at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around 5:30 I just couldn\u2019t sleep anymore. I stayed up with Claire while watching the sun, now a dismal red, rise into the sky above. A single moment of peace amidst the chaos of the previous night. We wait quietly for others to start waking up, as everyone in the HCC comes to the dawning realization that maybe, just maybe, this is our new reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Great. Just what I needed. ANOTHER major world event to live through.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around 9 is when everyone else in our party wakes up. Right as Claire passes out from exhaustion. That\u2019s ok, they\u2019ve been up all night. What the rest of us realized though is that we are getting hungry. We\u2019re not sure how much food is left, but the Greenery is the primary location for food and that sort of stuff, so while one of us stays behind with Claire, the rest of us begin to make our way to the Greenery for food\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>April 17th-23<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I probably should have been keeping up on this narrative thing for the day to day. I kind of just forgot with the chaos unfolding. Oh well. It\u2019s roughly day seven, the end of the first week since whatever caused the campus to totally shut down happened. Some things that happened:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We\u2019ve established a wellness camp over by Einstein\u2019s, or what was formerly Einstein\u2019s<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There\u2019s been a rough headcount of people. About 1,000 of us remain on campus.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Electricity is weird (case in point being unable to contact people) however some technically inclined have started fiddling around with it to try and get it working again<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sam is missing. Someone thought they spotted her around 8:40 on the first night, but since then no one has seen or heard from them. I might make missing posters for that here soon. It\u2019s small, but something I\u2019m capable of doing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ashe and Paul (I think it was Paul? Ashe had a partner in crime) had a partner in crime) pillaged the food bank at the bookstore. We\u2019re hoping to talk to them to get it back<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Small bands of people started just walking into the mists on the west side of campus (well, east if you\u2019re looking top down. West if you\u2019re in my position) most of them come back but we\u2019ve lost a few people already to this\u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similarly, other groups of people went back into the forests this way. Apparently, the forest is like a land ocean now; the deeper you go the darker, thicker, and taller it gets. Some people have claimed to spot dangerous and terrifying creatures in there\u2026 I\u2019m not sure I want to believe them, for my sanity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now we\u2019re at the first week mark. Presently, who remains plans on meeting up in the Evans building to actually sit down and collectively figure out a game plan (thanks [Valken]!). I\u2019m still stressed to the max. Sleep evades me, I\u2019m STILL gross (basic cleaning supplies have been provided but it\u2019s like camping, it\u2019s just not enough you know? I\u2019m used to a very specific level of comfort and this ain\u2019t it and it\u2019s not helping my stress levels), we\u2019ve established no communication so I have no idea if everyone is ok, and this all sucks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To keep myself somewhat sane, I like to stand at the edge between campus and the mists because it\u2019s like a barebones cold shower. It\u2019s also quiet there (mostly) so I use it to just disconnect for a bit and let my mind rest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After a while, maybe 15-20 minutes or so, I open my eyes and take a breath out. As my eyes flutter open I catch something through the lid; a dark shadow. I think nothing of it, I tend to catch these odd shadows out of the corners of my eye as is. I turn to start heading to the Evans hall when another dark shadow flicks past. Ok, now that\u2019s weird. Once, sure. Twice? That like, never happens. I turn back to the mists, letting my eyes focus in then relax, like I\u2019m studying an optical illusion. Then, I see it. The figure of a person. Could it be? Someone found their way through or back? Quite a few people had gone missing as a result of the mists. Maybe this was a sign of better things to come?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This person didn\u2019t move, though. They just stood there. Was their back turned? Or were they staring at me? I couldn\u2019t make it out in the mists. I wanted to investigate, but something compelled me to stay put and observe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I waited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not more than a couple minutes later (which felt like an eternity\u2026 sorry, I get impatient) I heard a sound. A soft, desperate sound. Like a cry for help. The figure remained unmoved, but I could tell the sound was coming from it. The sound made me feel bad. I couldn\u2019t do anything about their plight. I didn\u2019t even know if they were real. Were they real? I heard rumors about \u201cMist People\u201d which were supposedly the dead ghosts of the people who went missing in the mists. Honestly, I hadn\u2019t put a lot of thought into it. Ghosts no doubt were real, but people made it out to be something to be weary of. If this, is that, a Mist Person, there\u2019s no reason to be scared. Or maybe I just misunderstood. Either way, if this was some lost soul who got lost and just wants help navigating their spirit back home\u2026 I can\u2019t do much physically, but I can do what is respectful, and honor their existence and sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I lowered my head to the shadow, not really sure what to think about, but just in general sending good feelings out of thankfulness and reassurance. When I lifted my head back up, the shadow was gone. In its place though, I felt a sense of calm wash over me, and no longer heard the soft, desperate cries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whatever that was, Mist Person or not, it seemed to like what I did. I\u2019ll make sure to let everyone know of this finding at the Evans meeting. With all the other strange things going on on campus, I hope this will be taken seriously, but I\u2019ve also been a skeptic, so we will see what the general reaction is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As far as continuing these journals, self, what do you think? Would it be worth it to document updates as they come? There\u2019s at least a written record this way. Again, another small act, but small acts are what I\u2019m most capable of right now, so it will have to work. I\u2019ll think on it some more, and maybe come back by week 2 to provide another update.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>April 24th-May 4th<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I definitely have not been keeping up on this like I said I would. It\u2019s been two weeks and so much yet so little has happened.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For one, we\u2019re out of food. Officially. People are freaking out about it. I\u2019ve had a rumbling stomach for a few days, but been so anxious that I haven\u2019t been able to stomach much. That, or I get so zeroed in on documentation and making missing posters that I just don\u2019t think about food until it\u2019s too late. I suspect some people are still hoarding stolen food somewhere, but am too tired to really care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I write this, I have set up myself within the basement with a lovely lady named Dreama. She\u2019s been pouring through the books in the library like crazy, and I\u2019ve been helping them catalog and organize the information. Arbitrarily sorting helps me keep my mind off of all the shit going on topside. Did you know more people have gone missing from the fog since my first encounter with those mist people? Some are already trying to organize search parties, but I honestly have no idea if they will even find bodies in the fog. The things I saw made me think it wasn\u2019t a tangible body at all\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone was looking into the farm and trying to contact any people out there to start growing our own food. The path is obstructed, but Nick suggested we take a car and try to brute force it. Not too many others seemed on board given that the two pathways to the farm in particular have both overgrowth <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> fog blocking the way. Personally I\u2019m indifferent. If brute forcing works then I say go for it. I don\u2019t know how that will affect the car or the forest, there\u2019s still so much we don\u2019t know about the forest itself aside from the fact it seems to be breathing\u2026 but if it\u2019s stupid and it works, it\u2019s not stupid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dreama has shored up a lot of historical records about the Evergreen campus. Yeah there\u2019s the general \u201cit was founded in 1967\u201d, but interestingly there\u2019s been historic accounts of experimental fungi and soil tests out on the farm. Could that potentially have something to do with the mutated foliage?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the complete <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">opposite<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> end of that, more and more mutated creatures have been spotted within the forests. Mostly uncanny things, deer with more horns than normal, squirrels with razor sharp teeth, but it is all odd nonetheless. Those that have been going into the forest to try and hunt turn up empty-handed or confused as to how they got back here when they swore they caught something. People braver than I have ventured in with these people in an attempt to document the creatures\u2026 more on that soon I hope.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our only other option for food is foraging. Again, there\u2019s still a lot we don\u2019t know, but those with an eye for nature, including the whole group dedicated to this very thing, have determined a few safe to eat plants for us to work with. It\u2019s a start at least.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That\u2019s really all that went down these past two weeks. Losing food is so massive that it feels like so much more than what it really was. Since then it\u2019s been a scramble to figure out our next steps. I think I\u2019ll just stay hidden away for now. I like the quiet, Dreama us nice company, and maybe we can find more information that will help us with a food source faster.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>May 5th-May 15th<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dear Diary,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I MET A BLACK BEAR. This black bear was weird. Had a much longer snout and an even longer tongue. But it was super friendly and lovey, like my neighbor&#8217;s cat Bagheera. It let me pet it and hug it, and I had some berries on me at the time that I had gathered so I gave it some and it ate them crazy fast. This animal is what I\u2019m latching onto now, and there\u2019s nothing anyone can do to stop me. I think I\u2019ll call it Sandwich.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As far as other things are concerned\u2026 it\u2019s less stuff I\u2019m excited about. Ok well there\u2019s one other thing I\u2019m excited about and it\u2019s that I\u2019m joining the Bards of Evergreen. They work to raise morale around campus and especially around the people who are sick and injured. I\u2019ve done stuff like that in the past to keep myself and others sane, and I fancy myself quite good at it, so like\u2026 might as well! I\u2019m hoping it keeps my mind off of missing my friends and family, and how dirty I am, even though we do have access to water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay, NOW onto the things I\u2019m less excited about. We have crabs now\u2026 but they\u2019re these shiny metal crabs. They\u2019re all aggressive and will pinch you and I\u2019ve caught them chewing on electrical chords. It\u2019s so frustrating because we\u2019re ALREADY dealing with so much and now on top of that we\u2019ve got evil crabs?? I hate everything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the bright side, there\u2019s been a pretty big effort in finding Sam\u2026 even though we still haven\u2019t found her. But there\u2019s posters going up everywhere and the effort seems to really have brought people together. Not only is this great for morale, but it\u2019s giving people hope, which is just as important for our new lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Other stuff has been going on too, like people developing weapons, groups of students organizing different teams, others finding objects in the forest, lots of stuff has happened in 10 days so it\u2019s promising that we\u2019ve been making so much progress. Me though, I\u2019ve just been taking it easy. We\u2019ve found steady food in foraging and hunting, so while hungry, I\u2019m not as weak feeling as I used to be. I\u2019ve also taken the time to really admire the sky lately. with the new red sun our sky and environment is like a forever fall. Sky gazing has become something of a calming element for me, in addition to admiring the new nature we\u2019ve been given. It\u2019s\u2026 nice. It gives me a sense of grounding that I mentioned earlier, and helps me take my mind off of things that bother me about the crushing reality of our situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If it\u2019s not obvious in these diary entries, I have started to take up writing again. I should start to draw again too, but I am finding that it takes up more of my mental energy than I am bargaining for right now. It would be nice to draw out more things, but damn, the exhaustion really gets to me creatively in the visual department. That really sucks, considering what I was, but I guess nobody is who they were now anymore. Anyways, life just goes on. I haven\u2019t really found anything cool as of late, but I will definitely be working on befriending Sandwich more. I will make this bear my friend if it\u2019s the last thing I do. Perhaps there will be more to come, we shall see.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>May 16th-June 1<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think people have really started to pick up the pace on progress. Our food source is increasing, the energy crabs have dwindled, and we actually have been able to pass through the fog and make it to Olympia! I can finally check on my parents and friends, I\u2019m so excited and hopeful. We can at least see how far this incident spreads\u2026 though I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019s everywhere. I\u2019m resigned to this being our new way of life for quite some time\u2026 even if it makes me feel gross and miss basic necessities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What I am NOT excited about, though, is that while lots of missing people have turned up, so many more have disappeared. I basically live at the longhouse now because of the amount of memorial vigils I hold nightly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-107 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170230-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"391\" height=\"391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170230-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170230-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170230-768x769.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170230.png 772w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 391px) 100vw, 391px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s starting to worry me. And I\u2019m tired of seeing people go missing. I\u2019m even more tired of people going missing, showing back up, and they\u2019re different but no one\u2019s really looked into it (granted, I haven\u2019t either\u2026 so I\u2019m one to talk). I think I\u2019m going to start a Search and Rescue team. There\u2019s already been some interest (Light has expressed an interest despite its scattered mind after recovering the safe with Sam\u2019s journals in it) which makes me think we\u2019ll be able to help save more lives and maybe even get some answers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The longhouse has been its own place of intrigue, though. Recently I\u2019ve been finding scraps of red paper, with hidden letters inside the shakily drawn images of nature. Some seem to fit together like a puzzle, but this one I recently found doesn\u2019t seem to have any other pieces that go with it. None that I can see anyways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-108 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170300-300x235.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"409\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170300-300x235.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170300-768x601.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170300.png 987w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe it\u2019s just me, but I think I can make out the letter \u201cA\u201d. Who, or what, is putting these up? And what are they trying to tell us? I\u2019m keeping my eye out for more clues, and am going to bring my findings when we go speak to the recovered students who got lost. Maybe their minds will be able to recall these messages, if anything else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In happier news, Sandwich let me ride them! Though I still mostly walk everywhere, it\u2019s hella cool to basically have a mount to ride around on. It\u2019s like a horse\u2026 but better. I drew a picture of my triumph below:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-109 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170310-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"436\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170310-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170310-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170310-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/802\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-23-170310.png 775w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 436px) 100vw, 436px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019m still not the best artist out there by a long shot, and sometimes that gets me down considering I wanted to be an artist before\u2026 all this happened. The sky thing. But I do like to doodle, and it\u2019s nice to at least know I\u2019ve come a long way in my art even though I have so much further to go. I guess my art has always been a point of contention for me and my perfectionism, but here in the wake of the sky thing it doesn\u2019t really matter and I can kind of just freely do stuff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before I get too deep into search and rescue, I saw that we have a bus up and running, so I\u2019m going to try to ride into Olympia and make sure my friends and family are safe, before returning (maybe with them?) and continuing my work here. At least here on campus I know I have most things accounted for, which gives me a greater sense of safety. Shits weird lol. I\u2019m just doing the best I can.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>June 2nd &#8211; June 9th<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">June 3rd<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">GOD DAMMIT LIGHT. Every day, without fail, Light sneaks its way into the longhouse and messes with the memorial site. Turns it into one of its many puzzles. And every day, without fail, I have to reset them. I can\u2019t tell at this point if Light is genuinely fucking with me, or it\u2019s a side effect of overexposure to the forest. Or some strange coping mechanism. Regardless, it\u2019s annoying. I\u2019ve yet to find where Light goes during the day, but rest assured, when I find it, I\u2019m going to be trying to have a conversation. Or at the very least, it will have to help me with the search and rescue organization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That\u2019s right. I\u2019ve decided I\u2019m going to head that up. So many people have vanished without a trace, it\u2019s only a natural step to start looking for them now that the fog recedes in different areas. We still aren\u2019t entirely sure when or for how long the fog stays away for, but currently it has receded from a part of the forest we haven\u2019t been able to navigate before. Hopefully with enough of a search crew we can go in there and find some people. Maybe bring them their objects from the memorial site to jog their memories. Until then, I have just been preparing. Keeping my head down, doing my thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Keeping my head down seems counter-intuitive to the whole community thing we\u2019ve got going on here, but with access to Olympia tensions have started to increase. Some people believe that due to the state of Olympia we need to be cautious and prepare defenses as well as bargaining chips so that we are not taken advantage of. Others staunchly believe that doing that will only cause the situation in Olympia to worsen, and that we need to work with them as best as we can. Personally I\u2019m of the mind that the only reason we got this far is because we synthesized our needs and worked together, instead of defaulting to every person for themselves. Preparing defenses seems like an antagonistic approach to an already touchy situation. The tensions about it are ever increasing as it is, though, so I am trying to stay hands-off about it. Other people with a penchant for taking charge have been handling it, which is fine by me. I just hope the people I care about are okay and haven\u2019t been harmed in any way by Olympia\u2019s handling of the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>June 7th<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Allison has taken to doing morning announcements over the local radio every day. It\u2019s been nice to wake up to. Most of it is coverage over the current progress of the day, and a running count of \u201cHave we found Sam yet?\u201d which I find to be a nice lighthearted way to cope with yet another loss to the large pile of disappearances. It\u2019s funny, you\u2019d think I\u2019d be coping with this whole situation with humor from the start, as that is the way I cope, but I haven\u2019t. This is one of the rare situations where humor just hasn\u2019t been able to land properly. It\u2019s kind of a quiet defeat, but also not at the same time. I am resigned to this being our new reality, and I think there\u2019s a lot of emotions to process with that. Too many to process using humor. I guess my new way of handling it has been focusing on remembering those we have lost, and doing everything I can to maintain some form of normalcy in these very not normal times. Is that a bad thing to do? To hold onto the past as a way to remember where we were? Does that regress us in any way? I like to think it doesn\u2019t, that it\u2019s more of a reminder of how far we\u2019ve come, but I don\u2019t know. These days I am full of even more uncertainty than when this catastrophe first started.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But uncertainty doesn\u2019t get you anywhere in this situation. Not when we have people to look after. And so that\u2019s what I do. Look after people, the departed. Help raise the spirits of those around me, and leave the uncertainty to myself. It\u2019s the least I can do.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>June 10th<\/h2>\n<p><br \/>Just as quickly as Allison started morning announcements, they began spouting odd nonsense (well, not SO odd. As odd as the trees breathe) about how the deer have been telling them things but that the deer also told them \u201cno one will ever believe you\u201d. I suppose there\u2019s a cruel irony to the whole thing; \u201cNo one suspects the horse\u201d and all that, if anyone gets that reference. It\u2019s been funny to hear as a tagline for the end of morning announcements, despite the fact that I really shouldn\u2019t be laughing at Allison\u2019s misfortune. There\u2019s just something about \u201cNo one will ever believe me! CLACK!\u201d that is just fitting to our situation in a dark comedic way.<br \/>I have not seen any of my friends since the very first night. At one point I heard that Claire had holed themselves up in their apartment and then just kind of\u2026 wouldn\u2019t come out. But I\u2019ve heard many rumors about many people from many sources. Sometimes I just think people like to talk for the sake of talking to take their minds off of the stresses of daily life, as most people do. It brings a sort of controlled chaos to life.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>Speaking of chaos, I suspect Light has been hiding out in the bushes and cabinets inside and outside the longhouse. I\u2019ve found a broom, I\u2019m going to try to coax it out so it can help me sort through these cluttered (though admittedly VERY organized) tables of stuff people have left behind that it keeps moving around. With the search and rescue mission rapidly approaching, I want to have these items ready just in case. It may not mean anything to the people lost now, but at the very least we can return the items they left behind once they are found. Hopefully, with the progress others have made, both in searching through the vault found in the fog (that was a WHOLE thing, I don\u2019t really want to get into it) and in starting support groups for those who need extra help, getting people out of the forest and fog will be a lot easier of a task.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>Oh! The reason we are even able to do this is because we\u2019ve determined some form of pattern of the fog coming into and out of campus. While we are still unsure of exactly how long it will take before it happens again, we have noticed that the fog rolls out of the forest at around 5 pm. That gives us a small window of time to go out and search for people before it rolls back up. Unfortunately, that also means if we don\u2019t find too many people, if any, then who knows how long it will be before the fog rolls out again. Could be a day, or another month. I really hope it\u2019s just a day before we can go back out there. If not, we may end up losing those people for good. Something that is not ideal, to put it lightly.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>Other than that, I don\u2019t have much else to report. My efforts have been so focused on this that I have diverted my attention elsewhere so that I stay focused. I heard the bears have been showing us new medicinal plants and we have reinvented the carrier pigeon, which is sick as fuck. The deer are returning to packs, which seems like a good sign? Maybe that means they\u2019ve stabilized their own food cycle now as have we. Then again, allegedly they\u2019re telling Allison no one will believe them, so they might still be a menace (or at least an inconvenience) for the time being.<br \/>I will report back again when we actually go out with the search party. I want to make sure our findings are reported and that we keep a log of who we have rescued versus who is still missing. Either way, so long as we save just one person it will be a good day for us.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been about three months since I last wrote, and wow, what a busy three months it has been. Our search and rescue mission was a success! We found a nice handful of people who had been lost to the forest and fog. They were taken to our temporary med bay, and with our cure found through these mutated daffodils, we could keep the brain fog away! I\u2019m so happy to have some of my friends back who wandered off, it was keeping me up at night if they were still alive or not. Light kept telling me I gave up too easily, which hurt. I didn\u2019t have this apparent knowledge behind the sky that told me everyone was ok. I only had the knowledge that some people made it back ok and some were never seen again. It\u2019s a terrifying thought and sense of doubt to go through. I\u2019m trying to brush off the remark\u2019s though, as I know Light\u2019s well-being ever since coming out of the forest has been a little shaken, and it\u2019s coping the best it can, as we all are.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>But speaking of med bay and medicines, thanks to a (very long and frustrating) meeting with the faction leaders of Olympia, we have the hospital open to us and a trained paramedic on campus at all times. It\u2019s a huge sigh of relief to have those resources available to us in addition to the resources we already had. Olympia is working together a little better too, or so I\u2019ve heard.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>OH! I can\u2019t believe I forgot to mention! Thanks to the search and rescue teams efforts, we were actually able to find Sam! Sam had been lost in the woods awhile by that point with no sign of returning, but through some cryptic puzzle-solving we all came together and managed to find her! According to them this had been planned from the beginning? Not the catastrophe, obviously. But hiding out to let the students collaborate and make a new life for themselves. In short, Sam did intend to not stick around so that we could all learn to work together and be our own leaders, but did NOT intend to get completely lost in the forest. I think we\u2019re all just happy to have her back, though some of us were still worried about grades and classes\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n<p><br \/>What else\u2026 ah, Allison\u2019s radio broadcasts received some sort of hijacking. We\u2019re still unsure who it was, considering we didn\u2019t find anyone at the source of the audio, but it must have been someone who knows the radio well and has been taken by the fog. Lost transmissions indicated there were people out there who heard the broadcasts and got sucked in, \u201cbecoming one\u201d as the hijacked broadcast repeated to us. It makes me weary of what is still out there in the deep fog, and if we can find more people to rescue, but at the very least we have medications to prevent us from meeting similar fates. After the hijacking the broadcasts went back to normal, but still a very strange occurrence that hopefully never happens again.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>With Olympia open, I\u2019ve finally been able to locate my parents and friends! It was quite the tearful reunion, but I was extremely thankful they were all safe and hadn\u2019t been harmed by any of the factions. I took them back to Evergreen, where they\u2019ve been staying since, and it is comforting to know they are within my area and familiarity again.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>In short, three months have started to fly by, and feel like a new normal again. I\u2019m hoping we can find out the bathing situation a bit better, but I am more comfortable than I was, and feeling optimistic about the future. Cooper Point, here we come!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 16th, The Day It Happened I never anticipated my day would end up like this. I mean, literally just hours ago my afternoon was completely normal. Woke up, did some homework, had a nice lunch, and took a nap. I knew this evening was going to be funky because I leave for class at &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/mirandas-story\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Miranda&#8217;s Story<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10723,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10723"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/whatspastcooperpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}