Free Will of Man - Part Two by William Scanlan Page A

it’s hard to sleep through the birds chirping in the morning.
     
    The neighbors still live down and across our dead end street. They come over at least once a day to say hi. We’re not only friend’s, we also have a ‘working relationship” with them, as Dad calls it. We share a garden and work together to maintain it. We share supplies and tools and warn each other of any suspicious people.
     
    It’s nice to have friends close by since my other friends are too far away to see every day.
     
    Tyler’s Journal Entry: 174
    Date: May 29
    Day: Monday
    Weather: Sunny and warm
    Days since the LAST DAY: 11 months, 28 days
     
    Dad started our spring planting today in the garden. He planted sweet corn, potatoes, carrots, and beans. Our fruit garden is doing well finally after years of developing it. There are blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes. Strawberries line the edge of the woods and we have 3 apple trees not too far from the house. They will give us plenty over the summer. Mom will make jelly, pies and can when it is time.
     
    Mom and Dad are getting better at preserving food. It is still a work in progress, but they are learning. We ran out of our canned preserves mid February and had to make due.
     
    Dad plans to expand the gardens and increase crop production. He kept a log of how much food we used over the winter and plans to over compensate this winter so we don’t go hungry. Whatever is left over after the winter, we can use to barter in the summer.
     
    Mom and Dad remind us to not talk about our supplies to others. Not even our friends or neighbors. We help when we can, but my parents have made us their priority.
     
    Dad wants to barter for another horse and a couple goats sometime this summer. He says we have some extra tools we will probably never use and can use them to barter with.
     
    Dad did a good job scavenging when he could. He predicted trouble a long time before anything major happened and was able to prepare us well.
     
    Some people were taken by surprise and really struggled to survive. Many people apparently passed away during the winter. It saddens me to think about those who suffered so much. There are still people suffering. Thankfully I live in a community where people watch out for each other.
     
    Mom says next fall Tanner and I will start attending school again. The plans are that students will go twice a week to start out. The local farmers have volunteered to lend their hay wagons to transport kids to and from school. So the new school bus will be a farmer’s hay wagon that is pulled by a couple horses. Subjects will be primarily math, reading, and writing, with the addition of agriculture.
     
     
     
     
     
    Tyler’s Journal Entry: 179
    Date: June 06
    Day: Saturday
    Weather: Sunny and warm
    Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 05 days
     
    Today was a very fun day! We had a community carnival today. There was the game where you have to pop balloons with a dart, the game where you knock over bottles with a soft ball, a dunking tank, sack races, a spook house, pony rides, hay rides, a baseball tournament, a three on three basketball tournament, and much more. 
     
    People were selling caramel apples, elephant ears, barbecued pig meat, chicken, hamburgs, and different homemade candies and pies.
     
    You could tell those that were really struggling because of the total blackout. They looked dirty and hungry. Everyone chipped in though and made sure that whoever came had a fun time and was well fed. This day was not about making money, but to bring our community together and feel at least one day of “normalcy.”
     
    I found most of my friends and kept an eye out for Hailey. I hoped maybe she was visiting for the day and I could see her once more. I still miss her very much. She was my first real girlfriend and she meant so much to me. I listened throughout the day for any mention of her. However, I heard nothing of her.
     
    The day ended with a big community dance in the