{[00:00:01-012/018/1991]} Wednesday
You know it is going to be a good day when the science teacher rolls out the tube tv and the VHS player. it is the last few days before our winter break. my classmates were more interested in planning their next two weeks than any lesson any teacher had for us. the lights had been turned off. A Christmas movie played on the tube while Mrs. Fletcher caught up on grading her papers. the sky is a darker grey. the snow is pelting the roof of our building as the wind occasionally blew past the window, softly rattling the pane glass. around this time of year, we are usually snowed in or under a freeze warning due to negative temperatures but this morning, the Northridge mountains along with our school district were cleared from any warnings or mandates. in my opinion, we should have all stayed home. this is one of the worst winters this mountain has had in decades. I am using the ambient light from outside to write in this journal while the others watched the movie. I have seen a Christmas carol a dozen times this winter already and am not interested in another migraine. I have been thinking a lot about this journal lately and what I want to do with it. I feel like my friends and I have done so much in recent years and I have been writing after what I assume are my core memories. Maybe one day I will turn all of this into a story. This is my first time doing something like this and I am sure the story will be all out of place but in the end, it'll be worth it. Plus I have an overwhelming feeling that writing this is in my best interest. this story is for somebody other than myself. ill start by saying that I do not like gifts unless they mean something, and I don't like giving gifts unless I know they'll mean something. Instead of a mixtape this month, He gave me a cassette full of my favorite public speakers telling their most memorable paranormal experiences. there were 9 stories on the tape, 5 on side A and 4 on side B. All about 20 minutes long. He knows I haven't slept well lately and this is his way of helping. a cassette full of ghost stories ironically is the perfect item I need to fall asleep. I know it is a simple gift but it meant the world to me. Edd and I are naturally competitive, so now I am inclined to one-up him and give him something that means more. I know he likes reading and history, so maybe ill give him a handwritten story.
I think every great story needs a mellow introduction to the setting and people. The basics. I would like to think I am a pretty good storyteller but I have never written one before so hang in there. it might be all over the place and a bit confusing but I promise there is a point to my writing.
My name is Taylor Arce. Right now it is December 18th, 1991. I live in the North Ridge mountains with my brother Jake, his girlfriend Kendall, and our Mother Niona. There are three big cities within a 100-mile radius. The city of Northridge is the highest in elevation at 11,000 feet. Northridge has a population of a few thousand people. the homes were mostly built in the 1950s and 1960s and are filled with small families. Northridge Highschool along with NR middle school are the only schools for people who live on the mountain. I mean this is not in any way a fancy high-class school. it is like every outdated, weathered high school you see in the 70s and 80s. there is not much to do in Northridge in my opinion. other than a drive-in theater and the mall, the town does not get much attention other than from the ones living there. The Second City at an elevation of 7,900 feet is the city of Northoak. Northoak is the oldest town on the Northside of the range and has a few hundred Natives living within the large town. Northoak sits 11 miles east of the Highway that travels up the mountain. you have to take a rural two-lane road through the range to get there, but it is very worth it. the town is weathered in nature but has a renovated downtown district that is seven blocks by five blocks. all filled with ma and pa shops with restaurants, theaters, clothing stores, cafes, and alot more. none of the buildings are any larger than four stories, most made of brick or heavy timber. The houses tucked away in the mountain mostly belong to the natives of Northoak. the total population is 1,700 people. there is a street life within Northoak but for the most part, Northoak has a "locals-welcome" feel to it, but the Natives and patrons are often friendly. there is another side to Northoak where people are not so friendly and want to defend the history of the town and keep people out. over the years my friends and I have befriended most people we meet in Northoak and alot know us by name. personally, it is one of my favorite places to visit. the record store, book store, and cafe are where I spend my weekends. Northoak is 27 miles from the city of Northridge at the summit of the mountain. The last city and the biggest city in Northridge county is the city of Merlot. although the city is at a 4,300-foot elevation, we all say it is at the bottom of the mountain. it is far from it. Merlot is full of wealthy citizens who can afford to live in a slightly warmer climate. the downtown district of Merlot alone has a population of 14,000 people. Full of tall fancy business buildings and walking suits that flood the sidewalks every day. the streets are mostly kept clean, and the nightlife is amazing. department stores and businesses are filled throughout the week with middle to high-class citizens all seemingly stuck in the same loop. Almost mimicking a metropolitan city while also being 112 miles from the closest civilization other than Northridge and Northoak. due to our towns being so rural and so far from anything else, alot of resources come from Merlot as well as most funding for our schools and Emergency departments since we all share the same county lines. alot of our food and supplies come from Merlot as well, carried by big semi trucks up the mountain. there is a public transit system that runs city buses and subway trains. there is a bus route that travels from Merlot to Northoak but they only come once an hour in the winter. for the most part. the city is maintained to a higher standard. the payphones are clean, the bus stops kept nice. it is easy to see that the center of Merlot has money and the people are known to have a shitty unpleasant mentality toward anyone they see lower in status than them. as you reach the outermost parts of the downtown district, you will be met with a more unforgiving part of a metropolitan city. the struggling and forgotten roam the sidewalks and alleyways endlessly looking for an opportunity or a way out .for every 1000 people in Merlot, there 110 that end up on the streets. Merlot is no place for the homeless to be simply because there are no other places to go. Northoak and Northridge see temperatures in the negatives in the winter months. Merlot is not far behind with an average temperature of 5 degrees with a -15 windchill. in my opinion, Merlot is not a place I would not want to live, the people have alot to do with that. I do not really go down the mountain unless I have to. Merlot is 79 miles from the city of Northridge and 52 miles from Northoak.
