Lockdown: The Arcadia Diaries

The 4th of July

Present Day

New Orleans, Louisiana

May 24, 2020

Terra M. Kimbrough

"Hey, Terra! Wow! That's a lot of people on your end!" Clorinda is surprised by the presence of several new people on the video chat feed. It is 1:48 in the afternoon, local time, I have just eaten lunch.

"Yupper," I reply with a smile. "Hey, you got some new people on your end as well."

It is then that Clorinda notices that several people have tuned in on her end has well-some I recognize, some I don't. Accompanying Clorinda's screen is one showing a young woman with short, red-brown hair and blue eyes. 

"Hi, I'm Alana," The redhead-brunette mix replies. "I take it you were a witness to what happened in Arcadia too?"

I nod. "I am. Were you?"

"No, but I know someone who was," Alana replies softly. "Anna Seals. You know her?"

"Yes, but not very well," I answer.

 "You didn't tell me this was a group convo!" Clorinda gasps in surprise. 

I laugh. "Well, it is now. Actually, a couple of us-we got this idea to come together and all tell our stories together."

"I see," Clorinda replies, then notices a young French man with a baby face and short, blonde hair staring at her through the camera. "And who's this?"

"Bonjour!" The baby-faced teenage French guy says to Clorinda. "Are you a friend of Terra?"

Clorinda nods. "Ah, yes! Yes, I am, actually. And you are?"

"Albert. I'm Albert Goblet," Albert replies with a smile. Pretty soon, his mother, a French blonde in her late thirties, joins the screen. "Hello there. Yes, this is my son Albert. I'm his mother, Vignette." 

The next person to introduce himself is Kyle Bates. "Good day to you, ma'am. I'm Kyle Bates! Greetings from London, England."

"Nice to meet you," Clorinda says awkwardly. "Nice accent you got there. That a London accent? Or was that Cockney?"

Kyle shrugs. "It's a little bit of both. Personally, I'd say it's more London than Cockney."

The next person to join the chat is Glenda Dougherty, an American woman in her thirties with short, brown hair and blue eyes. "Hi! This is Glenda Dougherty. I was also a participant in the events of July 4th, 2019. Well, not at first, but eventually I became a participant."

"Is this everybody?" Clorinda asks.

"Nope!" A young blonde woman in her early teens joins the feed. "Hi, my name is Faith. Faith Johnson. Greetings from the Rockies!"

"You live in the Rockies?" Clorinda's eyes widen curiously.

Faith nods. "Yes, I live here now with my aunts and uncles."

"Cool! Which state?" Clorinda asks me. 

"Oklahoma," Faith replies with a smile.