Why do you pick fights with other boys? It's the question Ryan has been running from all his life. The answer will shock you.
For as long as Ryan can remember, he's always wanted to be someone special. Now, a promising high school wrestler and a po...
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Thick fir trees surround the moist landscape. Ferns the size of children grow out of the mulchy and muddy grounds. The cold waters from the Pacific Ocean splash against the rocky beaches. The clouds are cotton candy colored as they float in the light blue sky. For most of the year, snow coats the mountains in the winter and melts away during the summer, revealing a green haven of common and exotic vegetation. Prey and predators, both animals and humans, inhabit the neighborhoods and dense, wet woods.
Barclay, a town in the Pacific northwest of Washington State, is an unassuming place for trouble and violence. For those wise or unfortunate enough, Barclay has an underworld of dark secrets and a history of terrible tragedies.
The suburban city is full of blue collar workers and their children. A fifth of the population support their children with government assistance. The richest in town own successful businesses, franchises, or have vacation homes near the ocean or by Lake Whatcom. As time keeps going, the gap between the rich and poor grows greater; the opportunities for the middle class grow more competitive.
The children of the town suffer from the boredom that comes from ironically living in a beautiful place with not much to do other than enjoy the scenery. It's not like there are no fun activities to do, but skiing, snowboarding, biking, camping, and jet skiing all require money. If one is not interested in the recreational benefits of the town or does not have the means to do so, then drugs, drinking, partying, and crime are the go-to pastimes.
Before the area became Barclay, the land was populated by four Indian tribes. The Natives of the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish, and Semiahmoo Indians controlled the region. After the settlers took it, the land became a fishing and shipping hub through the 1850s to the 1920s. Most men worked in the shipping yards and timber mills or farmed. Despite the work being laborious and potentially lethal, the wages were enough to support the workers. Some were able to go into business for themselves, the most successful of them building legacy empires for their future generations.
The area had the allure of being far more beautiful than that of the Midwest. Gossip spread across the midlands of a new town near the sea with several booming industries. Many traveled there, from poor families with limited opportunities to ambitious young men. To them, Barclay was the hope of providing for their families or themselves.
The settlers never saw such landscapes surrounded by endless fir trees, strange vegetation or the Pacific Ocean. Their understanding of nature mostly extended to foothills and drylands which became freezing cold during the winter and unbearably hot through summer. In Barclay, newcomers enjoyed the taste of fresh salmon and the sea life that fetched a good income on the market. The journey through the rough terrain and snowy mountains to get to Barclay was difficult, took time and frequently cost lives, but the reward of making it there could be worth it.
As the industries and population grew, so did Barclay's range. For a short time, the city was divided into four towns: Barclay, Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Sehome. By 1905, all four towns were incorporated into the City of Barclay.
