Lucy's Journal

Lucy’s Journal – April 8, 2026

Dear Journal,

Today started with a very serious plan. Kiwi said we were going on an adventure—like in that movie where the kids walk along train tracks and have a big journey and discover themselves (or at least find something dramatic).

Peanut was immediately on board, mostly because he thought there would be snacks involved. The Quackers didn’t really understand the assignment but loudly agreed anyway, which is pretty standard for them.

So off we went.

Kiwi took the lead, puffed up like some kind of feathery explorer, declaring, “All great adventures require train tracks!” Peanut nodded like he knew exactly what that meant, even though I’m pretty sure he was just hoping for a hot dog stand somewhere along the way.

We walked. And walked. And walked some more.

Around neighborhoods. Past the river. Up a hill. Back down another hill. The Quackers argued the entire time about which direction “felt more train-tracky,” which, for the record, is not a real navigational method.

At one point, Kiwi climbed up onto a fence post, looked around dramatically, and announced, “They have to be around here somewhere!”

They were not.

Peanut started to get suspicious about an hour in.

“Are we sure Morgantown even has these things?” he asked, flopping down dramatically on the sidewalk.

Kiwi refused to admit defeat. “All great stories involve perseverance,” he said.

“Yes,” I said, “but most of those stories also involve actually finding what you’re looking for.”

After what felt like forever (and at least three wrong turns suggested by the Quackers), we all kind of just… stopped.

There were no train tracks.

No grand discovery.

No dramatic movie moment.

Just us, a little tired, a little confused, and very aware that we had absolutely no idea where we were going anymore.

That’s when Peanut said the smartest thing anyone said all day:

“Ice cream?”

And just like that, the adventure changed direction.

We found a little shop, piled in, and ordered way too much. Kiwi tried to “sample” everyone’s cones (without permission, of course), the Quackers managed to get ice cream on each other, and Peanut dropped his scoop and stared at it like his whole world had ended… before immediately ordering another.

We sat there laughing about how we set out for this big, meaningful journey and ended up completely failing to even find train tracks.

But honestly?

It didn’t feel like a failure.

It felt like one of the best days we’ve had in a while.

Turns out you don’t need train tracks to have an adventure.

Sometimes you just need your favorite crew, a questionable sense of direction, and a really good ice cream cone.

—Lucy