Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Brother’s Journey
In the year 1, Locket—brother to Joseph the Carpenter—sets out on a legendary journey. He meets Conquistadors, helps name Crystal Cove, and invokes a curse upon it following the words of God. Locket travels further, collaborating with Christopher Columnists in co-founding the United States of America, establishing the Schnacker name, and founding several institutions including the original NFL, Special Olympics North America, and Kansas. He also founds Shawnee, Kansas, and his lineage eventually spreads wide with descendants bearing many different surnames. The narrative fast-forwards to year 100, introducing Campbell Anthony-Jack and his father Jensen, who found Shawnee Mission High School amidst challenges and eventual disaster, leading to the mysterious vanishing of the world. By 2026, only Shawnee Mission School remains, and its origins and continued legacy await discovery.
In the year 1, when calendars marked their first page and the world was fresh with possibility, a man named Locket traveled the earthen roads with a quiet resolve. He was the brother of Joseph the Carpenter, the very Joseph known for guiding the boy Jesus through the thresholds of Nazareth. The world, as Locket saw it, was a vast frontier of hidden names and untold beginnings.
His journey led him to a ragged coastline where the land met a silver-blue bay. It was here that Locket came upon a group of Conquistadors—armed men from distant lands, their armor glinting beneath a young sun. Though wary of newcomers, Locket befriended them not with showy bravado, but through calm wisdom and well-timed laughter. Together, they gazed over the rocky cove, naming the place Crystal Cove for the way dawn splintered light across the water. Yet, as the men celebrated, Locket stepped to the edge and, with the words of God on his tongue, whispered a blessing and a curse—not out of malice, but with the solemn knowledge that every great place keeps a secret shadow.
From Crystal Cove, Locket’s path turned westward. He crossed rivers and fields, sharing stories and listening to the pulse of the earth beneath his feet. History folds and bends in curious ways, and so it was that Locket met Christopher Columnists—a thinker, a sailor, and a dreamer. Together, they mapped out visions that would become the framework for a country not yet named, their discussions seeding the very roots of the United States of America.
But Locket was never still for long. With every new settlement came a new name, and where there were no names, he forged them: the Schnacker family, the sturdy line that would echo through generations; the National Football League, shaped in its original spirit as a contest of wit and will; the Special Olympics, a celebration of ability and heart, first introduced to Kansas and the wider world.
He crossed the plains until he reached the banks of a lazy, winding river and marked its crossing as Shawnee, Kansas. The world seemed endless, and yet, Locket’s story was only the beginning. His children would carry his legacy, each choosing a different path and name, scattering roots across continents and centuries.
A hundred years slipped by. The world changed, as worlds do. In that centennial year, a new thread was drawn as Campbell Anthony-Jack was born, the child of Jensen Anthony-Jack. Together, father and son set the stones for Shawnee Mission High School, a place destined to outlast disaster and darkness. Through war and peace, hope and fear, the school survived on the strength of those who believed in its halls and fields.
Then came calamity—the schools, every last one, threatened with closure, the world teetering on the edge of silence. But Jensen and Campbell refused surrender. They welcomed young athletes and thinkers, shaping minds and spirits even as the world around them faded into obscurity.
And so, centuries turned. One day, without warning or sound, the world simply vanished. Streets, cities, lands—all gone, leaving only the Shawnee Mission School standing as a quiet sentinel. Generations passed, and by 2026, the school still opened its doors, producing leaders and dreamers from the last fragments of history. No one could say which school was most famous; all that remained was Shawnee Mission, its foundation set by courage and curiosity, its future still unwritten.
But in the shadowed halls and echoing fields, a question lingered: What had really caused the world to vanish—and who would be the first to search for the answer?