Coming to America by Stephen M

December, 1903, New York City
We arrived at the port early in the morning. It was a long, treacherous sea voyage to this new land called America. On the way into the port of New York, my mother and I saw large buildings that seemed to touch the sky and a multitude of people that seemed to never end. The air smelt of smoke, as all around us there were factories unloading smoke stacks through their chimneys. This land of opportunity is nothing like Italy, from which we hail. Here, it seems to be over crowded and no real beauty in this society. Mother had said it would be beneficial for us to come here to work, and I do hope she is right in her judgment.
My mother and I, after registering with American customs, travelled to the borough of Brooklyn, where my Mother had relatives that we would live with for a short time. I had learned that New York City is composed of five smaller cities or boroughs. A man on the ship had explained this fact to me. I could not understand how such an already large city like New York incorporated five other cities. This journey to America was more of a culture shock than I had expected.
Our relatives in Brooklyn were extremely polite and courteous, and even spoke in our native o\dialect of Italian as we could not yet understand one word of English. Our rooms were extremely cramped, as I had to share a bed with my mother. While walking around this unexplored area, it came of great shock to me the variation in faces I saw around me. This was truly a melting pot, people descending from all lands for an opportunity to make a living. This type of urban living was also new to me, but I had heard on the ship that there were areas of America that were just like the Italian countryside.
My mother had finally found work!! The relatives we were staying with owned a florist shop a few blocks away and my mother had earned a position as an assistant there. This was joyous news for us two, as this was a new step towards our American dream. She was making very little, but it was a start. Things in America were not starting to turn our way. My mother was ecstatic, as her idea to come to America seemed successful. By the end of the month, she will have saved enough for us to move out and for me to attend a public school! New friends and adventures await me.
Horrible news as struck my mother and I. Our relative was forced to close the florist shop, and my mother has not been able to find other work. The florist shop was forced to close because of slow and lagging business. The owner had said that not enough business was being generated and costs were too high. This was heartbreaking news to my mother and I. we are still staying with our relatives in Brooklyn, but they said they do not know how much longer they can keep us. With little money to our names, my mother and I might be forced to poverty in the new world if she does not find a job soon. I have faith, however, in the land of opportunity and soon we will be out of our predicament.

Future by Mike M

The year was 2010 and I volunteered to participate in a government funded program that studied the effects of sleep on the human body. I was placed in a coffin like box with tubes, lights, and unfamiliar technology lining the sides of the box. I was told the plan of the program was to put individuals to sleep using anesthesia, and then monitor their sleep habits while in the box. What happened next was what I least expected.
When I arose from the sleep monitoring coffin, I thought at first I was being fooled. I was in a glass bottomed aircraft and was looking down at a sea of lights and skyscrapers. I was no longer in the original testing room, but was in a science fiction like environment. I quickly rushed over to the electronic calendar on the wall and checked the date; the year said 2200! Had I really been asleep for almost 200 years!
After checking the date on the calendar I knew I must find a person on the aircraft to verify the truth of the calendar. I hurried out the doorway and into the corridor. All along the sides of the hallway were flashing buttons and pulleys that seemed to farfetched to even be real. When I finally reached the end of the hallway I came across a door that was like no other I have ever seen before; the door itself rose up into the frame and the portal opened. There was a sign in the room that said hovercrafts to the right; so I followed the sign. When I finally got there, sure enough there was a room full of bizarre looking machines that were like nothing I have ever seen before. I hopped onto the hover craft and flew down into the sea of lights and tremendous skyscrapers. As I descended lower towards the ground I noticed there was a vast amount of similar hovercrafts whizzing through the sky. I followed these hovercrafts to the top of a large building which seemed to be a parking lot for these advanced crafts. I landed my craft and began my journey to discover what was going on.
As I entered the building I saw thousands of floating steps that lead towards the bottom of the building. I hopped my way down to the bottom of the building and busted out the door and into the street. Only to be consumed by a herd of people traveling on segways. I noticed that my clothing must have been hundreds of years out of date because everyone was looking at me with confused faces as if they were xenophobic of my appearance. I forced my way through the segway traffic and walked towards a group of people waiting along the side of the road. I approached the group with a friendly demeanor, and politely asked what year it was. An older man patronizingly responded, and confirmed that it was indeed 2200.
I couldn’t believe it was really true. My heart dropped and I felt as if I was lost at sea. I was 200 years away from my life, and everything I once had was now gone. I could barely recognize my old home in NYC.

The Great Man's Plan - Robert Murphy

I wake up in a fog, I have no idea where I am or what I’m doing here. These clothes are strange, lacking any personality whatsoever. My head is throbbing and the pain is like nothing I’ve felt before. I have no idea what’s going on, but what I do know is that I have to find out what to do with myself. I find the light switch in this cold dark room and turn on the light.

The room is covered in capsules it seems with what appears to be people inside, all labeled with numbers on their clothing. This is so confusing, am I some kind of experiment? I need to get out of this place and find out where I am. I check my watch, but the hands are not moving. There appears to be no way out of this room besides this one strange looking door, like one I’ve never seen before.

A dim white glow emanated through the creases of the strange door, finally I can find out what is going on. As the glow became much brighter I got an eerie feeling of discontent. The door slid open and 3 large men approached in pure white attire that appeared to be out of a bad sci-fi movie. They motioned me forward, asking me to state my name and number. I complied and told them my name and number that had been printed on my suit.

They told me to come with them, but I was hesitant. I was taken through long winding hallways that were of nothing I have ever seen before; this place was of no ordinary place. It had an almost angelic and godlike feel to it, but that can’t be possible. I tried to remember the date, I believe it was January 1^st, 2012 and I had attended a new year’s party the night before. Finally we had reached a door and behind the door was an enormous room with a man of great stature on the other end.

The man said, “James, you were in a terrible accident tonight, please do not panic I will explain”. I was in utter shock and awe, how could this be. The man proceeded to tell me I had been in an accident the night of January 1^st, 2012 and had been put in a coma. He said it was not my time, saying that I was part of his plan. I was in complete dismay. Upon hearing this I freaked out and made a mad dash for the huge white door. It slammed shut with no other exits in site.

One of the guards came at me with a tazer, a very large one at that. I dodged, but ran into the other two guards. A sharp jolt of pain and electricity pulsated through my body. Everything was slowing down and I heard the voice of a man whisper softly, “Were losing him”. It was getting dark and images turned into dark shadows. I felt another jolt pulsate through my body and in one swift motion I awoke in a white room surrounded by doctors and nurses. “We got him, he’s alive”, said one of the doctors. Was I in heaven? Why did that man, or God, let me live? I must find out what my part in this “plan” is.

The Troubles: Thomas Lahey

Twas many years ago that this event occurred. I had been out at the local shop in Belfast buying groceries for the family when it happened. It happened unexpectedly and rather quickly; quickly enough for me to be unable to stop it. At first it seemed as if it was an attack of sorts. Not necessarily of a foreign power but of an internal threat. For centuries, The Troubles had become steadily more troublesome and as a member of the Scotland Yard, I had no choice but to anticipate the escalation of violence. Twas about ten to nine in the early hours of the Sixteenth of March and a peaceful day it was.

            I was on my way to work after picking up some supper for the evening when the bomb went off. A coach had stopped at a stop by the City Centre and killed twelve and injured seven. I dropped the groceries and ran towards the scene. Three masked men, presumably IRA terrorists, jumped into a car with one holding an AK-47. I fired several rounds into the back windshield of the vehicle and tended to the wounded until other Armed Met Police arrived at the scene. There were broken glass windows and the wounded were bleeding horribly (they had been standing behind the glass of the coach stop). It was a terrible scene, and it was only the beginning of my day.

            Several hours later, at the Scotland Yard station in Belfast, we received a report that another attack had taken place in Londonderry and we had to respond immediately. This one was different. The report was that three masked and armed gunmen walked into a crowded park around noon time and opened fire on the crowd, killing one and a half dozen. Local police had responded quickly and managed to shoot and detain one of the men. He was being interrogated at the Londonderry Metropolitan Police depot. We rushed over there as quickly as we could. When we arrived, there were ambulances and other emergency vehicles taking the wounded to hospital. This scene was many times worse than the scene that morning.

            About thirty or so minutes later, a black Mercedes four-door drove slowly by the scene of the shooting and two men in suits stepped out. They walked along the park on Queen Anne’s Way and looked rather suspicious. I took several officers and went to approach them. As we got within about fifty yards of them, they both turned to look at us. The taller of the two leaned over and said something to the other and then they looked again. Moments later as we were within about thirty yards they both turned and drew their pistols. We responded quickly with ours and opened fire on the men. There was a shootout for about three minutes when we confirmed that both men had been taken down. We approached the bodies with pistols drawn and confirmed that they had been terminated. As we removed their masks, I felt sick. The taller one was my neighbour. I knew he was an Irish Republican but I hadn’t a clue he was a radical. I had let him watch my children and tend to my mail when away on holiday. All I thought about was my family. What could lead a man who lived such a peaceful and calm life who helped people and lived for a useful purpose to become an IRA terrorist? My answer: being a crazed maniac.

            Where do we go from here? Do we crack down more on these people, or find out the root of their evil and try to rehabilitate them? I say to just keep at them, but the government wants to help them become normal citizens again. They can’t. They’re incapable of being normal. As I was thinking this my radio sounded. It was another attack, and I had to leave. Hearing its location, I recognized the address. It was my wife’s office. 

Harrison S- A 20th Century Mindset in a 22nd Century World

The future is so exciting because of the unexpected things that can arise from the present. As people move through their life their mindset and outlook evolve with their surroundings as they move, prepare and change for a more futuristic world. The following are excerpts from Harrison Shih’s autobiography Living in Two Dimensions about living life in the 20^th century and 22^nd century.

A 20^th Century Mindset in a 22^nd Century World

Day something many, many years later from the present time…

I woke up in a daze, eyes groggy, and stiff from the sleep. As I looked around I didn’t recognize my surroundings. Where was I? Is this a dream? I was instantly scared. As I became more and more fearful, I heard beeps all around me and suddenly a man appeared in front of me as if he came out of the floor. I was already pretty scared and seeing a man rise from the floor didn’t help my fears any. As I was trying to back-crawl away from him, not knowing who he was, he assured me he was in safe place, stating that he was a doctor. This calmed me a little, however I was still apprehensive and wasn’t sure whether to trust him fully or not. He explained that I had passed out one day in school and fell into a deep coma.

Day 2

Shell shock took over last night and when I woke up the next morning I came to my senses and grasped the fact that I wasn’t living in the same world. It obviously wasn’t 2010 and things obviously weren’t the same. As I walked about the hospital everything seemed so futuristic compared to the last thing I remembered. The doctor sat down with me and explained everything. At school way back in the year 2010 I passed out and fell into a deep coma. Here back at the hospital, the doctors had never seen a coma patient so responsive yet so deep in the coma. About a year later, researchers found a way to preserve my body and memory so that I wouldn’t age. This is why I still look like a 16 year old, even in the year 2138. After hearing all of this, I was first nervous as to how I was going to adjust to 128 years of change. But then as I thought about it, I was still young and could adjust pretty easily, I guessed. Still though, it was going to be an uphill battle.

Day 5

After showing signs of understanding my surroundings and a myriad amount of tests, the doctors cleared me to go home and enter reenter the world. It was the year 2138 and everything was different from what I remembered. As I stepped out of the hospital doors everything was enormous. The hospital building, like all of the surrounding buildings was over 1000 stories tall! I didn’t see any cars around me but when I looked up I saw these objects flying around. I asked a passerby what those were and he said they were flysracs. Simultaneously, he recognized me as the coma guy and asked for my autograph. I followed up by asking how he knew who I was. The man followed up by saying I was an international superstar because I was such a medical miracle. He pointed me in the direction of the apartment the hospital had given me. As I found my way back home, this was the highest apartment in Central, the centermost building of the entire East Coast. I expected a long ride up the lavator-e but within seconds, literally, I was at the door of my apartment. I assumed that in all the years, technology had advanced to the point where they could make what I knew as an elevator travel thousands of floors in just seconds.

Day 5 (Later that night)

When I finished exploring my enormous new pad, I saw what looked like a TV mounted on the wall next to this floating box object. This area I assumed to be my room. While I was playing around with this TV like object I learned two things: it was called a VirtEv, which stood for Virtual Everything, and this was an all in one machine. Browsing through the VirtEv I noticed I had messages waiting for me. At least something stayed the same… or so I thought. Next, when I clicked the first message, a face projected from the screen and it began to talk. This along with the 22 other messages were all requests for interviews and book offers highlighting my experience. I finished going through all of them and began to feel quite hungry. I went to the fridge and noticed everything was smaller. Food now was in pill form and it was even healthier than previously cooked meals. This to me was astonishing. Finally, I headed off to bed, concluding that the world was truly different; living quarters were improved, and everything seemed faster, bigger and easier.

One year later

And so here I sit giving my first interview of two for the day. All in all, the past year has been a whirlwind adjusting to this new life in the year 2139. I think that after a year, I’ve adjusted pretty well. Everything is just harder, faster, and bigger. I decided to donate all of the money I received from all the media spotlights to the research department at Central Hospital. This was probably the single hardest thing to adjust too: no more paper money. Everything these days was done in credit and electronically. I guess this really is the new world we live in. Accepting the fact that there was no more paper money was hard enough. I guess if I'm to live in this world my next task will have to be learning how to fly a flysrac. Maybe I can start to learn once all this media attention and chauffeuring slows down. I'll commit myself to learn next week and share my experience soon.

troublemakers-jared dublin

It’s the year 2999, late June the sun was scorching onto my face through my bedroom and I just woke up not knowing what happened the night before. There was a great pain on my forehead so I went to the bathroom too see what it was, it appeared to be a normal bump but I felt it and it seemed that something was moving rapidly up, down and side to side in the center of it. I was very concerned about this so I rushed myself to San Francisco Hospital. But on the way there I was stopped by cops because they were doing a regular patrol to see who had a gold chain around their neck. In San Francisco it is always necessary to have a gold chain on or else you will get abolished from the city walls. There is a trend here in San Francisco where whoever wears longer gold chains is higher ranker or of higher economical class in society, me of course I had the longest chain in the city.

After the cops stopped me and inspected my chain everything I saw began to get blurry, my sense of smell began to go faint and everything began to spin. The McDonalds icon which was spinning in the air seemed to whirl around my head in circles, everyone’s faces were doubled as I peered into the car. Maybe other people were thinking that I was going insane as well? Even everyone’s clothing which is usually uniform and the same here in San Francisco; one piece black leather jump suit was appearing to me as neon green. I knew something was wrong so I drove even faster to the hospital, petal to the metal, trying not to crash my car into any pedestrians or electronic billboards along the way.

As I arrived to the hospital the first things that I could see with my dazed view was a robot that came up to me and asked me specific questions like my name etc. I told him my name was Jared Dublin and that I lived on 64 Bighouse Lane, right next to Mariah Carey. Without even noticing it three robots scooped me out of the car and put me in a bed made out of rays of light, I’ve never seen one of these before. Doctors dressed in plastic suits with oxygen tanks on their backs examined my forehead and told me that it was just a marking from when the intruders from Los Angeles break in through our city walls and harass our citizens. The foreigners will chase you down and tackle you until they bite your forehead and steal all your belongings, making you forget everything about what happened. Also that it was a normal extravaganza to see double and have disorientation and that everything would be alright in about three hours and slowly but surely I fell asleep….

I woke up in the hospital bed feeling completely fine to my friend Brutus repeating my name over and over again. He helped me up and told me that I had to perform a show for the MTV Music Awards. I had no idea what he was talking about and he told me to look to my left where a picture of me was on the wall. Then everything started coming back to me, it turned out that I was the richest man in the city and a R&B music superstar. I guess these intruders biting my forehead really did make me forget everything after all.

As quick as I could I jumped out of bed and hopped into Brutus’s Lamborghini and we cruised down the highway towards the stadium where I had to perform. Everything was going fine until the intruders made a roadblock of men, woman, children, trees, and inflamed vehicles filled the center of the highway which blocked our path…

Monster Island

6 June, 20??
It's been one full week since I escaped the holding cell in that mad laboratory, God knows how long I would have been there if Greg hadn't distracted Dr. Nutjob. I wish he had escaped with me but, alas, he fell victim to the doctor's experimental laser weapon. My new surroundings seem strange to me as I have no idea how long I have been in captivity. I will explore tomorrow and give a full report on my findings.

7 June, 20??
I spent much of the day exploring the area yesterday and it seems to me that I have arrived in a dark time; I encountered not a single human and the only sounds were those of the crows cawing. I came upon what appeared to be a military base of some kind, with infantry barracks, the rusted shells of tanks, spent ammunition, but not a trace of human life. I seem to have fallen into another planet, one that isn't the Earth I once knew.

15 June, 20??
I explored a wider berth in the past week and discovered that I am actually on an island, this island was once the research and development sector of a private security company. The idea of the project was to develop a new type of warrior, one that was neither man, nor machine. I have been unable to comprehend from the lab reports what this supposed creature is, but I know that if I encounter it on the island, I'm in for hell.

17 June, 20??
As I was climbing a tree on a ridge over the valley today I spotted the creature. It was at least seven feet tall with green, scaly skin, and a head the size of my torso; although it had 6 limbs it seemed to walk upright on only two of them. It was clear that the thing hadn't eaten in ages, he was upturning anything he came into contact with looking for food that wasn't there. I knew from the moment that I saw him that, given the chance, it would kill me in an instant. I must now make a choice- fight or flight.

18 June, 20??
I just heard a noise coming from the bushes nearby. I was awoken by a wailing sound that pierced through the jungle, and since then I have heard a heavy crashing of vegetation slowly getting louder and louder. I am writing this because I have not weapons, and if anyone should arrive on this accursed island, whether it be by fate or by choice, there is a documented proof of my life and survival. God knows what my family must think, I have no idea how long it has been. Wait, what's that s-..... (Journal ends with final words written in obvious haste and blood smeared on the pages).

Zupiter - Our New Home

Day 1:

January 1, 2013

Our first day on our new planet, Zupiter, was very exciting. We have set up camp and have only been able to explore the region around our campsite. We have found many new things; such as strange plants, animals, and bugs. All of these creatures are new to us which is why we are very cautious in everything we do. The most outrageous thing I have seen has been this orange plant that, well I think it was a plant, has a stem about four feet high with eight eyes on top. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. I walked by it and it was following me with its eyes. Over all today was a very good day. We did not come in contact with any “aliens” that seem to rule the land, which is a good thing I guess.

Day 7:

January 7, 2013

We have been here a week now and I feel we are adapting very well. We have found a sufficient supply of water and food in the area. In the past week we have been following a herd of some sort of creatures (its movements resembles a cow but looks like a mixture of a cow and zebra on Earth). These creatures were all white with brown stripes and purple polka dots. They resembled the size of an elephant on Earth. A group of our four best hunters went out in the afternoon to go hunt these creatures. It took them three hours to catch one. These creatures were very slow but very smart. It seemed that they knew we were hunting them. They moved around a lot but it was not enough for our hunters. They took many shots but finally killed one with a shot to the head. I felt we ate like kings that night. The creature’s meat was delicious. It tasted just like chicken. Due to its size, we had so much left over. Looks like I’ll be eating this for the rest of the week. I am starting to like this place. It is very fun and interesting with all the new discovers that we are making. Interestingly, with all of our exploring we have not seen any intelligent aliens.

Day 20:

January 20, 2348

We have been here for 20 days now and things are looking better and better each and every day. We continue to explore but with still no sight of inelegant aliens. Today the explorers found a very interesting land form. While following one of the rivers downstream they came across an area that was steaming. It looked like the water was hitting something. When they went to go over to look at it, they saw a stream of a bright purple substance. This substance resembled lava but looked completely different. When the water would hit it, the water would steam which meant it was very hot. They followed it for a long time but since it was getting dark they had to head back.

Day 21

January 21, 2348

The group of explorers continued where they left off with the stream of purple lava. They continued to follow it which led them to a civilization. There was a large population of aliens and houses. It looked like a town. These aliens had the body of a human, except they had three legs and four arms. They also had a transparent appearance (you could see through their skin), three eyes, and thirteen fingers on each hand with neon green finger nails. They were very unusual. They spoke a language unknown to all of us, that didn’t sound like anything we have ever heard. We made contact in a peaceful manor but continued to be very cautious. The unknown language made it very difficult to communicate. It did not take long for us to realize that they were not peaceful creatures.

Day 30

January 30, 2348

We have been here a month and things are not looking too good. The aliens seem to get more and more savage like. This was not looking good because of the large population they had. Another large problem was that we still unfortunately could not communicate with them. Small attacks by the native aliens were beginning to occur. Today was the worst one by far. They had easily over 300 soldiers that came to attack our small camp sight of merely only 150 people, children and adults. We were all terrified. Their weapons were way more advanced than any of ours. Before we could react the natives were braking into our campsite. The children and women were scrambling everywhere to find a safe hiding spot while the men tried to fight off the aliens. The aliens were over powering us when our oldest member, Jean, walked out to meet them. We tried to stop her but when the aliens saw her they stopped fighting. They seemed amazed at her age and her ability to use sign language to communicate. They began to surround her and soon Jean and the aliens were in an intellectual conversation by using sign language. It was extraordinary. It seemed like the aliens knew who she was. Once they saw her they stopped and knew that we came in peace. From now on we lived in harmony and peace with the aliens.

This is not the end of our story but actually the beginning. For the first time we feel confident that we will be able to survive in this new and strange environment.

Day 1 of our new life begins today!

The Colonists by Matt C.

The planet was enormous, and the computer had calculated its circumference to be quite large. We approached the planet slowly, the ship edging its way towards the sphere shyly, as a child crawls towards a stranger. And the planet was estranged to us. We had read about far off planets at the Akedemia*, yet never had we dreamt that it was inhabitable. We were close now, and the passengers look out of the windows, their faces perplexed and fixated on the globe that floated in the deepest regions of space-time.

Our trip had been three years to this point, and I had certainly aged, and so had the mass of humans behind me. Their scared faces and sooty eyes looked out into the distance, waiting and yearning for a home. They were starved and looking for permanence and stability, things that they would never have on this ship, things that they could only find on the planet.

The shuttles deployed from the ship, 32 of them, carrying all of us from the ship to the planet surface. We all had the image in our heads. The paradise that awaited us below! The veritable vegetation, the land would be our Petri dish for survival. The computer had told us that their would be copious supplies of food and animal life, and no sentient beings. It was our new Eden, it was our future. We would create more life, and re create our lost culture from the ashes of the great disasters that had sent us on this exodus

The shuttles neared the planet; we came closer and closer to renewed life. We were all anxious as we looked out the windows of the shuttles; all we could see is the planet surface, filling the space our eyes could see, as though we were seeing a vision of future. All our hopes culminated to this moment. We rushed down to the planet surface, and landed smoothly.

We prepared for our egress; we gathered our children, our gear and our emotions. The hatch opened and we exited the shuttles, filling out like God’s chosen fleeing from the Egypt of our former existence. We looked out, at the apparent barren lands, the inhospitable expanse of open desert. We looked out, into the mesmerizing eternity of our tragic existent. No food, no water, no vegetation. A barren wasteland. The planet had been estranged from us. And the computer had been wrong. The shuttles were one way: we were left here to fend for ourselves

*Major University of Study in the future

A Strange Planet by Tommy M.

A Strange Planet

Day 1

We were not dead but we weren't alive. We were bodies that lied in our beds on the space shuttle. For about 560 years my fellow partners and I had been lying there lifeless as we made our voyage to the planet of Tosung. It is the year 2570 and it is around 3:00 in the morning and we have finally reached the planet we were headed for in 2010. Due to advanced technologies we were able to basically freeze our body in time. We believe planet Tosung has promise to bear life. We are landing now so I will continue this tomorrow.

Day 2

I have now spent a full day and night on the planet Tosung. It is a very nice planet. So far we have not met any other life forms. The high temperature of the day was around 75°F and the low at 60°F. We cannot tell yet what season it is but the days here are longer than on Earth. Here the days are about 30 hours long. There is grass and trees and we did stumble upon a small creek which is a positive sign for life if there is water on the planet. No sign of animals yet but tomorrow we are going hunting to find animals. For now I need to get some sleep.

Day 3

I must have forgotten to mention in the last entry about our living quarters. As of right now we are living in huge tents that we sleep in at night and have our meals. Tomorrow we will find resources to build a sturdy building for us to live in. Like I have said today we went hunting in search of animals. We found some very strange things here. We found some animals that look like deer and bears. While on the hunt a bear like animal came up from behind us and started attacking! It was crazy! The first person he went after was Johnny from the research department. Poor Johnny was mauled by the bear before we got our gun out and shot it to death. We quickly brought him back to the camp and had the medical guy look after him while we went back. There was something that looks like the common squirrel but has a bigger tail and is about a foot long. There are fish in the river and birds in the sky. They all look very different from the ones at home. For now we are eating dry packaged food that we took from home that was able to withstand the voyage. We will be eating those until we could find an appropriate food source. Hopefully we don't run out.

Day 4

We found a giant forest some 4 miles from where we landed so we moved our camp over by the forest so that all our supplies are there as we build our new house. The whole day involved the cutting down of trees and carving them into the appropriate size and length to make our house. We have all of what we need cut and ready to be put together. We will do that tomorrow. So far it has been sunny and has shown no signs of precipitation. The temperature however is drastically changing! Since day one the high temperature has dropped 34 degrees! We did not expect this; it is freezing! We are all bundled up in heavy clothing which is slowing us down a little so we might have to work through the night.

Day 10

Well our house is finally built. We still have found no food that is edible and we are starting to run out of the food we brought. Things have not been going right and I am starting to get worried. The temperature has dropped another two degrees and there has been no sign of other people.... if there are other people here....

The Never-Ending Struggle for the Stars- Brendan McCullagh

So many planets to pass by… Wait! What a marvel this is! I do believe I have discovered a planet that appears to have cities built all across the landscape. I am the first human ever to arrive at Andromeda, it is the most exhilarating feeling! Being the only person to arrive at our neighboring galaxy will definitely have my name remembered throughout history. Now with this newly discovered planet showing signs of life, I must investigate this wonder.

I will land in a more secluded part of the planet that would be considered the country side, on Earth. This is very strange; I am dropping at an extremely slow rate down onto the planet. Clearly the gravitational forces are lessened on this planet, probably because it is not very large in size. Touching ground in 3, 2, 1…Whoa. My ship has seemed to bounce back up several times before coming to a stop on the ground.

I am now going to exit the spaceship and explore these lands to see what information the natives have enclosed. Walking on this planet is of great ease, and even enjoyment because I bounce significantly with each step. I will head to the apparent city in search of living organisms. While walking I was being approached by a purple figure with one arm, three legs, five eyes, and seven mouths. I was stricken with great fear and curiosity; this menacing creature had stopped in front of me and spit on me! Of course I spit back at the creature and all seven of his mouths opened wide then closed, this must be how they smile. The arm from this organism attached to my back and we both bounced towards the city. I did not know why he was taking me to the city, but he seemed pushy to make me go.

While arriving at the city, I saw a multitude of creatures like this one, but also about half of them were orange instead of purple. This could be a connection to how humans have genders and they can tell themselves apart by color. As we went through an enlarged tube with several other creatures I could not help but notice that the buildings all were built on top of this gigantic tube. The buildings stretched all around the tube, seemingly defying gravity. They each had a hole in the bottom; I am curious how they get to the holes that are so high up. All of a sudden my tour guide creature propelled upward like a spring with myself holding on for my life. We entered the largest building around the tube.

I ascended stairs that exactly resembled the stairs we had on earth until we reached the 99^th floor. I was exhausted and panting, while the creature had a perplexed look in his five eyes observing my struggle to gain my breath. We entered a hole that opened by itself and closed behind us. As I entered the room I saw a human being woman! My heart dropped as I approached the enormous chair she was sitting on. After a long talk with her, I discovered that her name was Claudia Szetinova and she was the ruler off the planet which they called ironically Claudussia. She exclaimed that on earth the Russians had sent her on a secret trip in the early 1990’s that reached Andromeda in ten years after launch. Her body was put to sleep for the entire trip; therefore she did not need food or drink. She established Claudussia from an extremely poor planet whose creatures called yimenies were soon to die off. She was truly the savior of the entire planet and each and every yimenie worshiped her for this accomplishment. I felt disappointment in not being the first Human to reach Andromeda, but it was quickly cured by my new goal; to be the King to the Queen of this planet.

Time-travelling is not always fun by S. Lee (revised)

The following is an excerpt from my memory that I experienced 12 years ago. Now I am revealing this secret about time-traveling. 12 years ago, I somehow time-traveled back to 9 years (2001) and after a while I time-traveled to 12 years to the future (2022). I fortunately came back to 2010 and lived 12 years miserably knowing that no matter what I do, I will not achieve my dream as I witnessed my future in time-traveling. Now that I have certified that what I saw in time-travelling actually happened as I lived along, I can say that it was not a dream, rather it was a real time-traveling. I want my readers to be aware of time-travelling that it is not always fun.

November, 2001

As I woke up in the morning, I went to the bathroom, and then as I turned off the light and closed the door, I felt something was wrong. Then I opened the door again and turned the lights on and saw myself in the mirror. I looked younger and shorter. Then I heard my mom’s voice saying “You are late, come take breakfast!” I eventually realized that I had somehow time-traveled back to my youth in Korea. I ran toward the table and hugged my parents and asked “What happened?” my parents looked at me as If I was not awakened yet. I first felt happy to see my parents, and then I had a headache. I did not know what to do, and I knew that even if I told my parents that I had time-traveled back to 9 years ago, they would not believe me. So, my dad drove me to my elementary school, and I saw my friends, I was so happy and until I saw a sixth grader that I hated. He bullied me and tried to scare me, then I got up and punched him in the face, the guy fell down. I later realized that I broke his nose and I could use my adult strength even though I had am 8 year old body. I went back home and my parents seemed surprised, because a first grader beating a sixth grader is abnormal. To avoid any discussion, I went straight to my room and planned what to do. After 3 short hours, I decided that I will prevent the bad things that had happened around me especially the car accident that injured my parents. I also wrote many important information such as who would be the president and some lottery numbers I remembered, so that my parents would use them to get money.

I went to school the next day and realized that I became famous. My friends and all the students in all grades came to thank me for getting rid of such a trouble-maker; however, I realized that my best friends were afraid of me. Being a first grader was harder than it seemed to be. Later on, I prevented many bad events that I remembered by using adult strength; however the accidents occurred to other people. I soon felt guilty, but I could not stop, because I would rather see others suffering than seeing my family and friends suffer. I was soon recognized by the government and went to a genius academy. I learned that I was not the only one from the future. I saw one guy who constantly looked at me while I walked in, and he gave me a note that says his number and that he came from future. I hesitated for a moment, but I called him, and learned that there are more than 100 people who came from future. Then the guy told me that I have to stop using my adult strength and changing other’s fates, because if I keep changing the nature flow, I would die earlier. As I tried to stop my family car accident, I suddenly fell asleep.

November, 2022

As I woke up in the morning, I went to the bathroom, and then as I turned off the light and closed the door, I felt something was wrong. Then I opened the door again and turned the lights on and saw myself in the mirror. I looked much older and poor. I soon realized that I had time-traveled to future this time. I was somewhat disappointed, because I expected to see spaceships and other technologies that would fascinate me, yet the world became darker and I could not find any people. It was as if I was left alone in this big country, then I found a newspaper that explained why there is no one. The newspaper said that the technology became much complicated and further that humans could make live animals by their machines, however the as doctors try to make humans, a zombie virus spread out. Many people became zombies except rich people, who traveled to the Moon. I eventually realized that I am in a great danger, because I have to fight zombies. I knew that the zombies come out when the sun goes out or when there is no light, so I went to weapon stores and grabbed some weapons and went to Hudson River by a gigantic elevator that I have never seen before, then I prepared for the battle, I did not want to fight but I had to fight. I set my base camp with many lights on and hoped the zombies cannot reach because of the lights, but I was wrong, there were a thousand of zombies crawling from the river and the Bear Mountain. As one of the zombies was about to grab my face, I fell asleep

November, 2010

As I woke up in the morning, I went to the bathroom, and then as I turned off the light and closed the door, I felt something was wrong. Then I opened the door again and turned the lights on and saw myself in the mirror. I looked normal. I thought all the time-travelings were dreams. No, I wanted to think that they were dreams. I was soon scared because I did not know if they were all dreams or real time-travelling, and I soon felt miserable that the world will end 12 years later. However, I eventually forgot about the time-travelling and got back to a miserable cycle.

Guys, if you feel something is wrong, as you wake up in the morning to go to the bathroom, and as you turn off the light and close the bathroom door, just go back to sleep! Do not even bother looking in the mirror and pray to go back to the present, unless you are 100% sure that you will be successful and nothing bad will happen to you. It is better off not seeing your future, because your current life soon becomes miserable and worthless. It is as if you are in a game that you know you will lose, so you lose interest in your current life, unless you are the chosen hero.

Now, do you still want to time-travel?

"My Future Awakening" by Tomasz Cichon

May 27, 2050:

I wake up in a hospital in Hackensack, NJ...with a beard! My eyes hurt and my body seems very different and significantly bigger. I look around to find my family surrounding my bed that is amazed and perplexed. I see everyone crying and I am soon informed that the year is 2050 by the doctor and I have been in a coma for about forty years after hitting my head while rock climbing. As I am walking out from the hospital with my family, I almost immediately notice the new technology. Instead if televisions, there are holograms for viewing programs on the walls of the hospital. I also kept thinking to myself where all the attractive nurses were. Then, I notice that they have been replaced by robots that follow every command of the doctor and patients. The inside world of all the rooms in the building seems so much brighter, with flickering lights and new sounds. Finally, as we make our way outside, I wonder confusedly where the car is. I ask my family if the walked. Suddenly, I see my dad pull out a mini phone device and calls a taxi. After a few seconds, I step into a hovering cab that flies back to above the skies, and drops me off home with my family. I was a little air sick even though the cab ride lasted only 25 seconds.

May 28, 2050:

I am awakened in the morning by a robot maid serving me breakfast. After I take my shower and the robot brushes my teeth, I sit down to play some video games on my Sony Playstation 12. Soon, when I step outside with my jet pack strapped to my back, I gaze at the new technical world that I am so unfamiliar with. Everything seemed so shiny, and bright. Even everyone's clothes looked like space suits, compared to my jeans. Suddenly, my father brings me back to consciousness from my gazing of the street, and teaches me how to fly with the jet-pack nicely and swiftly. It took some time getting used to, but I got the hang of flying rather quickly, so I set out to see if I could find my friends from the time that I knew them forty years go. I guess I won't be needing my driver's license anymore.

June 9, 2050:

As a couple of days pass in my new, unfamiliar world, it is evident that a huge problem exists that would take a severe amount of time to solve. I don't know who my friends are since everyone is grown, and I don't even have a clue on how to use this new technology. The computers are holograms that float in the air and appear with a simple voice command to my watch. Now, we use "Windows gold 32" as a standard operating system. My mind and I are going crazy. Everything is just different and strange. The food, air, houses, and even the language isn't the same. My family provides no help for me since they are all very busy. My parents have to work almost the whole day in order to pay off the hospital bills. That reminds me, I'm now fifty-six years old, and don't even have a simple job! My body and mind can't function right since there are so many things to learn and get used to all in a short amount of time. Now, I just ate supper and since I am so overwhelmed by absolutely everything, I automatically knock myself out on my bed. It has got to be the stress. All I want to do at this moment is to make a wish to never have awakened in the hospital.

June 12, 2050:

Day by day, time goes on and it still seems like I have made no progress in my understanding and view of this new futuristic look in the world, let alone my own town. However, I try to break the ice and strap on my jet-pack this morning to search for the answer of the big question of where the people I once knew are right now, and to try and get my life back on track from where it was left off. To my amazement, I actually meet some of my old school friends about 10 minutes later while they were playing soccer on the field. Yes, sports like these still exist. They seemed very surprised and glad at the same time because they thought I was dead. Since it was time for me to head home now for lunch, we exchanged numbers and planned to go out tomorrow night. They said they would teach me the "new" way to hang around. This was a positive step for me, and at least something was going right.

June 13, 2050:

I was very excited for tonight from the moment I woke up from bed. I couldn't wait to hang out with my "old" friends again. To pass the time, I read some recent newspapers to discover what changed in the issues of the world throughout the years. I soon find out that Justin Bieber is now our country's president. I think to myself that this new world can't be real. Later, I realize that I've missed my appointment at the cafe with my friends because I got too caught up in reading events from the old newspapers. To cheer myself up, I decide to get myself a midnight snack. Upon my arrival at the 7-11 store to buy a drink and some cookies, two girls call out to me and ask me for my number and if I'm single. Then, I wake up to my mom yelling at me to go to school. It is monday and I have 3 exams today. The year is 2010. Well, atleast it was an interesting dream while it lasted. Now, my life really does stink.

The Search For a New Planet by Lawrence Chan

February 15, 2030

We left our home planet as soon as we heard of its impending expiration. Streets were beginning sink and earthquakes swallowed up entire cities into the Earth's crust. The only hope left for our people is to abandon our homes. My family and community have gotten as far away as possible. It has been two weeks since our community arrived on this new planet. This planet is one of much mystery. We have traveled from place to place looking for a safe home but the land is diverse and dangerous. Some places are barren and desert like. Other places are full of life, plants and mysterious animals. We have most recently come upon a forest in which we plan to make our home in. Along the western edge of the forest there is a great river. The society is planning to make our new civilization on the outskirts of the forest where we will have many supplies and natural resources. I hope everything goes well and we settle down soon.

February 20, 2030

Our small community has set up camp along the forest as was planned. So far we have not had a hard time finding food and supplies but the large animals we have encountered seem dangerous and irritated. I fear that if we do not get some sort of protection against the wilderness than we will not last much longer. The trees are full of fruits and provide a good source of food but out village is lacking proteins we need to survive. Sadly we are not yet ready for hunting. If we can manage to build a fence or wall to keep out the unwanted visitors, than we may have a good chance of surviving.

February 22, 2030

Our plan to build a wall around the city is proving to be much more difficult then we imagined. We do not have the supplies or man power to build a strong encasing in which we will be permanently protected. Unfortunately we did not bring many supplies with us and we are lacking weapons, ammunition and any power tools that could assist us. The younger men in the society have made makeshift axes and tools out of whatever rocks or metal we have. They are planning to cut down trees to use in building the fort. We are also in need of fire wood because the weather is slowly becoming colder and less inviting. However on a good note, the few men who brought guns and other weapons with them have been able to hunt down some native animals, which we plan to eat this week.

February 28, 2030

The fort around our town is beginning to come together. The other men and I have been working endlessly to cut wood and build shelter and protection. So far we have been able to surround two thirds of our small village and have built a couple small shelters. The food supplies that we had taken with us are running low, but we have discovered that the native animals are extremely tasty and nutritious. In a week or so, once we have finished building shelters, we plan to set traps to catch as much game as possible. So far only five of our members have fallen ill from fatigue but no one has died as of now. We are hoping to survive here for a few months until the rest of the people on our home planet arrive or find a new planet fit for inhabiting.

March 12, 2030

Hopefully this is the last entry that I write before we are saved by the rest of our people. Life has been extremely tough on this new planet. If we did not have our completed fort and protective shelters we would never have survived this long. Our society has lost quite a few members since I have last written in my diary. Some of them died from sickness, others disappeared into the wilderness. A few men have even been killed while on the hunt by enraged animals. We have recently received a message from our home planet and they are sending a spaceship to transport us to a new location. From what we know this new location is much safer and already has houses and towns for all new comers. I do not know how much longer our people have to stay on this planet, but if we do not receive help soon I fear that many of us will not survive…

Spark, a Genius Town by CJ G.

While driving across country, I happened to come into car accident that caused me to delay my trip for about a week. It was a rather ordinary day and nothing seemed strange until I arrived in the nearby, secluded, town. This town was filled with magical things, things that cannot be explained by the normal human mind. As I walked through the town I noticed things, one of them being floating people and objects; strange and foreign technologies that I have never seen before. But how? It's not like I was on an advanced planet, I was still on earth in the United States.

This small secluded town's unusual mysteries began to unravel the longer I stayed. It was not magic that had caused those people and objects to float. It was revealed to me that this town was filled with advanced scientists who designed some of the greatest technological advances. But with great advances comes great disasters. Being an officer of the law, I came to the conclusion that it was my duty to stay in this advanced yet small town and help solve the mysteries of who caused these disasters, some of them done purposely.

Well it's been about a year since I've arrived here at Spark. Spark is a special town yet it has many familiarities with the outside world. One great thing about Spark is that it is a small, close-knitted community. Everybody knows everyone here and the inventions of these honorable men and women. I once caught a man who decided it was okay to use the Memoraser. He used this memory-eraser to wipe the short term memory of distinguished scientists after they arrived at a breakthrough. He then stole the formula or invention and patented the ideas, himself.

I've also seen many great and useful inventions as well as the fully automated car, the Virturoom, and the DNA VRS machine. The Virturoom is an awesome device. You place the device in the center of the room, hit the on switch, and pow an exact replica of a room or distinct period of time is replicated to the last and finest detail. The Virturoom is great for parties, crime scenes, and history classes. I've been to several Toga parties that were set during Ancient Roman times; it was pretty amazing. I personally use the Virtoroom for crime scenes; if a crime scene must be cleaned up quickly, I scan the room with the 3D-Scanner and then use the Virtoroom. With this device, I'm also able to move objects around. Oh, and the DNA VRS machine is a beauty. From a single strand of a DNA fiber, such as a hair follicle or minute blood drop, it can reconstruct a virtual image of the person. Down to the last detail.

Some freaky accidents happen around here. I've once investigated that we had been living in a paradox, an alternate reality, another investigation was of an artificial intelligent drone that decided to shoot down everyone. I looked out of the window this morning and noticed it was snowing out, that doesn't seem odd right? Except for the fact it's currently the middle of summer. So, now it's my job to figure out why it's getting colder and colder out; the scientist tell me that by this time tomorrow, it'll be like the next ice-age.

Times in the 1500s by Hyung Su Han

Day 31 year 1597

"Do not tell my death to the enemy" is my favorite quote spoken by a general in the Lim Jin We Ran period.. Based on the history (including the following events that were happening since I had arrived) I learned during class, I could calculate the time period of this era. This was the period of Lim Jin We Ran (임진왜란 [壬辰倭亂]), which is when the emperor was having a hard time due to the fights amongst different parties of the supporters of the emperor. Not being able to secure the center of the country the country was becoming weak and thus started the invasion of Japan( Do Yo To Mi He De Yo Shi united Japan도요토미 히데요시[豊臣秀吉] and stretched his ambitions towards Josun (Korea). I am getting used to the living conditions of this time period. There is no cell-phone, electricity, or auto mobile except for the use of horses. I have not said anything about coming from the past (to the villagers) since I would be thought as a crazy person, so I have been living as an assistant of a boat craft’s man. It took some time to get alone in the village and the different customs including the use of tone in the languages. Nothing particular happened today and I have been learning a lot of skills from my master. Today I got to build a mast for a big boat for a merchant ship.

Day 100 year 1597

Just when I was wondering about when the war was going to happen, posts were posted by soldiers sent by the emperor himself warning the citizens about the war and also having a draft to prepare the fight. By now I was accepted as a villager amongst the citizens and villagers that I was staying in. I had to go to the office and say that I would like to participate in the navy (participate in the draft) to secure my identity before they find out I am not listed in as a citizen of Josun (조선) (before it was called Korea).

Day 105 year 1598

I have been having hard trainings that I would never have taken in my life. We started off with the control of the ships which were much harder compared to the modern way of sailing, since we could only rely on wind. The power source moving the ship was coming solely from human paddle force. This was the 5^th day since the hard training had started and we had started the practice of firing cannons. Unlike the year 2010, the aiming was done only through angles and also the fire was lit by the soldiers themselves. General Lee soon shin (이순신) is the most famous generals amongst Koreans; he was famous for many of his achievements. And today I got the chance to see him!

Day140 year 1598

Unlike what I had expected, General Lee soon shin (이순신)was not the man we learned about during history class. He would always drink, gamble, and be lazy for all his duties. As time passed the situation got worse. This is the day from when I started to help out with hints in what to do for the General. First I needed to help him understand the serious situation he was dealing with. He had no pride in his country and also no information of what he was doing. I knew that a strong navy is extremely important for this country. This is because Josun (Korea) is a land which is surrounded by the ocean on 3 sides of the country. So I advised him to strengthen the navel army and prepare for battle. I remembered the fact that Lee soon shin’s greatest achievements aside his battles were the creation of the Gubooksun (거북선). This was a boat that looks like a turtle which had a cover on top of the deck making it protect from arrows and so on. Now knowing that this was not done by the general, I went into action making the boat myself. I am feeling very anxious and scarred for the upcoming battles that I need to fight without the famous general whom I was taught that was undefeatable.

Day 200 year 1598

Being in so many wars, I have been completely accustomed with the nature and culture of this time period. I have also ranked up to become the second general right under the influence of general Lee soon shin (이순신) due to my knowledge of knowing the future in what will happen. Unlike what I had feared the most, Lee soon shin was gaining back his reputation. Due to my help he has been living up to what we had been learning in history class. This was the day when I fought the Mung lang De Chup (명량대첩), where we won the battle with only 5000 men against 141,500 enemy troops. The war was over and it ended as a successful securing of the country. But that was not the end of my journey, it had only begun. What was I to do when I was called to see the New king?

Alone- Paul H. revised

I wake up, confused in an unfamiliar room. The ceiling is not visible and the floor feels sticky under my feet. There is a curtain on one side of the room. I walk over and pull off the curtain and immediately an intense light blinds me. Once my eyes adjust I looked out the window and see a huge city with strange architecture.

The buildings are strangely structured with odd curves that looked foreign. I can not tell where the light was coming until I looked up above all the buildings and see a huge star that looked closer than the sun ever used to. This is a different from any place I've seen on Earth. I assume this is a different planet. There are no streets below the buildings, as if the city is suspended in the sky. Unable to leave this room, I go back to sleep.

Darkness engulfed me as my eyes opened. The curtains were folded back over the window. A hint of light flows through a small opening through the curtains. I struggle to get to me feet on this sticky floor. I fumble around and make my way towards the window. As I reach out to grab the curtain, a shadow flows over the light. Pulling down the curtains, a horrid evil creature stares directly into my eyes on the other side of that window.

Its red eyes look right into mine. The disgusting, pale hairless body stuck to the window. The monster begins to flail its limbs around and pounding on the window. I see cracks in the window now, and before watching anymore of the madness, I turn around and run into the darkness.

I continue to run without looking back until I see a door. There is no door knob or handle anywhere on it. A horrific screech sounds off behind me towards the window. Out of fear I kick at the door, opening into the suspended city. I hear another scream behind me, and not waiting for what is coming towards me, I jump out of the doorway. Ready for a free fall, I stop in midair. I look around at the buildings. Suddenly they all turn to ash and disappear. I stand on nothing with nothing around me. The light of the sun fades and I am left alone, suspended in nowhere, alone.

The Land of the Unusual by Ryan R.

Day 1:

Finally! We've reached the territory of the long awaited Land of the Unusual! We were delayed quite a bit due to a sickness within the travelling crew. When we arrived, we noticed that the natives of this newly established planet acted so kindly to one another. They were very giving people and they were very hospitable when we arrived. This was something none of us were used to due to such rude behaviors back on our homeland. However, is this how they truly act when strangers are not around. Are they the people who they come off to be? We plan to stay here for a couple of days in order to study the interaction of these "aliens". I am very excited to observe the architecture and landscapes of this new land. I feel as if this will be a very interesting journey because I have already noticed unusual behaviors and attitudes that differ from those of our homeland.

Day 2:

The indigenous people took us on a hike today after they prepared breakfast for our group. (Something that no one back home would ever do; this was quite intriguing. Are we playing into their trap?) When I ate the food that was prepared it tasted similar to an American breakfast, however the spices tasted peculiar. There was a special zest to the foods of the new planet.

The hike that we went on was beautiful, almost too beautiful. The land of these people is very mountainous and contains many canyons. The water that we spotted was a beautiful green- blue color. I cannot compare terrain at home to the newly founded lands that my group had been introduced to. It was almost unusual to see such beautiful lands since we are so used to heavily populated cities. I am still way too suspicious. Why are they treating us like royalty? Why are they going out of their way to make us happy? There's something wrong here...

Day 3:

Today, I decided to talk to the captain of our travelling crew. I had to talk to someone about my suspicions. He told me I was paranoid and foolish for thinking this way. Maybe he was right.. Was I just way too used to the harsh behaviors back home? Am I ignorant to the fact that there could actually be decent people in the world? I don't know, but I do know one thing... I do not have a good feeling about this place.

Day 4:

As I laid in my bed I thought to myself, "Still, there was no satisfaction within my mentality that would lead me to comfort." I still believed that these "aliens" were way too kind for my liking; they gave us everything we wanted. I arose from my cot to find my roommate missing. I figured that I just overslept, and everyone else had been already on their daily agenda planning. However, I caught myself pondering about how it was way too silent, way too quiet.. something must have happened! I stepped out of my tent to find nothing but isolation. Everyone had vanished.

This can't be Earth Anymore by Nigel Noriega

This can't be Earth Anymore

Tearing through the air at 100 miles per hour at around 20,000 feet was the standard way most operations started for me, but this time is different. The sky is not its peaceful blue riddled with puffs of clean-white clouds, and the air is not refreshingly cooling as it usually is from so high up. Rather, the sky is a canvas of an intense and brazen mix of reds, oranges, and yellows; even the most skilled artists would have difficulty recreating its entrancing beauty. The air is warm and heavy, and this is when the stark realization strikes me. This can't be Earth; only one moon illuminates the sky of Earth. There's two ominous moons beginning to appear out of this intense twilight. However, at the moment, a more pressing matter is at hand: the ground.

Gravity is still the same where ever I am, and the ground is speeding closer and closer with each passing moment. Covering the landscape is a vast jungle that seems to stretch on indefinitely. I cannot find a safe place to land, and so I brace myself for a harsh landing in the canopy of the trees. My automatic parachute opens as I violently smash into the tops of the trees. They rush by me in such a blur I only slightly notice the bizarre colors emanating from them. It isn't until I crash into one of the larger trees and fall to the ground that I actually observe my new strange environment.

The plants are not luscious and lively greens, but glow with neon colors of different assortments. All of the trees, grass, and plants have an acute glow that stung my eyes after a while. There are bright hues of blues, purples, and whites that remind me of the skylines in the great cities of America. I find myself lost in the captivating glow of all of these extravagant colors completely surrounding me. It is after some period of time that I realize it is time to keep moving. While it is an astonishing sight, remaining in the vivid palette of colors for much longer will not get me anywhere closer to my destination.

I proceed through the wooded labyrinth on this curious new world, and pay close attention to the miniscule features of the area. The various and peculiarly shaped footprints in the ground, and the many large scratch marks engraved into the trees I pass by. Something is off. Even the air seems to take on a different feel, as if it suddenly grew fearful and ran away, leaving me breathless. I do not know what I might encounter on this bizarre planet, but the obvious signs of damage to the timber and features of the environment visible make me all the more apprehensive to continue. However, I must no matter what the cost; failure is not an option.

Pressing on, I finally reach a clearing in the tangled underbrush of the jungle. It’s then that the source of the damage of the forest appears to me. A monstrously large creature in a deep sleep is slumbering in the center of this isolated clearing. The hulking mass is covered in a dense fur, and colored an ominous black with traces of bright red blood in certain places. Being too far to be closely examine the beast, I decide to creep closer. The strange animal has large golden claws that stuck out from a paw the size of my head. Without noticing, I step on a stray branch and the crisp crunch sound of the branch wakes the creature. Its eyes shoot open, displaying its bright green eyes with cat-like pupils, as it springs up into a vicious pose with a bloodthirsty snarl on its face . I stand, frozen in mortal fear, as the eyes of the monster lock with mine. Could this be the end? The simple arrival on a foreign planet cues my untimely death? No, I can't let it end like this. I still have a mission to finish.