“After everything we’ve been through, I really hope our trip is boring,” Colin Brock said as he put a suitcase into the trunk.
Alice put her backpack in too. “Honeymoons are not supposed to be boring.”
“You know what I mean,” Colin said as he kissed her and closed the trunk.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” she said as they got in the car and closed their doors. “But there better be fireworks.”
“Well it is the 4th,” he said, starting the car.
They pulled out of the driveway and started south on their three hour trip to the beach.
Alice opened the hotel curtains and sighed.
Colin put the suitcases on the floor. “Wow, that’s quite a view,” he said. “You can see the street.”
“And billboards!” Alice added. “Don’t forget the tacky billboards.”
Colin walked over and held her. “There is a beach out there somewhere,” he said. “We’ll find it.”
“I know. I just hoped for a view of the ocean from our room.”
“Let’s go now,” Colin said. “The sun is about to set, and there’s a full moon tonight.”
“That sounds lovely,” she said.
Colin and Alice enjoyed a long walk on the beach as they watched the sun drop into the ocean. A few minutes later they watched the full moon rise out of the water.
“Beautiful,” she said.
“Very,” Colin said, looking at her.
Alice turned toward him. “Don’t be so cliche,” she said.
They both laughed and returned their gaze to the giant moon hovering above the ocean. Just then Alice noticed something in the water. Her eyes narrowed as she attempted to make out what it was.
“What is that?”
“What’s what?” Colin asked.
“It’s a light or something,” Alice said. “Flickering close to the sand.”
Colin looked for it. “I don’t see anything.”
Alice jumped up and started toward the water. Colin followed and finally saw it. They stopped where the waves gently splashed their feet. They kept watching as the waves were bringing the light closer to the shore.
“I think it’s made of glass or something,” Colin said. “The flickering is because of the moon.”
Alice looked at Colin and then back at the shiny object. Then she took off running into the ocean and swam after it.
“Alice!” Colin hollered. Then he sighed and muttered, “Here we go again.”
“I got it! It’s a bottle!” She started swimming back.
“Wonderful,” Colin said as Alice walked onto the beach. “The oceans are now a little cleaner.”
“This is weird,” she said, looking at the bottle.
“Yes very weird,” Colin said. “But I still love you.”
Alice pulled the stopper out of the bottle. She turned it upside down and a small metallic device dropped into her hand.
“Is that a memory stick?” Colin asked.
“It’s a jump drive,” Alice said. “Why would someone put a jump drive in a bottle?”
“Well, like you said. Weird.”
“Let’s go check it out on my laptop,” Alice said.
They ran back to their hotel room. Alice grabbed her back pack and unzipped it. As she was starting up the computer, Colin grabbed a towel from the bathroom.
“Wrap up. You’re soaking wet.”
“Thanks,” she said as she put the jump drive into the laptop. “I don’t recognize these file extensions.”
Colin sat beside her on the bed. “Those are strange,” he said. “Oh wait. There’s a text file.”
Alice double-clicked and they read the following words.
I’m writing and recording this introduction on the last day of the 21st century. Or a year before the 22nd century depending on your perspective. Personally I’m counting 2100 as a totally new era just as the year Y2K was for the world—and for me.
I don’t know for sure what will happen as we cross into the 2100s, but I do know the stories I’m sharing will shape that future. Of that, I’m certain. It already has.
The stories you’re about to read or hear are true. They happened during the past one hundred years. I’ve done my research. I’ve vetted my sources.
In many cases, I was there. My eyes have seen. My ears have heard. This is not fiction.
These stories are also not based completely on my brain’s ability to recall facts. Memories are tricky. Every time I think back, I know I risk altering the accuracy of those memories with the understanding I have in the present.
That’s why I write and record. I want to remember what happened. I want to remember what I was thinking at the time these things happened. If anything changes, I’m hoping the articles, podcasts, and journals will help me see it.
Some of this is taken from officially published stories. You can find them if you search the archives. Other stories have never been told until now. Some are incredible. Some are personal. Many of those are pulled from private journals I’ve kept since I was 20 years old.
I always found it useful to document my day. Even now when everything around us is automatically recorded and archived, I still document my day for myself.
By the way, you should do it too. Your future, present, and past depend on it.
Colin Brock
December 31, 2099
LunarLodge: Gatlinburg
Alice looked at Colin.
Colin continued staring at the screen.
Finally he said, “This is exactly the opposite of boring.”
A work of fiction from Stories I Tell.
