It all started with the city transit authority asking me to be part of their hyper-shuttle test. These new commuter space shuttles would make it possible for people to travel from Earth to Xix Prime, a planet 2,000 light years away, in two hours (no time dilation effects either—the four hour trip for us would equal four hours on Earth). If the test was successful, the shuttle system would be open for the general public.

I was far from the only "celebrity" to take the cosmic trip—actors, athletes, journalists, business people, politicians, and MyVideo makers were among the crowd. I hated these sorts of things but everyone wants to meet the famous superhero Joe Rover (aka Dogboy).

It wasn't long into the flight before I fell asleep. I soon woke to the noise of someone leaving my cabin; I only caught a glimpse of purple before the door closed. In the seat across from me sat a brown deerstalker hat and under that a brown leather journal.

Who uses paper journals anymore? I soon discovered the journal was from the ancient times, the 1990s. This is 2027. How did this get here? Curious, I opened the journal.

The journal belonged to Ren Rouen. The journal began with her moving to a new town when she was 10, but quickly moved to the subject of the neighborhood boy she met. His name was Matthew and the two formed a fast friendship. The journal mentioned many of their adventures together.

Then about the age of 13, she started to fall in love with Matthew. As luck would have it, he returned the feelings but rules stated that they couldn't date until they were sixteen. Trouble was Ren was a year older than Matthew and by the time he'd finally reached his 16th birthday, she'd already been pressured into being with someone else (if she'd waited for Matthew, she'd been branded a "spinster" or some other uncouth label). She, of course, could not return Matthew's affections and soon their friendship was over.

The journal ended with entries about her hometown growing into a darker, more sinister place. Violence and rage increased daily. Now and then she mentioned reading about Matthew in the paper about the good deeds he'd done—still trying to make the world a better place. Ren's last entry mentioned something about joining other refugees who would flee the land.

I used the rest of the trip to locate a child of Ren's, maybe Ren herself, to find out what happened. It didn't take long and once I was back on Earth, I found myself at her door. I rang and a few seconds later a young woman, about my age, with red-brown hair opened the door. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Matthew," she said before embracing me, her eyes full of tears—some of them wetting my jacket.

"Uh..." I said, my eyes darting about. "What?"

_______

My entry into the Aim to Engage challenge "The Journal."

https://www.wattpad.com/553407906-aim-to-engage-day-19-the-journal