Summer 2018 Story 3

Once upon a time, a boy was born in South Korea on a dark and stormy night. When he went to college in Russia, he met classmates--one was from South Carolina, and the other was from Southern California. His name was Rudolph Lee, and his classmates were named Penelope Byars and Bell Hooks. When he first met his classmates, Rudolph thought they were very strange. Penelope recited poetry non-stop, and Bell would not stop talking about students' rights. Suddenly, Bell was feeling homesick and went to the grocery store to purchase a phone card because there was no internet during that time. Bell purchased the phone card, but she did not know how to use it because it was complicated and written in Russian. She tried for hours. Finally, Penelope and Rudolph approached bell at the phone booth. They were about to explain how to use the phone card when a huge, black sedan pulled up beside them. The people inside the black sedan asked the three students to get in the car and go for a ride.  At first they were all hesitant, but the people in the car were so friendly that they decided to get into the car anyway. Although Rudolph was still suspicious, he was not going to let Bell and Penelope leave without him.

The moment the doors shut, neon lights rapidly flickered, the car shook violently, and all three students screamed at the top of their lungs for fear of their lives! Then the driver of the sedan calmly said, "Don't worry. It's okay. We're going to do some time/space travel. you might want to buckle up."

Rudolph asked, "Why did you choose us?"

"Because I heard Penelope's poem."

"What!?" retorted Penelope.

The car jolted forward as the driver fixed his eyes on the road. The woman in the passenger's seat cryptically said, "Just wait, it will come to you when you are ready."

Rudolph and Bell looked at Penelope as she shrunk back into the seat with a vaguely guilty look on her face. She shrugged and threw her hands up wide eyed and confused. 

Growing more lightheaded the friends realized that they might be on a very particular type of journey. In the blink of an eye, they arrived.

Their blindfolds were yanked off, and they found themselves blinking in front of a room full of computers, and the computers were blinking back. "Welcome to the online writing center of the new age," boomed a menacing voice.

"What? What does online mean? I mean, I know what a writing center is, but online. You mean everything is on track as in the writing is on line? Is that it?"

"No!" the voiced replied.

The three friends had found themselves in the year 2080, where paper and pen were not necessary for writing, and typewriters had changed into strange flat keyboards attached to flat, colorful screens. Bell, always concerned about students' rights, asked what happens to the students' writing when it is in the computer. Their host explained the concept of the internet, further confusing the young scholars.