Lost and Found

The Journey

David's Journal 08/13/2087

This is the first day of my journey through the maze of the universe. I arrived at headquarters at 6:00 am. I got out of my car, walked through the front doors, and made my way 100 floors under the surface of the earth. Down there is a facility in which I helped create to study the science of teleportation through time and space. To simplify the story for the sake of my journal, we eventually discovered that it is possible to teleport anywhere in the universe using only a machine big enough to fit in your pocket. I am the guinea pig. I would not let some poor soul be lost in the universe when this is my life's work. This is what I have spent my entire life looking to achieve, and I am finally here. I put on the space suit and prepared myself. When you push the button, it will randomly take you to a planet somewhere in the universe. This is highly risky, but I am willing to take that risk. There is a return button, but we have never tried to use it at such far distances.

I pushed the button. Immediately, everything in front of me zoomed out and was slowly replaced by the new environment around me. All I saw was white, and at first, I thought I was dead. But no, it was snow and ice. In the distance, I could see mountains, sharp, and jagged. This is a new world, an unexplored region of the universe, and where I will spend the night. The suit I am wearing gives me the ability to breathe without having to resupply by simply converting the CO2 that I exhale into oxygen. A marvelous invention that my colleagues created some years ago in preparation for this endeavor. I wonder if anything or anyone else lives on this planet. My hope is that I can find life.

08/14/2087

I awoke this morning to find calmness outside my portable tent. Still wearing my suit, I opened the door of the tent, and no longer did I see the snowy ground that surrounded me the day before. I saw a desert, a vast wasteland with nothing in sight. I look around in confusion but quickly realized what I had done. The space and time machine, which I called the Spirit, was attached to my hip, and although it was not as simple as a quick push of a button, I must have ignited the machine, causing me to travel through space once again. It's hot, but sundown will come soon, and I am positive it will be extremely cold.

08/13/2088

It has been one year since I left Earth and embarked on this adventure. After hundreds of planets, every now and then I happen upon a fruit tree or even early life forms that dwelt in oceans that I could catch and eat. On some planets, I could breathe, but most were uninhabitable. Some scorching hot, and others were near paradise. After using all the resources I could on habitable planets, I had to once again make the terrible trek across space to find another useful planet. Still, no intelligent life forms have been discovered.

08/13/2089

Another year has now passed. At times, I have accidentally caused the Spirit to be initiated, sending me flying through space and to another world. Over the years, the mechanics of the machine have worn. On a few occasions, the button had become stuck, which caused me to be transported to multiple planets within a few seconds. I'm beginning to fear the worst for my adventure here in space.

08/13/2100

"I'm tired, I miss Earth. Space is a cold and dead expanse. Tens of thousands of habitable planets have I walked on, and yet not one planet with any forms of intelligent life. We are an anomaly, alone in this universe."

This is the mind of the man I was yesterday. Today I am the 8-year-old me again. I'm in a desperate state, and I pushed the button rapidly, flying through space. I closed my eyes as I pushed the button. Cold, hot, cold, and hot as I teleported to different planets each second. After several minutes of anger, I stopped. This time I felt neither cold nor hot, but warm. And I heard something different than usual. Normally, I could only hear silence or a heavy wind blowing over me. But this time I heard chatter. Talking, communication. With my eyes still closed, I thought I had gone insane, or perhaps I was dreaming. The machine does make you feel uneasy and detached from reality at times. But as I opened my eyes, I saw people. Not as humans but strikingly similar, at least in body composition. All were staring at me. I was in what looked like a marketplace, packed with hundreds of people. I collapsed and fainted in astonishment as a youth approached me and held out his hand, which had three fingers and a thumb. I woke in a cot with no one around me. I knew this wasn't a bad dream; I could see strange writings on the walls which indicated I was indeed on an alien world. No one has yet to be seen, but I hear chatting behind the walls. I will tell more tonight, or whenever I can. I have found intelligent life.