by Jim Reilly
One of the nurses came by and said to him, “You seem a little sad.” He noticed that her language was combination of most of the languages on Earth when he had left.
She continued, “Maybe you want to see some of your messages from your family and friends?”
He was confused, since he would soon get back to Earth, and he did not think anyone would still be around after about a thousand years. He asked to her, “What messages do you mean?”
The nurse with Super Homo sapiens features said, “I’m sorry. I should have told you before. You have messages from your loved ones, and you could listen to them if you would like. The families and friends of those taken realized that they might never see their loved ones in their lifetime, so they recorded messages for them when they returned.”
Now a little perked up with the emotions running through his body, he said, “Sure I would. Can you please let me see them?”
The tall girl reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a quarter. When activated, it projected a virtual reality hologram into Steven’s mind. Before he knew it, he was standing in a representation of his living room just outside of Topeka, Kansas, and sitting on the couch were his parents, Eva and Eddie. Both greeted him at the same time: “Hello, Son. We are happy you made it back.”
With tears in her eyes, Eva continued, “Unfortunately, by the time you hear this message, we will be long gone. But we wanted to tell you that we have not stopped thinking about you all these years. We don’t look it, but we are much older now. I am now 145 years old and still going strong. I need to be with all the grandchildren I have running around our house because of you.”
Steven laughed along with the holograms of his parents as he walked around the representation of the living room he grew up in as a child. He was amazed at technology of this hologram because it had pictures and trinkets with which his mom decorated the room, and in his mind he could smell the aromas he remembered, such as the stews his mom would cook or the smell of his father’s clothes after a day working the dairy farm.
She then continued to speak to her son. “Things have changed since you left. Sure, there was a lot of conflict at that time. But over time, people learned to live together. Soon after the conflict with the Followers of Divinity, there were peace movements that gained favor. One particular movement started in a small village church in some out-of-the-way African country, and it spread across the world. Happiness, peace, joy, and serenity now reign over the world, and we owe much to you and your friends who went into harm’s way to help the people of this world against the likes of the Ancient Visitors and their leader, that Satan guy. He and his followers were going to come back to rule the people of Earth and the universe. I bet you and your friends put a stop to him, and he won’t be coming here a thousand years from now, like Matt Schaeffer said. No, you and your friends will have stopped him, and we are so proud of you.”
She started to cry, and Steven did too along with the hologram. “Are you crying again, old woman?” asked a playful Eddie as he tried to lighten the mood.
“Oh, shut up, you old coot,” she said in an equally playful response.
After a deep breath, she said, “Now, as for us, we’ll get by. For you, we hope you have a long and happy life filled with wonder and awe. Now, go and live that life. Oh, don’t worry. You will still hear from us because of your many children, and we plan to make many of these messages for all those rainy nights in the future. Good-bye, we love you.” Then the transmission ended.
Even though they were long gone, that message made him feel at home in this changed world. When the nurse came back, he thanked her, and she replied, “Think nothing of it. I was happy to do it for one of my ancestors. Yes, I am from the Steven line. I bet my great-great-great-great grandfather was running around that hologram as a child.”
This made him now feel that he was home since he had family, however distant. The nurse continued, “There are many people looking to meet their ancestors. We are lucky that thirty of you made it back a thousand years later.”
Alarmed, Steven cut her off: “You said thirty?”
About the Author
Jim Reilly is a new science fiction novelist. In 2009, he finished an MBA program during which his professors gave accolades to his writing prowess. Upon graduation, Jim was caught up in the economic recession, and was laid off from his corporate position. Jim’s wife suggested that he should write the book he had long envisioned, and to the gratitude of sci-fi readers everywhere, he did.
Jim is a married father of four, born and raised in Long Island, New York. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York -Empire State College and a Master of Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology.
From an early age, Jim always had a fascination with science, religion, and science fiction to a point that it became a passion of his. Now he enjoys putting that passion to paper. He has already penned his second sci-fi book and is working on his third.
Evolution
Jim Reilly, 2014