English 10-1

October 15, 2015

Prequel project: The pedestrian

It’s the year A.D 2053. The world is a cold, alone place. No one goes outside. Everyone stays inside. They’re consumed by the only thing this world is known to do. Technology is the only way to go. Technology has overcome everything and no one even knows how it even came to be.
Jill was just like everyone else consumed by technology. She didn’t question it, it was just how she was brought up and raised. She heard all the stories about people who didn’t like the technology. Even last week she heard about her neighbor, Mr.Leonard Mead, who was arrested for going for a walk at night. He was always a weird one who never went on technology and still prefered writing and taking walks. Jill asked her parents about Mr.Leonard Mead, but they didn’t speak much of it. “I don’t understand what Mr.Leonard Mead did wrong”. Jill said to her friend Jack. “ He went walking at night isn’t it obvious. He’s weird and doesn't belong in our society” Jack responded. Jill couldn't believe that this didn’t bug Jack one bit. So she was going to do some research herself.
Jill went straight to the computer lab after school. When she typed “letters” into the search bar nothing came up. She thought longer and typed in old form of communication. Not one thing popped up. She decided she was going to write her own letters. At the time she wasn’t aware that this could get her in lots of trouble.
Jill  went home and sat at her desk. How do you write a letter? She thought for a long time before coming to the conclusion that it just sentences on paper. Jill spent hours writing a letter, but who to send to? She decided she would send it to her friend Jack. To Jill writing the letter was like getting a present or new toy it was so fun. The next day Jill gave her letter to Jack, and Jack was wild with rage. “ Don’t you know this could get us in a lot of trouble?” Jack started to say. But he started to read the letter, and excitement spread across his face. Jill could tell Jack was just as excited about the letters as she was. That next day Jill got a letter back from Jack. They went on like this for weeks, thrilled with writing letters. Until one day Jill was walking to Jack’s house, and a cop rolled by. “What are you doing walking outside?” the officer questioned. Jill decided to tell the officers how fun writing the letters were. The officer stopped her immediately. “You have to come with me.” He started. Jill had an idea though. She started to scream as loud as she could, hoping to catch someone's attention inside their houses. All of a sudden a door opened.
Door after door opened and the officer didn’t know how to respond. Jill waited for everyone to come outside and she started to explain the fun Jack and her have had in the last weeks. “ Everyone should start writing the letters” Jill ended. The town paused considering her proposal, not believing what she just said. “ She’s a kid what does she know?” someone shouted angrily. People started to agree and get angry again. All of a sudden Jack came running out with all the letters and handed them to people. Surprisingly people read the letters. People started to talk and laugh at some of the writing. “Isnt this much better than staying inside and staring at a screen?” Jill questioned. People agreed.
Over the next few weeks people started to go outside more. Some even started to write letters to their neighbors. Eventually technology was hardly used. Everything had changed, but it was only a matter of time before things changed again. Would technology come back?