“The Adventure to the Future” by Snehil: July 2024 3rd Place

Janet was a young girl who believed in magic, her parents had constantly tried to convince her that magic wasn’t real, but Janet just wouldn’t listen.

One day at Janet's school, her teacher read a book where the main character found a fairy in their school. After listening to that story Janet was thoroughly convinced that there was a place like that at her very own school, so she decided to investigate at recess. Instead of going to the playground or playing with her friends, Janet slowly crept down the stairs to the basement. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw a door. Curious, Janet opened the door and peered inside.

What she saw was amazing. It looked like something out of a book that she'd read about a time machine, and it looked like one! It had a gray border with a spiral, containing the colors of the rainbow, pulsing.

Excitedly, she stepped through the portal and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw that around her were humongous robots, black, flying cars, and beautiful tall buildings. Janet concluded that this was the future!

Janet quickly stepped back through the portal to go tell her best friend, Jim. Once she got back, Janet ran up the stairs to him. Jim at first, not believing her, decided to follow her. Janet asked him to step through the portal. Jim, now feeling a little less skeptical, yet anxious, held her hand as they both stepped through the machine. This time, when they emerged from the machine it was different.

There were still flying cars and robots everywhere, but the landscape did not look the same. The ground was burnt and there were pieces of robots everywhere. Now scared, they turned around to enter the portal, but it had disappeared.

They walked around, and they saw a strange looking man, with a clear torso, which revealed a big, blue, pulsating heart who after hearing their tale, said, “Sorry children, Earth was at war, and has now been destroyed. We are the last humans left…”