The year is 2097 and most of the humans on what used to be the beautiful planet earth are dying off.

I came to visit the land of "tomorrow" in my space ship Barn. I landed in what used to be known as Anchorage, Alaska, but is now called City of Dying Hope (in an unknown language). I saw many people walking around in weird looking protective clothing and masks over their faces. There were run down old buildings in the downtown area, some of which I recognized from back in 1997. And it was so crowded there!

As soon as I stepped out of Barn the sun started to burn my skin, and I ran for the nearest shade I could find. I saw a girl with a name tag that said "Angel" walking by and asked her if she had any extra protective clothes that I could borrow. Angel said that she would give some to me, so I went to her house to get them. While I was in her house I saw some really old pictures on the wall. There was also one that looked like my brother, Fred. I found out that the house was owned by my great niece, Angelica Christine Alstrom-Darwin. After I learned how to use the protective clothing and the skin oil she gave me, I set out to explore this mysterious world. But just as I stepped out the door, there were giant bugs there to greet me. I jumped back and asked Angel what they were. She told me that they were a mutant of a cockroach and grasshopper that was formed after President D. Jones bombed Iraq with a small nuclear missile. As I walked on I noticed that there was more sand on the ground than anything else. I asked Angel if any of our relatives still lived in Marshall and if we could visit them. She said that my brother, Shaun, and sister, Kristy, had been lucky and got to raise their families in Marshall. But after the population grew to two thousand the mayor, Ray Alstrom Jr., had to put a limit on how many people could live there. Angel said that there was now no more room for expansion and the present mayor, Ray Alstrom III, is sticking to the quota.

Angel and I decided to fly out to Marshall in my machine to take a look around since she had never been there before. We landed on the airstrip that had not yet been constructed when I left the village in the 20th century. It seemed that the tundra underneath it was sinking because there were a lot of dips in the runway. Otherwise I noticed that Marshall had developed well and the citizens did a good job of keeping the town clean and healthy. Unlike the City of Dying Hope, there were still trees around and more were being planted. I was very proud that the people in Marshall were doing a good job because this was the place I was worried about most of all. One thing that surprised me, and something I would never have expected would happen, was that they had banned all gasoline-powered vehicles, and the people rode around on bicycles and paddled in canoes. So the air was fresh and the water seemed clean. It was a short walk into town and I was very pleased with what I saw.

I decided it wasn't a good idea for me to meet my relatives, so I hung back while Angel had her own little reunion. Then we flew back to the City of Dying Hope that night. I missed seeing trees and fresh water there. I even missed seeing regular clothes. For some reason I felt bad about coming into the future. So I went back home to 1997 where I thought long and hard about what people are doing to the the earth and its environment. It seemed like there was nothing good about the future City of Dying Hope, and that made me think that it was time to start changing people's attitudes about the environment, or else everything could be ruined.

Charlotte Alstrom