"It looked...unbelievable. Unimaginable. It was like something that I had never seen - well, I had never seen it before in reality, but it's lived in my dreams for years, as has it in yours. Everything that we've talked about since we were little was there. But, it's funny... I never expected the other things that it brought along with it.

"I remember you saying 'Are you ready?'. I remember thinking 'Yes.' But, I don't quite remember saying it. Did I say it? Well, I don't remember if anything happened from the time I was in the room with you until the time I was in the room alone. When I got there, I was in the exact same position and everything. I was sitting against the wall, and the stone was in my hand. All was silent, except for some slight roaring outside. The room was slightly different, in that everything looked a little bit shinier, a little bit more put together, but it was still the same size.

"But, the window... that was where I really got a first glimpse of what I'd gotten myself into. It sounded like the roaring sound I told you about was coming from outside, so I got on my knees and crawled gently over to the window, the floor creaking under me, and I peeked out slightly.

"What I saw was... it was.. simply striking. A tall building probably ten times the size of this one seemed to rise up out of the ground, and touch the sky. There were lots of squares in its infrastructure, and I could only guess that they were windows, but, the thing was, that you could'nt see through them. And, down below them, instead of grass, there was this hard, black surface, with white, almost cream-colored sides, and people walked on the cream-colored part. They walked across the black surface to get to the other side of it sometimes, but mostly they either walked one way or the other. And, on top of the black surface, were little...um...wagons. It was amazing, because, these wagons - they moved without a horse. They were like magic. I was in awe. I seriously thought I was dreaming. I honestly thought that that woman had lied and that rock had poisoned me, and I wasn't in the future at all. I put the rock in my pocket, so I'd have it with me, whenever I wanted to come back home.

"Well, if I was dreaming, I decided that I musn't let this dream go to waste, so I stood up, and tiptoed to the door, just in case anyone was here, and slowly slid it open. The house was empty, and quiet, but it was laid out exactly how it is now, but some of the paint was redone, and the floors, too. I sneaked ever so slightly to the front door, hoping that no one would hear me, if anyone was there, in an effort to exit that way.

"I had my hand on the gold doorknob, you know, the pretty one in the foyer that everyone always compliments us on, when I heard a couple steps behind me.

"'Emma! Emma, where are you going?" a kind voice spoke behind me. I turned around, facing a women that looked oddly like mother, but you could tell she wasn't. You could just tell. Her hair was much shorter than mothers, and some of her facial features weren't exactly the same, but the similarities allowed me to guess that she was probably my great-great granddaughter, or something, you know. She even walked like mother. And the way that she was eyeing me when she came into the foyer, I knew that she, for the time being, atleast, probably was my mother. I decided to play along-I didn't want any trouble after I'd gotten my own self into all of this.

'"And, sweetheart, what on earth are you wearing?' she asked, her face turning sour with disgust. I then realized that I was dressed quite differently from her, although I could've asked the exact same thing she'd asked me when I saw what she was wearing. She wasn't wearing nearly enough clothes! And she had on pants! Pants! As if she was a man or something! And they were this blue, cotton fabric that I'd never seen before. They were quite queer. I, of course, had on the dress I was wearing when this whole thing started, and it's very pretty, you know? But, this woman, whatever her name was, obviously didn't like it. It looked a lot better than her cheap-looking outfit. She looked like one of those European peasants, I tell you. As if she worked in the fields all day, but I knew she couldn'tve because, atleast I thought then, grass didn't exist anymore.

"'I-I,' I stammered, moving my hands from the doorknob to clasp them behind my back. "I'm, um, going to a masquerade ball later on tonight, and I just decided...'

"'I swear to God, you're the strangest sister in New York. Why are you talking like that?' I looked up, and on the banister, was a young girl, about your age, and she oddly reminded me of you. In a strange way, however. However, she was dressed even worse than her mother. She had on a skirt, which was atleast a little bit feminine, I must admit, but it was horrifyingly short. For a second, I thought she was a prostitute-I was ready to assume anything around this time. It was made out of that same blue, cotton fabric, but it was frayed at the edges. Then, I assumed the worst-our future family was poor! You have no idea how much that scared me. I almost fainted. In that short time, i was thinking of who the possible culprits could've been to lose all of our money.

"'Hello?'' your look-alike yelled, annoyed, obviously.

"'It's for the masquerade. All for the masquerade..,' I barely stammered. My mind was too overwhelmed to think correctly.

"'Well, honey, go change out of that this instant. I need both of you out of the house as soon as possible. I'm having it cleaned, and I don't want any of you with your scruffy friends parading around here while they're trying to do their job. And I don't know what masquerade you're talking about, Emma, but it'd better be before six o'clock, because the family party is then. So, you'd better be here by five to help set up.'

"I slowly walked to the stairwell, putting my hand on the banister, and stepping up.

"'Patricia, help your sister get out of that getup, and you two go somewhere together. You never hang out anymore.'

"I looked at the girl who was obviously Patricia. Patricia was nothing like you. She was rude, or so I thought when I'd first met her that morning.

"'Why are you really wearing that, Emma?' Patricia asked me. 'And don't give me a mom answer. I want the real thing.'

"'Because it's-' I paused, looking at Patricia's short, blue skirt. 'Appropriate.'

"Patricia rolled her eyes. 'And stop talking like that,' she sighed, taking the left side of the hallway to go to her (your) room, and I split and took a right to get to mine. I turned the knob and opened the door to a room that I couldn't have expected in the least. A tiny bed lay in the middle, with the prettiest lace canopy over it, and the dressers stood on the headboard side of the bed, and at the foot of the bed, also. The carpet was blue, a royal blue, and the walls matched its kingly hue. I looked out of the window to see just a side of one of those tall buildings. An odd surrounding. I decided. I wondered what went on in those buildings. I sighed, walking to the closet, and deciding to peek at what I had to wear.

"After searching thorugh the hideously short skirts, and the menly pants, I finally came upon a skirt that came down to my ankles. I guessed that that would have to do. It was acutally sort of cute, white, and flowy, with ribbon wrapped around its circumference at various parts. I found a top with long sleeves that clung to me a bit, but that was the only thing else decent I could find there. I felt a little bit exposed, but since I'd chosen to come here by myself, I decided to deal with the consequences of my actions.

"Patricia burst into my room without knocking. She looked a bit annoyed.

"'So, where are we off to?' she sighed, plopping down onto my bed, and stretching out, facing the ceiling. I looked at her in a second with digust, and then faced the long mirror to my leflt.

"'Oh, I don't know,' I responded, hoping I didn't sound too strange. 'Where do we usually go?'

"'Nowhere with that accent. You have got to stop that before I go anywhere with you,' she said. I really did get the urge to walk over there and slap her square in the face. It was she that sounded strange. I was the one with the correct American accent.

"I turned to her and pasted a fake smile as big as I could possibly make it. 'Where do we usually go?'

"She sat up quickly, erect and squinting her eyes at me. 'Have you been doing drugs?'

"'No!'

"'Then what is wrong with you? First, you put on some crazy outfit that I have no idea where you got it from. Then, you put on some fake British accent that actually sounds a little authentic. And, on top of that, you're dressed like it's not, like eighty degrees outside! Look... okay... maybe we should go somewhere. Maybe you'll act different if we go somewhere where all the kids are,' Patricia said, rolling her eyes, and stretching a bit, heading for the door.

"Kids. That was a good idea. I was really interested in seeing how the kids of the future were... other than Patricia. 'Okay. Nice idea,' I said. I began trying to keep my sentences short. Apparently the entire world had turned upside down in a few centuries. After rolling her eyes at my accent, she swung the door open and headed toward the stairs.

"'So... where are we going?'

"'The mall. Duh,' she responded, rolling her eyes in annoyance. One day, I bet, her eyes will roll out of their sockets. I secretly wished they would at that moment.

"We quickly walked out of the door, and onto the cream-colored surface, among the people, and the magical wagons.

"There was something... not right about the air. I could tell as soon as I stepped out. It had a foul, uninviting odor. I almost wanted to cough and go back inside the house.

"'Do you smell that?' I said, trying to keep up with Patricia. There were so many people, you can't even imagine. I looked behind me once, and noticed that our house was resting in between two extremely, unbelievably tall buildings. It looked quite odd, but I was actually a little glad that it was like that. It was like an escape from the insanity surrounding it.

"Anyway, there were so many people. And a lot of them seemed to have the blue cotton style. They all dressed as if they couldn't afford any more clothes to wear, and as if they were working class. I'd never seen so many people in my life. Some of them would push me, and you could hear nothing except for the scuffle of tons of feet.

"The biggest thing, though, that I got really excited to tell you about... was the kinds of people I saw.

"Remember, Nessa, when we were talking about the future? And how we wished that Mae and Sue, and all of them were treated just like one of us? And how we didn't understand why we couldn't do the same things that the boys do? Well, in this... whole other world, everyone was together, on that same street. Everyone, from all around the world, you could tell. And boys and girls and black people and white people. You're the only person I'd ever told before, Nessa, how I didn't think it was fair, but, now, I don't feel as stupid, or as wrong, now that I know exactly what the future has promised us... promised America.

"And so, Patricia dragged me on to the mall, into a very building that, apparently, was the inside of one of those extremely large buildings I had told you about earlier. The same enormous amount of people inhibited this place, but, what made it worse was that Patricia knew practically everyone she laid eyes on.

"'Sammy! Sammy! Yoo hoo," she yelled. I covered my ears and backed away as Sammy walked up.

"'Hey, Emma,' he said to me, Patricia darting her eyes at me, as I tried to stand up straight and look a little confident. She pulled Sammy's arm toward her.

"'Emma's a little... you know," she rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"'A little what? I'm fine, thank you,' I said. I refused to be insulted by this little brat. After all, I was probably her great great great aunt or something, you know?

"'She looks fine to me,' Sammy smirked. I wondered whether he was flirting with me. He was dressed like he was poor. His pants were far from fitting him, and even if they did, his shirt most definitely didn't. And, there was that blue cotton fabric again. This must be what everyone can afford.

"'Yes, well, I'm exceptional, thank you,' I said, taking Sammy's hand, and shaking it. Patricia scowled at me.

"'Okay, well, got serious shopping to do, come on!' Patricia said, grabbing my arm and jerking me away from him. Sammy gave a short wave as he exited the mall. 'Why were you flirting with him?' Patricia asked me, giving me a look as if she was my superior. If only she knew what I felt like doing to her right then...

''Because I can. And because you're not my mother,' I responded, looking away, and at some very pretty purses in the middle of the mall's corridor. What was this place?

''No, you can't...ah... perfect timing,' she said, looking at another boy that was headed this way with his friends. I was about to firmly conclude that this girl was a prostitute.

"'Marcus! Marcus! Yoo hoo!' Patricia screamed, waving for Marcus to come over. He was tall, skinny, and pale...and his pants moderately fit, even if they were of that cheap-looking fabric.

"As soon as he came over, I was embraced in a huge bear hug.

"'You didn't tell me you'd be here! I was hoping you weren't busy today, and I was going to call you up, and taken you to the movies-oh, don't worry, I was going to pay. Then, I wanted to take you out to a nice restaurant and we couldn've had like a really good bit to eat and..." As Marcus continued, I motioned to Patricia to pull him off of me. He was still hugging me, and I was about to choke, and run out of breath. Patricia just stood there, arms crossed, with a little, evil smirk on her face.

"'Um, I'll see you around, sis, okay?' Patricia said, smiling, and turning away quickly to go join some girls in a nearby room.

"Finally, after about fifteen more seconds of loving, Marcus let me go.

"I brushed myself off a bit. 'I...um... that was a lot of hugging,' I said, simply, letting the whole matter go. I had to get out of there. Marcus quickly grabbed my hand. Apparently, he had other plans.

"'Gosh, I'm so glad you're here. Geez, I wonder what we should do now,' he said, dragging me down the corridor. I looked right and left, wondering what I should do. I had to get away from this weirdo. I guessed that he was somewhat like my boyfriend or something, but he wasn't someone that I wanted to waste my entire experience of the future on. I'm sure he would've been a lovely boy if I spent more time with him, but as he pulled my arm from one room to the next, looking at clothing that I would never purchase in my entire life, I decided that I had to find some escape.

"'Um...Marcus,' I said, interrupting from something he was telling me. I found it hard paying attention to this kid.

"'Yeah?' he asked, stopping everything he was doing to turn to me. 'Hey, you sound different. And you aren't talking as much. Are you okay? Did something happen? Are you keeping something from me? Are you hiding secrets from our relationship? I really want to make this work, Emma, but I realize that if you dont-'

"'No, Marcus, no, I just- I need to use the bathroom. Do you know where it is?' I asked, smiling sweetly, and petting him on the arm for good measure. He smiled back, and kept chattering, dragging me out of the room, and into the corridor, towards another, smaller corridor, with a door and a picture of a stick figure in a dress. I raised my eyebrows at this; it was quite amusing, if somewhat simple.

"'Marcus, why don't you wait for me in that store we were just in. I know you saw a lot of things that you wanted in there,' I said, about to go in when he confirmed this.

"'Um.. alright... if you're sure you'll be okay then-'

"'Sure. I'll be fine,' I said, even though as I went into the restroom, he seemed a little bit hesitate to leave.

"The restroom had many walls sectioned off with toilets in them, and a sink at the very front. It smelled funny... a little bit weirder than the outdoors. I wondered what cause these odd fumes, but I knew I didn't have time to investigate.

"Puzzled, I leaned against the wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the floor, leaning my head in my hands. The trip wasn't going as planned at all. The future was full of magical wagons, clingy boyfriends, and annoying younger sisters that apparently hate you. There had to be more to this, especially if I'd gone through all of this in order to get here. A tear managed to escape from my eye and drizzle onto my cheek. This wasn't any fun at all, and I missed the clean, fresh, sweet-smelling air, the green grass stretching so far that no one can tell where it ends, trees that stretch to the sky, touching a place that you thought was impossible. I sniffled a little. I even missed you.

"A distant door opened inside of the restroom, and a girl stepped out. She had to craziest clothing I'd seen yet- pants that seemed to cling to her thighs, and a short skirt put on over them. She had the nastiest shoes I'd ever seen-and they had threads of cotton woven through them at the top. Her shirt was ripped all over, and her hair laid lazily on her shoulders. She looked at me with concern. I looked at her with horror.

"'Aw, what's wrong?' she asked, believable sincerity in her face. I questioned whether I should talk to this hoodlum. She seemed a bit, well, dangerous.

"'Um, I'm fine, thanks,' I responded, peeking a bit up at her, but trying very hard not to make eye contact at the least.

"'Wow, you sound like a foreigner... are you lost?' she asked, sitting down next to me. My face squinched, expecting a stench to come from her torn clothes. I scooted to the left just a smidge.

"'Um... no, I'm fine, really,' I said, keeping my head down.

"She stood up, a little disgusted herself. 'Just trying to help,' she said, her tone completely changing. Her tone seemed a little bit insluting to me. As if she blamed me for not wanting to talk to her. I thought about my situation. It's the future. Maybe people are really different. Maybe you can't fully judge a person by their clothes.

"I stood up next to her. 'I'm sorry. I'm just having a really bad day,' I said. As soon as she looked at my face, her face turned sour.

"'You're Emma!' she said, shocked, and then proceeded to washing her hands.

" 'Why are you talking to me, anyway?' she asked, her tone changing to the same one that I had previously.

"'Well, you talked to me first.'

"'But you haven't talked to me in years. Or, rather, I haven't talked to you.'

"'Why?' I asked. Maybe she was on the wrong side of the tracks.

"'Because you're a prude,' she said simply, drying off her hands with a machine that had hot air flowing from it. I rushed over to it, putting my hands under it, amazed. She stepped back.

"'Um... there's another one right there,' she said, her eyes darting to the side. I smiled, standing up a little straighter, trying to remain cool. I had to fit in.

"'Yeah, I, um, didn't see that one. So... what are you doing around here?' I asked. Maybe I was a little bit too tense. Maybe I just needed to be more open and make some more friends to have fun.

"'Bored,' she replied, going over to the other air box.

"'I am, also. I've... run out of things to do.'

"'Oh, really? Well, I just needed someone to do it with...'

"'Do what?'

"'Have fun.' That sounded very inticing. Fun. That's pretty much what I had come to future for, anyway. That's pretty much what had led us to that lady, remember? You, and me, going to her house because she said she had lovely, handmade jewelry on sale? And going in, and finding that lovely stone instead, and the lady revealing the mystery behind it? We were skeptical at first, because of how she looked on the outside, but everything led to some pretty amazing things. Maybe this girl really did know how to have a good time.

"'Well, you've found the right person then,' I said to her, putting my hands on my hips as they had dried off, and facing her with an assuring smile on my face.

"'Oh, you wouldn't be interested in the kind of fun I have,' I said simply, turning towards me, her eyes questioning.

"'You never know until you try something, right?' I asked. this girl was different... there was something different about her than the other people I had met in this crazy world.

"'Um.. right. Sure, well, if you really want to have some fun, we'd have to go to my house, first, because that's where it's all at,' she said, shrugging. 'Are you sure you're into this stuff?'

"'I'm into fun,' I said, smiling, giving her a light tap on the arm. I was trying to be a good sport, even though I wasn't fully sure where this was heading. Either way, I was intrigued. Since everything was so different, kids in the future must have a different idea of fun, right?

"'Okay, come on. My apartment isn't too far from here,' she said, grabbing my wrist, and leading me out the door, letting go just to open the bathroom door.

"We exited through a nearby door in the same narrow corridor as the bathroom, going outside with the magical wagons and crowds of people. The sun was blaring even more ferociously, as it was nearing midday, and I'd never felt such a sun. It seemed to be beating down directly on top of me, hotter than I'd every felt it before. We paraded down the street, on the cream-colored floor, passing lots of doors and plenty of tall buildings, and small shops that seemed a bit out of place. Neither of us said a word, but just walked at quick pace, until the girl turned into what I assumed, was where she lived.

"'Wow, you live in this huge place?' I asked, looking around the ground floor, silver doors facing us, and corridors on either side of them.

"'Um, yeah... Look, I know it's nothing like your house, but-'

"'That reminds me... what's your name? I never got it,' I said. She gave a small huff, rolling her eyes a bit at me.

"'Oh, you forgot already, huh?'

"'Well, you never told it to me,' I said, simply. I mean, she couldn't blame me, Unless...

"'But I've known you for years! I guess deleting someone's phone number out of your cell is the equivalent of forgetting who they are, huh?' she asked, as I noticed that we had all of a sudden come to a complete stop.

"I sighed, and she looked at me, with a little hurt, mixed in with anger in her voice. Her arms were crossed, and she leaned back.

"'Well, I'm sorry,' I said. I didn't really know what to say. I had no idea what was going on. 'I mean... how did we grow apart like this?'

'"Why don't you tell me? No, no, I'll tell you. Because you found more interest in studying than getting high, and that people who do that kind of stuff you automatically can't be associated with. Like you're better than them or something. Well, you're not. You're no better than them. And I guess you realized that. I guess. Hey, since when did you get into drugs?'

"'Drugs? Well, I mean, I'm not sick,' I answer. She laughed at me, and shook her head as if I was predicatble.

"'So, then, what are you here for, then, Emma? Huh? Are you trying to get in my room to steal something? Find something to humiliate me with? Well, you know what, if that's what you're here for, then-'

"'Don't cut me off, now! I followed you here, didn't I? I said that I wanted to hang out with you, didn't I? Now, whatever it was that you had planned, let's do it. I'm sick of you judging me!' I fought right back. I stuck it right back to her, no matter how hypocritical I might have sounded.

"'I just... I just don't you if I trust you anymore, Em. I mean... I don't know if you're really the same person as you were. You've changed so much, and I haven't been able to keep up, so I kind of found away to change with you, I guess,' she said, and then before I could do anything, she pulled me into a tight hug. 'I miss you, Emma. I reallly do.'

"I hugged back. I didn't really know exactlly what to say. Somehow I wished that I could do something over again-have not hurt this sweet girl from the beginning, but I had to remind myself that I wasn't who I thought I was in the first place. Or was I? I was beginning to get confused, just as the girl let go. I still didn't know her name.

"'You look a little stressed yourself,' she said. 'Here.' Her fist was extended, and, I guessed that she had something in her hand. I took it in my palm, and then she pressed a button next to one of the silver doors.

"'What am I supposed to do with this?' I asked. She just laughed, and stepped inside a box, and the wall seemed to engulf her and make her disappear.

"As I walked back to our house, I looked at what she had put in my hand. A small bit of marijuana lay there, and I wondered. Was this what made people happy? Was this what people of the future did for fun? Achieving suspicious looks from passersby, I dusted the plant from my hands onto the ground. It served no purpose for me. I looked around, at the people, at the buildings, at the magical wagons, and then looked to my right at my old house standing there among it all.

"I made my way up the steps and into the front door, and up to the room where all of this had began. I took out the stone, and looked at it, glancing out the window every now and then.

"I began to think. Perhaps my expectations of the future had been too great-everyone happy, everyone easygoing. But, as I sat there, and reviewed everything that had happened, even though it was so little, it did mean so much. Because, you see, althought the sun was a little bit hotter, and things moved a little bit faster, humans themselves stayed the same. And, as I ran to my room to throw on the forgotten dress, and wrapped the lovely stone in my palm, I contemplated on whether that fact made me feel more comfortable, or a little more worried about what was to come."