The Journal of Memories

It was turning fall in New York, the leaves on the trees in Central Park were turning orange, red, and yellow. This was always a time of year I have loved. I was walking through the park with my coat as the temperature was about fifty degrees out. The air was crisp and it was a perfect day to curl up with a blanket and drink hot cocoa.

People were sitting on the benches watching news and other things on the holograms in front of them. Some had their robots fetching their coffee or following around their kids who were playing the holographic games off their tablets. It’s crazy how things have changed over the past ten years. Smart phones turned to holograms that went everywhere with people. Human interaction turned to robots.

My dad is a technology scientist that is trying to study how human interaction is decreasing with each new invention, so of course we don’t have as much technology as everyone else. He simply doesn’t trust it. It’s not that bad, I don’t enjoy having computers do everything for me anyways.

“Ben!”

I turned around to see my friend, Henry, running after me.

Here we go...

I smiled at him, “Hey.”

I looked down and noticed his small robot sitting by his feet, “Did you really have to bring him with you? We are just walking in the park.”

It’s actually kind of cute... but not.

He threw his arm around my shoulders, “Ugh! You sound like your dad! You never know when you want something done. I still can’t believe you don’t have one.”

I shrugged and continued walking, “I can do things myself. I like it better that way.”

He laughed, “You will give in eventually.”

Ha! We will see about that!

I decided to change the topic so he wouldn’t start rambling, “So how was the party last night?”

“Oh my god! You should have been there!...”

And he is rambling.

I sighed to myself. I like Henry and all but he is a little overwhelming sometimes. Especially since I like my life simple with no drama. Henry on the other hand always seems to attract drama to him. One time at school he got into a fight over how he thought Marvel is better than DC. I mean obviously Marvel is better, but he didn’t have to start an actual, full on fight over it.

“... so what did you do last night besides skipping the best party of your life?!”

I tuned back into the conversation, “I told you I had to help around the house because my dad was working late.”

I saw his eyes go wide.

Oh god not again...

“This is why you need a robot! This thing does everything for me while I get to go out,” He nudged his robot with his foot, “Don’t tell me you actually like doing chores??!!”

They aren’t that bad.

Before I got to speak in my defense, his phone started ringing. He answered it and a hologram of his mom showed up.

“Hi Mom.”

She smiled at me, “Hey Ben!”

I waved, “Hi Mrs. Kris.”

Her smile disappeared when she looked at Henry.

Oh she is really pissed.

“Henry! You were supposed to be grounded!”

Oh, you better run.

“Sorry Mom, I wanted to hang out with Ben.”

“Get home right now!”

“Okayyyyy,” Henry he ended the call, “Sorry man I have to go. I will see you later.”

I gave him a quick smile, “Later.”

He scurried off and his robot followed him.

Alone again.

I looked down at my watch.

Shit! I was supposed to be home ten minutes ago!

I shoved my hands into my coat and began to walk to my bike. “My bike” as in my cool motorcycle.

Bet you didn’t expect that!

My parents never bought a car because of all the traffic but settled on getting me a Harley. Not that I was complaining, it just brings a lot of attention to me. I am a shy person after all so any attention makes me feel weird. I have always hated being around people, especially crowds, most of the time I end up doing something awkward. But then again no one seems to really care as they are so sucked into the virtual world and their robots.

Lucky for me!

I threw my leg over my bike and started it up, feeling it roar to life. I began to speed to my house, waving through the traffic.

Hey, no one said I was the safest driver in the world.

_______________

I parked in front of my house and hopped off my bike.

Damn, twenty minutes late.

My dad was sitting at the table scribbling things down in his journal.

Oh god, he is having one of those days.

He always goes into a mood whenever he has had a bad day. Most of time it is when the technology companies try to shut them down or sue them again. They always have to deal with bigger people trying to stop their studies, just because they feel threatened.

He put down his pencil when I sat down next to him, “So you’re late...”

Damn, he notices everything!!

“Yeah I am sorry I ran into Henry at the park. We started talking for awhile. Well... more like he was talking.”

He laughed, “That boy is so funny sometimes.”

Yes! I dodged a bullet there.

My mom yelled from the kitchen, “Honey I am making some tea! It will be done in five minutes or so!”

“Okay thank you!” I yelled back.

My dad went back to his scribbling.

“Bad day huh?”

He let out a giant shy, “Yeah... We are getting sued again. Apparently, we saw some things they didn’t want us to see. Now they are trying to cover it all up.”

I nodded, “That does seems like a bad day... I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is... why don’t you go up to your room? You are probably pretty bored of hearing about my work stuff. Your mom will bring up your tea in a bit.”

He read my mind.

I gave him a hug, “Okay... good luck with your work.”

I ran up stairs to my room and closed the door. I looked through my library of books and grabbed a random one with a worn out, red cover. Opening my window, I jumped out onto our small balcony, flopping down onto my lounge chair. My mom came out a few minutes later and handed me a cup of tea in my favorite Halloween mug.

Yes, it’s not even Halloween but you can fight me. It’s my favorite holiday.

She sat down on the window sill, “So... how’s your friend, Henry?”

I looked up from my book, “He’s good. Mostly complaining again about the party I missed.”

She gave me a sweet smile, “Well you never were one for parties. It’s weird that you two are friends when you guys are so different.”

I just nodded not taking my eyes off the page.

She chuckled, “Well I will leave you to your book. Have fun.”

Thank god. Silence again.

The sun was going down and can only be seen above the outlines of the buildings. The city was still noisy with cars and people but seemed to calm down a bit more as everyone was going home for the night. The sun disappeared a little more as the stars came out. We lived on the outskirts of the city so there wasn’t as much smog blocking the stars from shining. I flipped on my lantern so I could still read the dark words on the worn out page. I remembered reading this book in eighth grade but I have forgotten most of it. It is pretty weird how most of society has gotten rid of books. Everything turned to technology instead of paper. Most of the libraries were closed down but there are still probably a few in the middle of nowhere.

The sun was down now and I was almost done with my book. The world around me was completely dark except for my lantern and the street light in front of my house. I love this time of night when most people were settled in the houses eating dinner with their families. The streets were quiet with an occasional car passing by leaving a rush of wind.

I read the last word on the page. Another book done.

Do people even read books anymore?

Let alone know books exist?

I just want to get away from people and society. I want to get to a place where everyone is gone and away from technology. I just want to be alone with my books and read under the stars without having to deal with people interrupting me. Sometimes I wish we would just go back to the past when there was no technology and it was just humans talking to each other.