Redemption

My assumption was that it was the Lincoln Memorial as I had seen in the textbooks and on the historical documents held in Albert's archives. Beginning the motion of inserting the curious item into my coat pocket, I suddenly stopped to make sure that what I was seeing was real. Here, on one of the most important values of that time, was a picture of a man that is long gone, a man I personally teach about, and yet about whom I truly know nothing. I could only imagine how he impacted his nation. I knew the facts, about a President holding 4 years in office before a reelection, about the government system, about the Bill of Rights, but I still had no concept of what this world was like. As a History teacher, I am rendered useless in the ways of teaching the most important aspects of history. I guess the worst thing someone like me could have was an imagination, and I had one. I turned away to walk home, and with my first step I kicked a small, empty can that must have been hiding behind my leg as I sat. I kicked it once more, this time out of sight, and then proceeded home.

Yesterday, I was shopping at the market when I witnessed a burglary. I was putting groceries in a bag when I saw a short, chubby man running for the door in my direction, holding several grocery items. The only thing separating him from the door was I, and I did not plan on letting him get away. As he was about to run around me, I put out my arm to stop him, but suddenly a mysterious force yanked me back, almost off my feet. I turned to see a young man with a pencil in his ear and a nametag on his shirt that said "Manager."

I found myself walking through a vast field. Submerged in a sea of corn stalks, I tried to make my way out, but I did not know the size of the field and how deep into it I was. I looked around but could not see anything. Then I heard a sound. It was a voice. I turned around to where it was coming from. Then there were more voices, accompanied by some other strange sounds I have never heard before. Some kind of machine, but there were many of them, and they were loud. I walked in the direction of the disturbance. The escalating sounds got progressively louder and clearer. There were now many people and, after a few moments even more, maybe thousands. I was right at the border of the field. At first I was slightly afraid to see what the commotion was. In fact, the cornfields gave me a safe, comforting feeling, and the busy, grinding sounds outside were not inviting. But my curiosity got the best of me, as it always does, and I passed through. What I saw caused me to lose feeling in my bottom jaw, which creeped down until it exposed my tongue and my front teeth. And the sensation grabbed my eyelids and desperately held them apart, so I could take in the gushing input. Countless people in strange outfits were walking among a brimming confusion of super-structures.