Lagan Village Youth Group
9th March 2022
She met Jimmy at her formal and she went home with him, and she ended up in an empty hotel in East Belfast. She woke up 10 years in the future. She didn’t remember that Jimmy was her friend.
She wore a pink ballgown to the formal. It was a big bouncy dress, like a drag queen’s, like a tu-tu, with lots of curly rolls. It’s halfway up her legs now because she’s grown, and it’s dirty. She was 5 feet 7 10 years ago, and she’s 7 feet 9 now.
Jimmy wore a black suit with a black shirt, with a chequered tie. And a balaclava.
The hotel looked creepy. It was abandoned and really scary. It had boarded-up windows. There were cracks in the ceiling and the curtains were wrecked and torn. It was not very stable, it was falling down. There was a calendar in the room. It said it was February 2032, like someone had been keeping track…
“I’m 22. My mind was blurred. Wasn’t I at my formal yesterday?” said Shaniqua. “Oh gee, what do we do? Jimmy, what do we do?!”
“I dunno” replied Jimmy drily, because he had only just woken up.
Jimmy seemed to know what was going on, but pretended that he had just woken up.
“I need to go out.” said Shaniqua. “Jimmy, do you have a car? I need to see my family!”
“Yeah I can take you.”
They leave the building. On the way her belly rumbles.
“Want to get a bit of lunch? A McDonalds?” asked Shaniqua.
“Yeah.”
“What are you ordering? I’m getting a burger.” asked Shaniqua.
“I’m getting curry fried rice,” said Jimmy.
“I didn’t know McDonalds sold that!” exclaimed Shaniqua.
The McDonalds logo was now green and black with a “D”. The food was all vegan and very healthy. It was really fresh and new tasting, and natural.
“That was delicious, reminds me of 10 years ago. Want to go shopping? I don’t want my parents to see me in this outfit,” said Shaniqua.
The clothes didn’t fit her because she was so tall now, so they had to go to a special shop. She got some material and made her own clothes. (She found needles and thread at the hotel, and she lifted them on the way out.)
Her parents’ house was green now. The house was full of modern technology: face recognition to get in, and robots to do all the housework. She couldn’t get in because the facial recognition didn’t recognise her anymore.
She looked through the window and her childhood bedroom was gone, and in its place she saw something astonishing!
