A/N: This was written by MasteroftheIceblade for an AA English assignment. It goes off the book of The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, not any of the movies.
August 19, 8,900,000, Earth
I sighed and stared out at the red sun, the pale sky, and the sand, which was crawling with giant crabs. Life was boring and dull and uneventful, and did I say boring? Well, you get the point. Nothing much happens anymore, unlike those fascinating lifestyles you hear about in history books.
Ah yes. My name is Ciel, I am 14 years old, and I live with my parents and a couple other people on the outskirts of a beach, located in what used to be Denver, Colorado. Yes, Denver used to not be anywhere near the ocean, but in the last few millenniums, the water has slowly been moving. Now there are only a few places on Earth with dry land. Oh, and according to recent studies done by these scientists who live a few miles away, my parents and I (and the two scientists) are the last surviving humans on Earth. And our only companions are those giant mutant crabs.
But there's nothing to do here. There are only so many things you can entertain yourself with when no one goes to work, there aren't any shops, and you have no friends to hang with. So I usually end up sitting on a rock overlooking the beach and doodle on my sketchpad. I lost hope of something exciting happening years ago.
As the giant crabs roamed the salty beach, I saw something I didn't expect to see. A few yards to the right of me, the air shimmered and wavered, and a strange looking machine appeared. It looked like one of those old Victorian artifacts in the scientists' books. To my surprise there also appeared to be a human sitting in it as well! Another human like us!
I shouted to my mom, who was also lounging on the empty beach. "Mother! Look over here! Quickly!" I wanted her to see this newcomer.
The man heard me shout and looked relieved to see me. He stared with wonder at my blue nylon shirt and stretch pants with many pockets. Hadn't he ever seen 8900th millennia teenage wear before? He got out of his strange machine and came running over to me. On the way a giant crab attacked him. The man backed away, and I grabbed my electro-staff and ran toward the creature. I jabbed the electric point at it, and it shied away and scuttled off down the beach.
I put down my staff, and then held out my hand. "Good evening, sir."
The man shook it and smiled gratefully. "You don't know how elated I am to see another intelligent mind out here. If only it were like this for the Eloi…" he muttered, sadness showing on his face. Eloi…Ah, yes, that strange tribe of people from centuries ago. They had finally turned from their naïve ways and began modernizing Earth. And now not one of them was left. I kept staring at the man. He looked around, muttering to himself. "So this is Earth's future…I had hoped for something brighter, but perhaps I can change the past and thus change the future…" He snapped awake, as if coming to a conclusion. "If you will excuse me, I must go back to my own time. I am being expected for dinner. Thank you for saving me from that atrocious crustacean, and I hope you enjoy what is left for you to enjoy." He shook my hand, and then my mother's, who had appeared beside me, and then trudged back to his machine and got inside.
"Take me with you!" I shouted impulsively. There was nothing left for me here, and wherever he was going sounded better than this life I already had. My mother grabbed my arm. "No, Ciel!"
But the strange man and his strange machine were gone. Just as quickly as he had appeared.
I later realized, judging by the words the man said, that he was a time traveler and that fascinating machine was a time machine. I don't know where he is now, but I do wonder what he is doing, in his past, present, and future.
