Disclaimer: I don't own Phil of the Future or any characters.
*Thanks for telling me like it is, guys. Hope I get it right this time! :)
Bright rays of light beamed over the magical world of the twenty second century. A lone figure stopped in his tracks on the deserted ground and took a deep breath, bathing in the warmth of the sun of a new day, noting how the sun was one of the few real things left in the world. He sighed and closed his eyes in attempt to recollect the greener world of his adolescence, but was interrupted by a car flying too close to the ground. He yelped and jumped out the way just in time.
"Get back in the air, you moron!" The driver yelled and then merged back into a line of traffic high above.
Philip Diffy sighed once again and shook his head. He glanced then at the antique device ticking on his wrist and realized that if he didn't get a move on it, he'd be seriously late for work. A distance that took the average man ten minutes to cover on foot was nearly doubled in a world no longer suited for leisurely walking, after all.
And to think I ever missed the modern "conveniences" of this world… Phil thought wistfully, as he proceeded across the flat, concrete land.
When Phil reached the parking lot of his workplace, he was nearly run over a second time. He scolded the young man who emerged from the driver's side, reminding him of the obvious fact that parking lots were, in fact, walking zones. Upon meeting Phil's eyes, the young man jerked a photo—incredibly uncommon in its tangible form—from his pocket.
Phil didn't notice the young man watching him, nor did he even see the photo, as he entered one of four sets of glass doors and stepped into one of many machines resembling a metal detector.
A mechanical voice boomed over a loud speaker, "Philip Diffy recognized. Presence granted."
Meanwhile, outside the young man realized he was missing his chance, and started sprinting toward the doors, after grabbing a rather sizeable box from his back seat.
Phil walked forward a few more steps, when he suddenly heard a loud cry. The computer stated a moment later, "Individual not recognized. Presence not granted."
Phil turned to see the young man standing behind a transparent, light blue colored shield that had appeared in the recognizer machine. The kid had received an electrical shock when he tried to walk through.
Phil was beginning to lose his patience with this kid and found it next to impossible to politely explain to him that this was an employee only zone.
As Phil started to walk away, the kid pleaded, "Please, if I could just have a moment of your time!"
"Sir, I'm not with client services. If you just go down that hallway, you'll find someone who can assist you." Phil replied, pointing in the direction he was indicating.
"But I need to talk to you about Keely Teslow!" The kid exclaimed.
Phil was taken aback. "How do you know that name?" He questioned.
"Well," The young man said slowly, "I'm her great, great, great…something like that…grandson."
Phil ran over immediately to join the man on the other side of the recognizer, asking, "What? What are you here for?"
The kid wordlessly set the box he'd been holding on the floor and opened it to reveal a bunch of beat up, old journals (thanks to Poison Princess). He handed one to Phil, who eyed it quizzically.
"Keely Teslow left these journals in her son's care. She told him to tell one of his children to pass them on to one of their children, and on to their children, and so on, with this message: 'Give this to Phil Diffy from the year 2121." The young man explained.
Phil was speechless.
"By the way, you are one hard guy to track down," The kid continued. "I mean, first there was that whole incidence of you and your family disappearing…and now you're some bigwig in some tech company. I tell you, I was getting tired of playing missing persons cop."
"Believe me," Phil finally spoke. "I appreciate it."
"And, you know, I've gotta ask you…did you love her?" The man asked, and then sputtered, "Not that I care, it's just kind of a big thing in my family."
Phil stared down at the journal as he contemplated the answer. He didn't answer for several minutes, but sure enough his response was, "Yes, I did."
"You know, Mom used to tell me all kinds of stories about you two. Like, the time you made an ice cream machine for a science fair and you used milk for the fuel, but that had yet to be discovered." The kid said.
"It was actually a pudding dispenser, a voice activated pudding dispenser…" Phil laughed nostalgically at the old memory.
"Voice activated? Yeah, I think I remember studying that old technology back in high school." The young man murmured.
"Listen, I have to get to work. It was nice meeting you." Phil said.
"It was nice meeting you too finally." The young man replied, then after a moment of awkward silence, muttered a goodbye and left.
Phil flipped through the journal and saw that every page was filled with a letter addressed to him. He opened it up to the first page…
Dear Phil,
It's only been a few hours since you left, but I miss you already. I can't really talk to my mom about how I feel since she doesn't know about future stuff. So, I suppose I should write it down and hope that you will one day read it. You are the best friend I've ever had. You make me laugh, you make me smile, and you showed me things I never even imagined were possible. I have one request for you, Phil, that you come back and visit me someday and maybe even take me back to the future with you.
Love, Keely
…then, after digging through the box, found the very last journal and read the very last page.
Dear Mr. Diffy,
Mother passed away early this morning. She was just shy of turning ninety, so she lived a long life. As she lay there, she kept muttering stuff about you…about how you came from the future. I can't say I believed her, to be honest, but I've never known my mom to be a liar. Oh, and she kept repeating this one thing in particular. "I forgive you, Phil. It's alright that you never came back."
Phil's gaze slowly lifted from the journal onto the outside world. The young man was still standing on the sidewalk, and Phil suddenly realized he couldn't let him go with only a measly, "Thank you." Still, he was supposed to have been at his desk five minutes before according to his wristwatch, and he knew he'd be toast should the boss catch him. As Phil was standing there contemplating, however, the kid was getting away.
Aw, Phil thought with a sigh, What's my job compared to my one link in the universe to the person that is my universe?
And so, without a further, thought, Phil found himself racing out the door and through the lot, managing to flag the kid down just as his car started to return to the skies. Rather than making a full landing, though, the man just allowed the car to hover about a inch off the ground as he leaned out the window and said, "What's up, Dude?"
What's up, Dude? Haven't heard that one in a while...
"I won't keep you long. I have to get to work anyway," Phil began. "You see, I'd…well, I'd love to exchange some more stories about Keely sometime with you, if you have the time."
"Sure, Dude," The kid nodded. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and held it out to Phil. Phil took out his own phone and laid its back against the back of the kid's. The phones made a zapping noise after a few moments, and then Phil's announced, "Number received from Theodore S. Walters, contacts successfully updated."
"I'm free all weekend, so go ahead and give me a ring," The kid stated.
Give me a ring? Haven't heard that one lately either… Still, Phil gave a little grin, finding it refreshing to finally meet someone who actually used a phone for calling people. Not to mention somebody who knew some ancient lingo.
"I will," Phil replied, "Catch you later, man."
"Huh?" The kid blinked.
Guess it was still too much to ask for, Phil thought with a deep sigh.
"See you later," Phil clarified.
"Oh, right," the kid nodded. "See you…, man."
The kid lifted his car back up to the sky and disappeared faster than Phil could blink.
Diffy!" A gruff voice came from behind him. Phil turned around to see his boss standing in the doorway. His boss barked then, "You're late!"
"Not technically, I just stopped to talk to a client." Phil explained as he shuffled back over to the doors.
"It's not your job to speak to clients. Now, get to work!" His boss snapped.
"Yes, sir," Phil nodded and followed the boss inside, wanting to be anywhere but there.