Oh My Diary
The first thing Jane hears as she wakes is a soft whisper. Faint, but crystal clear. Her ears perk. 'January 1st,' she hears, 'I had ice cream for the first time since Christmas.' Her eyes pop open as her head props up. "Wait, what? Who is that? Am I late for school?" she thought all at once to herself. She glances at her physics clock and sees it's only 3:40 AM. The whisper continues, 'January 2nd. I spilled ink on my new sweater. Mom says it's perfect for my auburn hair and goes lovely with almond. She's going to kill me!' Jane sits straight up in her small cozy bed and gazes straight at her diary, stamped "My STEM", lying open on her nightstand. "Is... my diary talking?!" she gasps. "What!" "How?" "Who...!?" The voice cuts out while Jane reflects, "That's it then. I haven't written January 3rd because today is January 3rd. This must all be a dream!" But as she's thinking she hears a soft scratch of pen on paper. It stops. Then starts again. Then stops. The whisper resumes, a bit louder: 'January 3rd. Today I learned all about how science saved an entire species because it applied research from Dr. Jane Rune.' "No no no, that's me! I'm Jane Rune!" Jane stammered. "But science class is today! I mean, I love all my science books, but I haven't learned anything yet!? Dr. who??" The diary continues, "The research Dr. Rune provided was as ingenious as it was invaluable. She was a true pioneer and mentor of the 30s." "That's... but that's my name. That can't be me... The 30s!? But it's only 2026! And I'm only in high school! How is this happening? And wait! Did it say 'was'??" As Jane sits perplexed still in her pink Einstein-deco bed, she is none aware that her future self will be able to teleport — but just not as herself. She hears more pen to paper, and her diary…
Oh My Diary