Future Jack & the Beanstalk | Teen Ink

Future Jack & the Beanstalk

May 26, 2015
By HighVoltage225 SILVER, Jonesport, Maine
HighVoltage225 SILVER, Jonesport, Maine
6 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Brief Candle, burn away. I will die another day." - One-Eyed Doll


 “Jack!  Come here!”
“Coming Mom!” Jack raced out of his room and down the stairs, into the living room, nearly slipping on the super smooth floor.  “What is it Mom?”
“Jack, I want you to take the old T.V. we keep up in the attic and sell it on the virtual marketplace.  With the conversion of all money to credits, we need as much as we can get.  You should be able to get a couple hundred.  That might help us get food for a couple months.”
“Sure Mom.” Jack went up the stairs all the way into the attic.  He looked around for what felt like ages, until he found the old T.V., a 30 inch flat screen.  He noticed that the screen curved slightly.  Must have been part of the “curved T.V.” phase back 50 years ago.  Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a special nano transmitter.  He made sure the wavelength matched the one on his wrist.  After, he went back downstairs, into the computer room, and plugged a cord into the side of his head and entered the virtual marketplace.
The journey always made him a little nauseous.  The flashes of color as a digital copy of himself is created, while simultaneously linking to his heartbeat and brainwave activity, all while processing data so fast that he would feel like it was actually him there, not just an avatar.  Once Jack was in, he quickly claimed an open stall.  Business was slow to say the least.  None of the antique collectors seemed to be on today.  He was just about ready to get off when an old man approached him.
“Hello young boy.  What have you got here?”  The old man spoke in a voice that was surprisingly strong for his wrinkled, ancient, appearance.  “This looks like a 30 inch flat screen from that “curved T.V.” phase that people had a couple hundred years ago.”  Jack was speechless.  The old man had taken the words right out of his mouth.  “How much?”
“I’m asking for about 5,000 credits for it.  It may seem like a lot, but this is an old T.V., and any antique collector would love it.”
“That’s quite a lot.  How about a trade? I have a piece of revolutionary technology that will make you a millionaire!  I’ll trade it to you for your old T.V.”
“Deal!” Jack said, excitedly.  He and the old man swapped nano transmitter numbers and logged out.  Jack quickly unplugged the cable and ran downstairs, excited to show his mother what he had gotten.  “Hey Mom! I sold the T.V.!”
“Really Jack?  How much did you get for it?”
“I didn’t get cash, but I got a piece of new technology that can make us rich!”
The smile fell from his mother’s face.  “Well what is it?”
“I don’t really know, but it’s awesome.” Jack said, pulling the device out of his pocket.  It was a silver ball, with a hole in the middle.
“You stupid boy.  That’s just a metal ball someone drilled a hole into.  You idiot!  Now we will have no food and it’s all your fault.  Go to your room right now!”
Jack went up to his room and fiddled around with the ball.  After an hour or so of fiddling, he heard a click come from the ball.  It spiraled open, and a chip came out.  Jack pushed the card back in until it clicked, with a flash of blue light, Jack felt himself flying.  When he opened his eyes, he saw the silvery inside of a vehicle.  He looked out a window and saw an inky darkness with specks of light staring back at him.  He was on a spaceship!  Jack opened up the sphere to see if it would bring it back.  Instead, he saw numbers flashing at him, counting down.  By the looks of it he had 5 minutes before… something happened.  He decided to explore.
Jack wandered around the spaceship, marveling at it until he heard voices talking in some strange language.  “Kro lo plo vo flo yo plo tro.”  He peeked around the corner and saw giant rhinoceros looking creatures coming around the corner!  He set off at a run, ducking into the first room he came to.  His heart was beating out of his chest.  When he thought they had gone, he finally took in his surroundings.  He was in a room full of computer chips! They looked like the high end models that sold for 1000 credits apiece.  Jack grabbed a bag that was lying on the floor and stuffed it full of chips.  Just as he was done, there was another flash of blue light, and he was suddenly back in his room.
He ran downstairs into the kitchen.  “Mom! Look what I found!” He took a couple of the chips out of the bag, and showed them to her.  She took of her glasses and slowly closed her mouth.
“Jack, these are the electronic chips that they just invented.  They sell for 1 million credits apiece!  We’re rich!” she yelled, jumping with joy.  And they all lived happily ever after.


The author's comments:

We had to rewrite a fairy tale, so I put one in the future


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