3.5 billion years

The Book (Brendan)

I walked into May's room in search for the book she took with her. I was interested in learning Earth's history and culture. I found it on the floor next to her and quickly grabbed it, trying not to wake her.

I left to my own room and opened up the book to some of the last pages. As I read, I noticed something strange about the pages. I turned to the page May wrote to make sure what I saw was correct, but instead of finding May's handwriting, it was the same hand writing as the rest of the book.

I traced my hand across the writing, seeing if it was smeared. Nothing. I did a quick test of my own. I wrote down some random words, and waited. I saw the words get stretched and pulled across the page until it matched the rest of the page.

Was it a magical book? I flipped to a random page and crossed out a random word. The page once again twisted itself until the mark disappeared. I then had a random thought. I covered my hand in ink, then placed it on a blank page, and waited.

I could feel my hand twisting and turning. it felt like a thousand needles were poking into my hand at once. Then, I was pulled inside the book. My hand still stung but it wasn't hurting. Where was I?

I looked around and saw nothing but a library, except the entire thing was dripping with ink. I looked down to the floor, but was more startled by my looks than the floors. I was covered in ink. 

I tried to wipe myself off, but it seemed it was a part of me. I walked around the area, searching for something, anything, that could help me get out. While i was walking by one area however, I could hear a frantic writing.

I looked to where the sound was coming from and saw a door. I hesitated on wether to open it or not, but eventually went in. I saw a young human child, who couldn't have been older than 8, sitting at a desk, writing frantically.

The young boy looked over at me, and I could see the fear in his eyes as he saw me. "I thought they couldn't open doors." I heard him say. Before I could ask him what he meant, he threw a wad of paper at my head.

I dodged it on reflex. "Hey! It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you! So let's just calm down!" I said, as he was readying another wad of paper. He seemed surprised, and put the wad of paper down, but kept his hand at the ready.

"You can talk?" He asked. I nodded, and he continued. "So you are not an ink monster?" He asked, eyeing me suspiciously. "I assume so. What is this place? And who are you?" I asked him. The boy seemed a little tense at answering at first, but then answered.

"I am X. This place is the history center of the Earth, but then at some point, ink started leaking in here as it was written in. The book was passed down for generations, from the beginning of humanity. It was given to me on my 8th birthday. I started to write down what was happening, then suddenly my father rushed to me, and splashed me with ink. He then placed the book on my arm, and my whole body burned, then I appeared in this old library. I found this room, where I found I could write to the cover of the book, but all the paper that could do that was destroyed. Then one day the ink monsters appeared. I learned they couldn't open doors, so now I'm trapped in this little room. I did figure out my father continued writing in the book after transporting me here. I still have no idea why he trapped me here."

I stopped him for a moment. "X, what year do you think it is?" X thought for a minute. "I think its around 3.51989 AO, why?" He finally said. I was taken aback. "X, I have a theory." I said, and X sat down on his chair and turned to look at me.

"I think that your father saw the Earth being pulled to the sun and trapped you in the book to save you. He then wrote what was happening in an attempt to explain to you what was going on, but you never received it. I assume your father was on the safe ship, but then lost the book at some point, or locked it up." I saw X was confused, and spent some time telling him the history of the Earth's demise.

"I see. That's why the ink is leaking in here." X finally said once I finished the story. I nodded. "Do you... know what year it is currently?" X asked, but it seemed he already knew the answer, but was looking for confirmation. I nodded. "3.52019 AO" I told him.

X seemed to be doing the math in his head. "Oh." He said at last. I nodded. "Any idea how to get out of here?" He asked, looking at me hopefully. "I have no idea." I finally answered him. X looked down in disappointment. 

Suddenly, ink hands grabbed my legs and started pulling me down. "Help!" I cried, reaching for X. He tried to grab my hands, but his hands went right through my inky body. Then all I could see was black.