บท 24: John Andrews journal

*just a quick note, I am not a history major, neither do I have extensive knowledge regarding the military. I have only done very light research so if anything is inaccurate then I apologize*

Leo felt like a bucket of Ice was dumped into his stomach. He turned almost a sickly pale, and quickly became drenched in a cold sweat. Iris noticed his ate and was about to say something, but elder grandma noticed and shook her head to keep her from doing so. Leo reached out and grabbed the journal with shaking hands. At one points he even pinched himself with his claws to ensure he wasn't dreaming. He slowly opened the journal and started reading.

The first several pages were about John Andrews daily life while he was stationed at Pearl Harbor. From the year, and events he talked about, Leo guessed the journal was from world war 2. Based on how he didn't mention it though, Leo figured the first several pages were before the infamous bombing. After the entries up until December sixth, what John Andrews wrote suddenly changed.

{Day 2- I believed at first that I had died during the attack when a bomb fell not far from my position. While I am unaware of how many days have passed since the bombing, i awoke yesterday in a jungle and have tried my best to survive until I reach civilization. I do not know how, but I apparently was blown into the interior of Hawaii and have been trying to reestablish communication with the base.}

{day 5- three days have passed since my last entree. However I have not only not made contact with the base, with each passing minute I have become even more convinced that I am not on Hawaii anymore. I have encountered strange creatures that I am sure do not exist, except in nightmares. I only have the ammo that was on me when we were attacked, and it is quickly running out. I can only hope that I am rescued before that happens.}

{day 9- I have found a group of people that are apparently natives of this area. Though I can't communicate, they seem to speak a completely foreign language that I have never heard before. But we seem to establish an understanding about certain things, and until I understand what is going on I will continue learning more about local customs.}

{day 20- by now I believe that there is no help coming. After arriving in the village I noticed they seemed to use peculiar techniques in their daily activities. At first I believed it was a form of new age technology, but after extensive observation I can only conclude that it is magic! This has only further confirmed my suspicions that I am not only no longer on Hawaii, but I may not even be on earth anymore either. After coming to this realization I now believe I might have died during the attack. I can think of no other reason as to why I am no longer on earth. I wonder how my family is.}

As Leo continued reading the journal, he saw John Andrews go through similar experiences he did. He had gone from talking about his regrets, to writing about his new life. He fell for a pretty village girl in the jungles. Advanced their lifestyles with modern techniques, and started his own family. Leo read on as he grew old, eventually had grandkids, and lived his new life as peacefully as possible. But he occasionally mentioned several things about earth. He looked into others traveling to this strange world, and tracked down written records of their lives here as they decided to keep journals similar to him. He had reached the conclusion that he couldn't return home, and that there might be reason that he and all the people before him were brought here. But the journal ended before he determine what it was. Seeing Leo close the journal elder grandma spoke up,

"When you were first brought to the village, I believed you were a lost person. I had Thomas go into town and get an ID plate to see what your status was. Since you are unoccupied, it means that you have never been registered in Aletera before. While i was at it, I told him to see about finding any written references to lost people to see if there was any connection. Thomas told me that when he obtained that journal, he was told that its owner had recently died, and it was being sold as a collectors item since no one could read it."

Leo sat in silence as he absorbed all of this new information. Judging from the journal, John Andrews never heard any hints about being able to go back. Leo was almost relieved when he read this though. He was ashamed to admit it, but he didn't want to go back. From what he had read both he and John had probably died to get into Aletera, but when Leo died he was with his family. If Leo went back to earth, then he would be able to confirm if his family really had died. So he didn't know if he wanted to do that.

Something else bugged Leo as well. There had been two similarities when they had died. They had both been in events that resulted in massive loss of life, and they were both around Hawaii when they died. Leo couldn't tell if it was the location, or the circumstances that led to them being here. Seeing Leo wasn't on the mood to talk, elder grandma sent him and Iris home for the night. Leo could only spend the night staring up at the ceiling and thinking about everything he had found on tin the day. It was only when it was well passed midnight that he finally fell asleep.