THE DIARY OF MRS. TOMY RYAN
Prologue
Does anyone really know how his or her life
is going to turn out? If I had known, I still wouldn’t have changed anything.
My name when I was born was Ellen Dobson. I was born in Illinois in 2184. I had
a normal childhood. I had three sisters, whom I never got along with. My father
was the center of my universe until I turned thirteen and got interested in
boys. Although I dated through high school and college, it wasn’t until after I
started my first job that I fell in love.
My first job was as a time traveler. In 2173
a man named Timothy Melvin invented fast, easy travel back in time. He set up a
company to send people back, to observe history being made. By the time I was
out of college, his company was still around, and I felt a strong draw towards
observing the past. My first job for the company was to go to Africa in the
1700’s and observe the people there being sold into slavery. I finished
quickly, disgusted at what history had shown me. I was ready to quit. My boss
talked me into staying by promising me a nicer assignment. She assigned me to
watch Mozart. Listening to him play brought back my faith.
There was only one rule to time travel. Never
change history. On my third and last mission, I did exactly that. I changed history
so I wouldn’t have to watch fifteen hundred people die, including the man I
loved.