Travel Logs

"The deal is sealed, Ms. Cannon. This area is yours!" A real estate agent said to Lucy as they shook each others' hands. Lucy smiled, waved goodbye to the agent as she walked out of the agent's office, and headed towards the location of the resort she bought.

Lucy was wearing a blue blouse with a black tie, skirt and dress shoes, and her purple hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing sunglasses. "I can't wait to change into something better for this location!" She thought to herself. She imagined the the view of the beachfront, and where she'd find the bungalow to think about her plans, and kept walking.

"Is this the right area?" She thought, with a worried expression. There were many umbrellas and beach towels set up across the sandy areas, and many people running around. She wondered if she was in the right place, and looked at the details of the brochure again when it hit her...

"Out of the way, jack***!" Someone shouted at her.

"Did you get lost on your way to a business trip?" Another person snarked at her. A flying volleyball hit her on the head! She wandered in the middle of a volleyball game, to the frustration of the players.

"Sorry! I'm lost!" Lucy hastily apologized. The brochure fell out of her hands and nearly flew across the beach, carried away by the wind! She had to chase after it, and was going to be darned if she was going to be accused of littering! The chase took her about halfway across the beach, while she had to dodge the many beach-goers!

She sighed. At last, she picked up the brochure, and sat underneath a palm tree where there weren't as many people around to read it, when a realization hit her...

"It's in another dimension, and another time period?!" She thought as she read the fine print! Getting to this location in time and space wouldn't be a problem for her, but she was frustrated. "The most important details are always in the fine print!" She grumbled to herself.

She stood up and sighed, took out her wand from her suitcase, and waved it. A magic circle with a familiar insignia appeared under her feet, and small glowing gates surrounded the circle while she opened a dimensional rift.

"Whoa!" A few people were in awe of the spectacle, but for only a few moments while she stepped into the rift and closed it.

She appeared to be in the same place, but there was hardly anyone around. It was a lot quieter, and there were few buildings, and more palm trees. She didn't mind the people that were walking on the beach, and she asked one of them for directions to the bungalow. The passerby was a woman who appeared to be around 30 years old with long red hair, and was wearing sunglasses with sandals, and a white dress with a black polka dot pattern.

"The groundskeeper's bungalow?" The passerby asked.

"Yeah. I have the key for it!" Lucy confidently said. She had the key on a lanyard, and held it out.

"I can show you there. You know, I'm just visiting this time, but you bought this place in, and for the right time if you wanted to preserve it!"

Lucy recognized the passerby. She was one of the time travelers.

I'm here only because I noticed now that I bought it here and then!" Lucy said with a nervous laugh.

"Wasn't that in the fine print?"

"Yeah."

"That's how some agents get you." The passerby said and sighed.

They walked towards the bungalow, and Lucy used her key to open the front door. The interior was run-down and there was hardly any furniture except for a wooden front desk.

"This also explains why I could buy this so cheaply." She sighed. The renovations to it were going to cost more than she paid, but she quickly drew up blueprints of the resort areas she wanted to build, and ordered new furniture for the bungalow.

Weeks would pass though with several interruptions. Something she ordered was out of stock and she had to wait. She blew too much of the budget on a big screen TV that can show channels from other dimensions. Construction efforts were interrupted by fights between mages and ghosts or demons, or other mages.

"Take the fighting elsewhere! I've got a resort to build!" Lucy shouted during one of these incidents.

"Because I'll be so cooperative and orderly with that!" The demon sarcastically shouted back.

"I mean it." Lucy glared at the mage and the demon. She cast a magic circle with her wand, and the mage and demon recoiled and complied when they saw the familiar gate-shaped insignia in the circle. They ran away, and Lucy dispelled the magic circle and put her wand back in her backpack.

She smiled when they fled, but only a few minutes after she continued construction of the resort, she got an urgent message on a holographic screen.

"We need you." One of the people on the screen said.

Lucy hid her frustration, and warped to where she was needed: The Magic Gatekeepers' courtroom! There was a trial, and she was needed to provided snark during it!

As the weeks went on with slow progress, construction sites and "Under Construction" signs still dotted the resort areas. How was she going to open it any time soon? She walked around the beach area to think about it. Some of the buildings, stands and and beach areas looked to be ready for visitors.

The souvenir stand was stocked with a few buttons. The library was stocked with enough material for visitors to have something to start with, the information desk was ready, and the front room of the bungalow was ready for visitors.

"I could open this almost as it is. Under construction signs are part of the theme of the resort..." She confidently thought to herself, and rushed back to the bungalow to write down her finalized plans.

"Attention visitors!" Lucy announced, while she was dressed for the occasion. She was wearing pink shorts with sneakers that were white with teal and purple accents, a light blue tank top under an opened button-down pink T-shirt with colorful shapes on it. On her head, she donned a teal visor, and a pair of large sunglasses.

She stood with several visitors in front of the bungalow, and walked them to the front entrance to the resort. She carried a bottle of wine which she was ready to ceremoniously smash in front of the entrance to mark its grand opening, but there was a problem...

"Lucy, I think someone ran off with the sign." One of the tourists said.

"Really? The freaking sign?!" Lucy said in disbelief, but it was true. Someone stole the sign! She facepalmed and worried about how she could begin a proper opening ceremony when one of the tourists left.

"I hope you don't mind that I swiped this from one of the buildings, but here's a sign!" The tourist said. Lucy chuckled when she saw that the tourist swiped one of the Under Construction signs.

"Thanks. That'll do. You're not wrong, and it's part of the 90's Web experience!" She chuckled. "The 90's Resort is open for business!" She announced when she smashed the wine bottle against the sign.

In the middle of the C Flats downtown plaza, the decorations of a winter festival were plastered over the fronts of buildings. Piles of loose foam as fake snow covered the benches. Along with the plan trees, pine trees in their natural green, or a shiny silver made of aluminum, dotted the streets in the country where aluminum trees never fell out of fashion!

The festival goers were decked out in garish sweaters; though impractical for the climate, twas the season! Little of the island was prepared for real snow, but vendors sold snow cones, and the loose foam of fake snow could still be formed into snowballs and--

"Watch where you're going!" Lucy shouted as she dodged a snowball fight. "Flying volleyballs on the resort, and snowballs here..." She quietly sighed to herself as she kept walking. The snow was fake, but the shenanigans were real.

She was wearing black jeans with a dark blue sweater that had white trim, and had a large embroidered palm tree in the middle. The top of the tree was covered in a white sequined patch, and the blue "sky" of the sweater was decorated with white sequins to resemble falling snowflakes.

After she dodged the snowball, she bought a snow cone from a vendor, and continued walking down the plaza when she saw the exhibits. There were booths with galleries of art. Further ahead, large, colorful and decorated boxes were strewn around a central tree that was also decorated in fake snow. People were kneeled down in them, decked out in cheesy outfits, and most of them smiled when they had their photos taken... Most of them.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting you to do this!" Lucy said in excitement and disbelief to the person in front of her.

Mia was kneeling in the box in front of Lucy. She was wearing a black and white sweater with a silver pine tree stitched on it in the middle, and a holly pattern and white floral pattern along the collar. On her head was a headband with reindeer antlers that had tinsel wrapped around them, dotted with small red ornaments. Only the brooch she had pinned on her sweater reminded visitors of her role as a Magic Gatekeeper!

"...I lost a bet." Mia grumbled."

It was another morning at the 90's Resort. The sunlight crept in through the windows. At the groundskeeper bungalow, Lucy was seated at the front desk playing a game of Shufflepuck Cafe on her computer.

The opening ceremony of the resort went over well enough. The resort grounds were clean, and all of the boxes that Lucy brought with her to the bungalow were unpacked. Pieces of retro decor framed the walls, or were lined on a nearby shelf.

Lucy had time to herself in between her duties tending the resort, and working with the Magic Gatekeepers.

"I'll get further next time!" She thought to herself when another game over message appeared on her computer screen. This would've been the time to try another game, but she quit it. The screen returned to a desktop with a black and white pattern on it, and a folder that held most of the applications.

She opened the folder and launched an old email client, and waited a few moments in anticipation for new messages. Paige and Myra sent emails that cheered her on for the opening of the resort, which filled her with encouragement that lasted until she looked at the title of one of the next unread emails.: "Dude, where's our splash page... and our money?"

That was a reference she hadn't heard in a long time, but not the reason she felt a chill. The splash page. That project. She knew that one of the participants was going to ask about it."

The email was from Katt, and read "Pardon us, but Kayla and I were told we would get paid for our time before the opening of the resort, but we haven't been paid, and you didn't show the project you paid us for! What's going on? This wasted our time, and don't give us that tired old chestnut about working for the exposure to get away with unpaid work because we didn't even get that. You wasted your own time making a project that wasn't going to be included!"

Lucy looked in dread and panic, and scrambled to the safe in the back room.

"What could I pawn off?" She thought to herself when she approached the safe, which had a few souvenirs on it. An action figure that would net some doubloons, but she couldn't still bear to part with it. She looked at them for a few moments, but couldn't bear to part with any of them. Opening the safe didn't yield anything better. The stack of bootleg games in it would earn her about 100 doubloons, and that was if the appraisers at the pawn shop were being generous!

She sunk money into building the resort that her day job hadn't made up for it. Her best-paying job opportunity doesn't happen often, though that's the best for her, and for space-time. She already spent her last paycheck on the TV that receives channels from another dimension.

Dejectedly, she closed the safe, and sighed. She had enough to pay up, and returned to her computer to reply to Katt's email: "My apologies that the deal fell through at the last minute. There were last-minute plans to change the resort that the project I hired you for wasn't needed, but I'll pay since you and Kayla put the time and effort into it. Please meet me again at the resort at your earliest convenience."

She sent the email, and signed in relief and worry.

"Darnit!" She shouted from the kitchen area of the bungalow. Her colorful, geometric-patterned coffee mug was placed under the dispenser of the coffee machine, but stood empty. She didn't need coffee to sustain her, and a physical form was optional for her, but the drinking of coffee became an enjoyable part of her morning routine.

She walked back to the front desk, and sulked. She sent a quick email to Paige: "Hi. Can u use ur time travel power to send me back a day before my coffee machine broke? :-(".

Paige sent a quick reply with an answer that Lucy expected. It'd be too frivolous of a use for time travel, and what's to say that her coffee machine suddenly broke down and this couldn't be predicted?

Suddenly a new email in her inbox. An offer of sponsorship?...

To be Continued!

Lucy waited in anticipation for another email from the mysterious sponsor for more details. What would she need for this deal? A quiet morning led to a quiet afternoon. Her sales log didn't record any new sales from the souvenir stand. She glanced at her inbox again. No new emails.

"Do they just take a bit of time to reply?" Lucy thought to herself trying to keep up hope, but she still felt a bit discouraged and on-edge.

Were there even any visitors today? She stepped away from her computer, opened the front door of the bungalow and looked outside. No visitors were in view, but there was no litter either. The surrounding landscape looked pristine! The lack of litter was a positive, but she turned back, closed the door and sat down at the front desk again.

She glanced at her virtual guestbook. There were no new visitor logs. She checked her inbox on her computer again and her eyes lit up with excitement when she saw an unread email from Paige.

"Of course! Paige would be a good sponsor! I'm not sure if she could afford to be a sponsor, but our values have a lot in common!" She thought, but then felt a bit of disappointment before she felt happy again.

"I'll let you borrow my coffee maker today while you get yours fixed." The email read.

"That was the other thing I was hoping for." Lucy thought. "I can ask her about the sponsorship when she arrives."

Meanwhile...

Paige teleported near the front entrance of the resort. She was wearing a sundress that was white with black polka dots, white sneakers, and her hair was in a ponytail underneath a white hat that had a black and white striped bow. Her coffeemaker was in a large beige tote bag that was strapped across one of her shoulders.

The beachfront area was bustling, but the gate didn't appear to be anywhere! She nervously walked around the area trying to find the gate when she spotted a strange sign.

"Error: The gateway could not load" The message read. Below it was a string of security tech jargon. Onlookers soon gathered towards the sign as they noticed that she was gazing intently at it and trying to make sense of it.

"What do you think it means?" A few people in the gathering crowd said to their friends. Chelsea was one of the onlookers and pulled out her smartphone, which was gold, covered in a pink leather case that was decorated with ornate gold trim that was encrusted with diamonds.

"Pardon me, but is this about that sign?" Paige asked Chelsea.

"Yeah. I'm disappointed! I didn't go to the beach for this!" Chelsea said, frustrated.

"Me neither!"

"Aren't you disappointed too?"

Paige felt some relief from Chelsea's question. Here was another person at the beach who was as worried and disappointed as she was!

"Yes! I wanted to go to the resort that was supposed to be here to lend the groundskeeper my coffee machine." Paige answered.

Her answer was greeted with a blank stare followed by annoyance. "It's not about that!" Chelsea said in a huff.

The feeling of relief that Paige had quickly dissipated and she felt a chill down her spine. "What is it then?" She asked, feeling worried and disappointed.

"This new art installation is a total disappointment!" Chelsea answered, pointing to the sign. "I'm going to leave a one-star review!" She blurted.

Paige nearly fell over from her disbelief, confusion and frustration, but caught herself before she fell. "It's a technical issue with space-time. The resort Lucy runs isn't here now because, well, this is the peril of hosting a resort in another time period and dimension!" She added after a pause when she regained her composure.

"Haven't we had enough of those?" Chelsea asked.

"Yeah..." Paige started to say, though she was feeling unsure what to say next.

"I want to speak with the Gatekeepers and tell them to stop these issues!" Chelsea blurted out and startled Paige.

"Would you really want to do that?" Paige cautiously asked.

"Yeah! They need to know this is unacceptable!" Chelsea blurted.

"I know how you can schedule an appointment with them--"

"Why do they have to be bureaucratic about that?!"

"They head the magical bureaucracy." Paige bluntly said. Chelsea silently conceded.

Knock knock. Paige knocked on the door to the bungalow.

Lucy was surprised anyone was visiting when she didn't notice any visitors all day, but quickly walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hey Lucy. I brought the coffee maker."

"Thank you so much!" Lucy cheered.

"This is something I can do!"

They walked to the kitchen, unplugged the broken coffee maker and plugged in Paige's coffee maker, which they promptly tested by brewing a pot!

"Has it been quiet all day?" Paige asked.

"It's been majorly quiet! Like quiet as a graveyard! I didn't see anyone outside, didn't see any new visitor logs, and I didn't hear from my sponsor."

"A sponsor?!"

"I got an email from someone who wanted to sponsor the resort, but I still haven't heard from them. Unless... you're that sponsor?"

"HAHAHAHA! Oh no-- It's not that I don't want to, but I wouldn't be ready to sponsor anything--" Paige began to explain before she interrupted herself. "The coffee's done!"

"That was a perfectly-timed distraction." Lucy snarked.

"Perhaps, but you'll be getting something else you were missing!"

Lucy poured a cup of coffee and Paige poured another one, and they walked to the table in the kitchen. It was a wooden table with an orange and green floral tablecloth. After they waited for the coffee to cool down a bit, they enjoyed the first sips.

"This test was a success!" Lucy said.

"That trusty coffee maker helped me through many days of research!" Paige cheerfully said. "I'm not here for the sponsorship, but there's another thing I'm here to tell you about."

"Oh? What is it?"

"The gateway to your resort didn't appear because there's a technical issue with space-time right now."

"So that's why! Ugh... The Gatekeepers didn't tell me that!"

"I had to time travel to get here, but I think you'll find this hilarious!" Paige started to chuckle.

Lucy looked curiously.

"Where the gateway to your resort would be, there was a sign that said the gateway couldn't load. Several people took pictures of it and wondered what it was, but someone I talked to said that it was a bad modern art installation!"

Lucy started to laugh.

"There's more!" Paige added. "This person said the space-time issues are unacceptable and she wants to speak to the Gatekeepers about them!"

Laughter filled the room. After a solid minute of laughter, Lucy said "Is she serious about it?"

"She sounded serious."

"If that's what she wants, I could help her arrange that!" Lucy said with a smile that was sincere and mischievous at the same time!

Lucy returned to her bungalow at the resort. She entered the front door and expected everything to be normal, but looked in horror when she saw that the back portion of the bungalow collapsed!

The microphone she used that was connected to the resort's speaker system was fortunately on the front desk. She rushed back there and gave an announcement asking if any attendees saw the back part of her bungalow or any other parts of the resort collapse.

She waited at her desk for any replies when she quickly received them; some witnesses saw the back part of the bungalow collapse, but no one caused it beyond whoever made the shoddy construction! This response stung Lucy, but she politely responded back to the witnesses.

"It's back to to the drawing board with this." She thought to herself and sighed. She had renovated that part of the bungalow with old materials that looked fine on the surface, but weren't holding up as well as they appeared.

There's some truth to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Her resort is built on this principle, but this is more for old technology, not crumbling infrastructure!

"Ugh... I don't look or sound like that!" Lucy thought to herself. She was seated at her desk in her room, and was watching TV when she happened to see the commercial that she was in! Finishing the filming of the commercial with Camelia's help, and being told that it was ready to air excited Lucy. Another job completed, and one that could pay off for her resort, or plunge it into debt again after she finished paying off the costs of repair. She had to wait and see about that.

"Do you want to take a look through timeline-spanning adventures filtered through a colorful 1990's web experience?!" Lucy eagerly said in the commercial when she was standing in front of the gate for her resort! It was a concise pitch, and images of souvenirs and pieces of retro 3D art flashed across the screen. She chose the pieces and made some of them specially for the commercial!

The email she received about an offer seemed enticing although some of its terms were steep! She glanced at her laptop, a bulky dark gray design from the early to mid-90's, though it was rather sleek for its time. The email was on her screen again, but she closed the email client and closed the laptop.

"Not this time." She thought as she placed the laptop off to the side of her TV. The TV was an old pink one with chrome panels and trim, and was the centerpiece of her room. After the commercial was over, she looked out the window to appreciate the rosy sky and brilliant magenta clouds of the sunset, and took another sip of her drink from a white mug with an iconic teal swirling design on it!