Days of Future Perfect - Day Two

As I mentioned yesterday, a strange occurence with my RSS feed has gained me access to ten blogs from the future. This second part is dated September 9th, 2006. As you will read, during this period I will be vacationing in Disneyworld. Enjoy.

The Future Is Now

As I ran down the wooded path this morning at the crack of dawn for my early morning jog between the Wilderness Lodge and the Fort Wilderness Campground, my mind kept wandering to the e-mail I received last night from my agent, Alice. The pounding punishment I put my body through is extra satisfying this morning because I know that for me, the wait is nearly over. I am about to enter my future - and I'm running there.

After a quick shower, I managed to drag my slugabed brother out of his blanket cocoon and downstairs to the bus area. My nephew and niece looked up at me with the bored nuetral setting kids have when they're in their strollers - like a windup toy that is recharging, lifeless but pulsing with energy under the plastic mask of boredom. We boarded the bus and rode to the TTC at the center of Disneyworld and within seconds were onboard the monorail train bound for EPCOT center.

It seemed somehow fitting that while we were heading towards this experimental prototype community of tomorrow - this perfectly planned future - that I should break the news to my family.

"I got an e-mail last night from my agent," I said.

They were too busy showing my niece and nephew the surrounding countryside. I decided to keep the information to myself a little while longer.

We always begin our day at Epcot with a ride on Spaceship Earth. This was to be a barometer of our day as far as rides were concerned with the little ones. Deciding not even to risk it with my niece, who's only 16 months, my Mom decided to stay and watch the kids while the rest of us rode. Joshua, my nephew, rode with his Uncle Will and he was a big boy, only getting scared once - when Rome was burning.

Over the fire and tumult and looking into his scared face, I decided to distract him.

"I got an e-mail last night from my agent," I told him.

He looked me in the eye and then pointed and said, "Mickey!" As sure enough, Mickey Mouse appeared on a television screen.

Our ride came to an end and we decided that we would repeat the pattern throughout the rest of the day, taking turns minding Natalie while taking Joshua on as many rides as possible. By now, though, our stomachs were rumbling so we headed over to the food court in The Land for a quick and simple breakfast. I had a bagel and cream cheese. As everyone sat to eat, I opened my mouth to tell them what my agent had said, and Mickey Mouse arrived at the food court. My words died in my mouth under the onslaught of screaming toddlers (and my sister... go figure;)

All throughout the morning, as we rode Test Track (three times), the ride in the Imagination Pavillion, The Land boats, Nemo in the Living Seas, and all the neat little gadgets in Innoventions, I was unable to mention my good news. At first, I became discouraged. And then I just accepted the fact that perhaps the future would have to wait a little while longer.

We had lunch at the San Angel Restaurant in the Mexico pavillion and the food was much better this time around, though still not as good as the first time Heather and I ate here in 1998. However, we were all satisfied with the meal. We decided to take Natalie on her first ride of the trip on the tiny El River Del Tiempo. Its a ride that is literally about a minute long and that's at a slow glacial pace. Natalie didn't know what to make of it, but at least she didn't cry.

We worked our way around the world, stopping in China, and Germany (especially to look at the trains - Joshy loved the trains, but it was his daddy that we found the hardest one to pull away). I tasted my first beer in 6 months while we watched the trains go around and around the outdoor city. Eventually we reached the American Pavillion.

Carl made a nice trade off with us - finding the Funnel Cake cart first. He stayed with Natalie and enjoyed his funnel cake while we went in to enjoy what is arguably the best show at WDW. The World Trade Center flag that hangs inside the pavillion entrance is worth the price of admission alone. But the show that follows is a wonderful masterpiece. Joshua remained quiet throughout the entire show - sitting on his mommies lap so that he could see.

We were all starting to wind down and decided that we had enough time to go back to the room and collapse for a quick nap and maybe a swim before dinner. We managed to catch the Friendship Taxi across the lagoon and then walked out of the park and took the bus directly to our hotel. The air conditioned lobby reminded us how muggy it had been outside. And sure enough, just as we entered our rooms, it started to rain.

As we lay down for a quick nap, I said to no one in particular, "I got an email from my agent yesterday."

"Uh-huh."

"She said that..."

But then I heard snoring.

Dinner was at the wonderful Raglan Road restaurant in Downtown Disney. An Irish restaurant that serves sort of modern versions of Irish fare, we ate ourselves silly. Even the kids had a great time. We waddled back to the hotel and climbed upstairs for a game of madlibs - the clean version with the kids, and the naughty version when then went to bed. And finally, the day came to an end.

I discovered that my laptop was portable (duh!) and took it downstairs into the lobby where it was just me, the lobby music, and the gurgling from the water fountain. And that's where I'm sitting now, writing this, and basking in the glow of another Disney day gone by. Tomorrow, we'll be off to Animal Kingdom and the Disney Studios, and I'll be taking my Mom on our first TAC Disney Day.

But for now... my agent wrote in the e-mail that after only two weeks, she'd already received requests from 7 major publishers for the full length manucript. She said this was unusual for a first time author and that it boded well for the novel's success. To me, it means that someone besides myself and Sue liked the book. And that is plenty of success in my eyes. The future is not here yet, but I can just see it on the horizon.

See you all tomorrow.

Of course, when I read this blog from the future, I wasn't excited that I had an agent or that my novel was being seen by publishers, I was just happy to know that in the near future, the darn thing is finished! Anyway, stay tuned tomorrow when this blog goes NASCAR ;)