//|\\ lauren kraker \\|//
Doctor Alex Coleman stood up and walked to the podium. The room immediately silenced to hear his words. Press members lurched forward. They all waited.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the presentation. We're all very happy to produce the very first complete journal from our project . These entries contain the thoughts and feelings of Mark, the first human being made completely from DNA created in a science lab. As a newborn, Mark was placed in a scientifically generated environment, similar to that of an island in the Caribbean. This generated island had the same dangers that a real island would. Mark only came into contact with one other human, Dr. Ian Murray, the entire time he was on the island. Dr. Murray was there for the purpose of teaching Mark to write and speak, later enabling us to have Mark produce his journal entries. He also got Mark through his first weeks as a newborn in the wild. At the age of 20, Mark was brought off the island and placed in a home as a foster child. Please take this time to read the remarkable account of his beginning days there. A 'Comments and Questions' session will begin in 45 minutes. Thank you for your patience all these years. We're all very proud."
Dr. Coleman stepped down from the podium and began to walk back stage. The man running the overhead took his cue. The lights clicked off and the enormous screen over the stage lit up with the first journal entry. Mumbles of excitement could be heard through the room for a moment and then the crowd settled and became taken over by the words displayed before them.
June 30th, 2008
This is one of the strangest places I've ever seen. It's scary. It looks like many of the things around here could just fall apart at any time. Like this 'house' I live in. It just doesn't seem safe to me. When I build things I know they are going to stay upright and strong but I don't know who built this. I don't trust it. There aren't many trees. The ground here is so much harder. I have this thing called a bed to sleep on. Now that's nice. I don't understand why they want me to come out of this room though. I don't know these people. Dr. Murray said I was staying here because the island wasn't safe anymore. I think maybe he was just worried because the island seemed fine to me. I would know better I think since he only came every 3rd day. I miss the island. I didn't really want to leave. I don't know anything here but I knew everything about the island. I spent so much time getting to know the island and now that's gone. It was always warm there, even when it was wet. It is warm here too but it isn't as warm. I asked him why it's different and he said that I live in a place called Staten Island. He said that it's different because I live farther away from the warmest part of the Earth. That made sense to me so I was okay with it. He also told me that it was going to get much colder in a few months but that after that it would be warm again and that it would continue like that for always. I'm scared about it being so cold but I guess I don't have a choice. He said I shouldn't worry because I would be kept warm. Dr. Murray asked me to sit down every few days and write about that day or whatever I was thinking about. He said he would read it but that he would be the only one but it doesn't matter because I don't know anyone else. There's a person here with long hair who keeps coming to the room and asking me if I'm okay or if I need anything. Dr. Murray said her name is Mom. I bet she has all that hair for when it gets cold. I hope they don't make me grow my hair that long. Mom gave me some clothes other than my shorts and said to let her know if I wanted new ones. I didn't talk to her though. I don't know exactly what she wants. Dr. Murray said it's okay and that she's going to take care of me but what happens when Dr. Murray isn't here? I wonder where I can find food here.
July 12, 2008
I'm starting to feel angry. I've been here for a while now and the people in this house won't leave me alone. Mom must come in here 10 or more times a day to see what I'm doing and why. Dad keeps trying to get me to come out of the room. Jaclyn comes in here and asks me about the island. I don't think she needs to know about that and I don't understand why you would want to know something if you don't have to. They say she's my sister and closest friend. I think she just asks too many questions. I've only seen Dr. Murray twice since I've been here. I asked him if it was safe to go back to the island yet and if we could bring the bed back there. I think he was laughing when he told me no and that I'd be staying here now. I feel like there's something I'm missing but I don't know. Why is all this happening? I'm still not sure. I know that Dr. Murray wants me to talk to these people more and I will once I feel okay with them. I've been eating here whenever Dad brings me food. It's usually three times a day, though once in a while he'll come in with just a little bit of food for me in addition to the three times. If anyone is not so bad it's Dad. Even when he comes in and asks me to come outside the room and walk around with him, he's nice. He doesn't talk too loud and when I say I don't want to leave he says it's okay, and that maybe next time we can go. He doesn't make me do things I don't want to. He seems to understand. The food here is so different from the food I ate. I used to take leaves and berries to eat off the different trees and bushes. Sometimes, if I could get a fire started, I would cook the leaves so they were softer and easier to chew. We eat leaves here too. Mom says it's called lettuce. She puts it in a big bowl with a bunch of other things that taste better than the leaves. She also has these different colored liquids that she pours over the leaves in the bowl. I really like them, especially the one that's bright orange. I eat a lot more cooked food now and a lot more meat. It all has so much taste. Some of it I don't like but most of it is quite fulfilling. I've been exploring the room slowly because I don't know what I'm going to find. There's a door on one side that I haven't opened and I'm worried about that door. I put my ear up to it to hear what's on the other side but I didn't hear anything. How could there be a door to nothing? Anything could be on the other side and I'm not going to open it by myself. I started exploring on the wall to the right of the scary door. There was a large shelf with a bunch of books on it. I took one out to look at but it was all dirty. I think all the books on the shelf were dirty. I wonder how long it's been since they washed. There were a few little things on top of the shelf. I spent a lot of time holding them each in my hands. I wanted to get to know them all with my eyes and by the way they felt. When Dad came in today with the fourth meal he saw me touching them and I got scared that he wouldn't like that. But he was happy. He told me they were something called 'knickknacks' and they were just there for decoration pretty much. My favorite one was a clear ball on top of a square block with little black and white creatures inside scattered over white hills. If you moved this knick-knack, little white bits jumped up and all around the inside of the ball. It was captivating. I could look at that all day if I had to.
July 25, 2008
So much has happened. I found out about the knickknack It's called a snow globe. I didn't know what snow was so I asked Dad and he told me that snow is the most beautiful rain in the world and it only comes when it's really cold. He said if we're lucky it will stay on the ground and cover everything up in white. That sounded a little frightening to me but if Dad says it's beautiful, then I can say okay. Dad is the only one I really talk to. His eyes are the same as Dr. Murray's. I haven't seen Dr. Murray in a while, and I really don't like that. I miss him. Maybe he doesn't remember me. That would make me really sad. Maybe I'll ask later where he is. I explored the whole room with Dad. That other door was a closet and it was full of boxes and clothes. I also found a set of drawers with clothes in them. I want to wear them all. I want to use the ones I don't like to make a blanket. They are so itchy. Dad says they're sweaters and we use them in the winter when it's cold. I don't understand why you would want to wear something that hurts your skin even if it is warm. These are what I'm going to use to make the blanket. It should be the same thing as making a blanket with the leaves. Dr. Murray showed me how to do that. I haven't done much since I've been here and I feel like I should do something. I told Dad that I'm going to leave the room after I finish exploring in here. I've seen everything in here now but I'm not finished. I want to see it all again and I want to know where everything is. Shouldn't be too hard, the island was much bigger than this and I knew where everything was.
July 26, 2008
I asked Mom and Dad why Mr. Murray doesn't come here that much anymore. They said that he does that so Mom, Dad, Jaclyn, and I can become better friends. I think I understand but I still wish I could see him more.
August 8, 2008
This house is so big! There are so many rooms to be explored! But there's two rooms I'm not allowed in by myself. Jaclyn's room and Mom and Dad's room. I guess I understand but I want to see them. They asked me how I would feel if one of them went into my room without me there and I felt my stomach get tight. I knew I wouldn't like that. Dad and Mom took me into their room so I could take a look around. They had a very big bed. I wouldn't know what to do with a bed that big. Then Jaclyn took me into her room. It was so bright! Everything in there was pink and yellow. I asked her how old she was and she said she was 12. I asked her if she liked being 12 and she said yes but that no one listens to you really. I'm glad I'm not 12. I wouldn't like that.
August 19, 2000
I have seen the whole house now and I feel like I have a lot of information. I remember everything though. I really like it here, there's so much to do. Jaclyn showed me this thing called TV. It's a box that lights up and you can watch people doing things. Some of the shows are sad but a lot of them are funny. We try to only watch the funny shows but Mom doesn't let Jaclyn watch very much of the TV anyway. I didn't really laugh much on the island. I haven't really thought about the island in a while. Dr. Murray said that I'm going to have to go outside the house soon. I thought I was going to go back to the island and I asked him if I could bring Jaclyn to see it since she wanted to know so much about it. He said that I wasn't going back to the island, I was going to a place called school. I asked him why and he said that I was going to learn with a bunch of other people. I asked him what I was going to learn and he said as much as you can. I want to learn because of all I've learned in the house. I like learning. It gives me new things to think about. I'm scared about seeing other people though. What if they're mean? I asked him if Jaclyn could come and he said no because she'll be learning with other people on her own. This seems like a strange idea to me but I don't think I have a choice. I wonder what's going to happen to me now.
August 25, 2000
Mom and Dad and Jaclyn took me outside the house today. We walked to a place called a park. There were a lot of people there and they were very loud. They wanted me to understand what it was like to be around a lot of people because I was going to school soon. I didn't know what they were talking about and Mom said that school is where you go to learn. I guess that's what Dr. Murray was talking about. I hope the people at school aren't this loud. I don't like this much noise. I don't think I want to go to school.
September 6, 2008
Tomorrow I go to school. Jaclyn told me it's not so bad but you have to listen to the teacher. Mom said I was going to be in a beginning class so I would understand better. She said that there would be other people about my age there. The first class I was taking would be about numbers. She said that the other people there were there because they wanted to learn new things. A lot of them, she said, also came from a place other than here, just like me. She also told me that some of the people there had tried to learn once before but they couldn't because they got in too much trouble or because they just weren't ready to. I'm so nervous. I don't talk to people besides Mom, Dad, and Jaclyn. I don't know what to do at this school. What if I get hungry while I'm there? Or need to change my clothes? What if I need to go to the bathroom? I asked Dad about this and he said that I should ask the teacher when I get there and she will help me. He also told me that I won't be there long enough to need to change my clothes. That made me feel better. Dr. Murray was the only person I trusted but now I trust my family, as they tell me to call it. Nothing bad has happened to me since I've been here except that time I cut myself at dinner. I hope this school place is like here where nothing bad happens. But Mom and Dad said they would make sure I was okay. I believe them. I'm also hoping they have snow globes at school and if they don't if it would be okay to bring the one in my room. It's very small so I carry it around a lot because it makes me smile. I wish the little white bits could dance around in there forever. I'm very tired and I have a nervous feeling in my stomach. I should go to sleep so I can have a lot of rest in case something bad happens at school tomorrow. This is going to be a new adventure they tell me. I think they are right.
Copies of the journal had been handed out to everyone, as Dr. Coleman was returning for the question and answer session. Once again a great silence fell over the room.
"I hope you have been given enough time to look these over. Please, proceed with questions."
Immediately, a reporter from CNN sprang up and yelled, "Dr. Coleman, what do you and your colleagues think of all this?"
"I could not be more proud of how far we've come with this experiment. All is going well. We feel that Mark's entries for his first few months of schooling will be remarkable. We expect them to be much more telling than even these. Since this is the first time anything like this is being done, we are still ready to account for any problems that may arise, but so far we haven't had that trouble."
A columnist from The New York Times rose and asked, "What about Dr. Murray? Where is he? How does he feel about Mark?"
"Ah, a good question indeed. Why don't you ask him yourself," Dr. Coleman turned to stage left and waved his arm towards Dr. Murray who was waiting in the wings, "Dr. Murray?"
Dr. Murray came out onto the stage to a thunderous applause. The doctors shook hands and Dr. Coleman stepped back for Dr. Murray to answer the question.
"Mark, and this entire experiment, are the most amazing things I've seen in my 57 years on this earth. I feel we are making great progress in the understanding of the human mind; the human body; the general functioning of a person on a daily basis; the learning process. The potential information that may come from this is mind-blowing. I, like all of us involved, wait anxiously for each bit Mark gives us. I still see Mark every once in a while. We want him to start fitting in with his family. We want him to no longer be dependent on me, but to see me and think of an old friend. I must say, as a scientist it is easy to treat Mark as nothing more than the current project. As a human being, it is much more difficult. I do feel an attachment to Mark-he was practically my son. But I must remain professional in this, which makes me almost relieved that our relationship is being made less and less existent."
"Is there going to be any information released about the island?" asked a woman from the Fox network.
"For all scientific purposes, the island is no longer needed. Presently, Dr. Coleman, myself, and the others involved in this project, are discussing producing a documentary revealing the island to the public and allowing a behind the scenes style look at what has been going on these past few months," Dr. Murray was careful not to promise anything to these reporters all hungry for information. He then excused himself from the stage and gave the session back to Dr. Coleman.
"Are there any other questions?" Dr. Coleman asked.
An executive from the Discovery Channel stood up and inquired about some more information on the school Mark was attending.
"The school Mark is going to is one of the schools where immigrants, and adults who did earn a high school diploma go to learn the basic academic skills one needs to survive in this world. He learns some more about English in the E.S.L classes held there and he is focusing on beginning math skills at the moment. He will be expected to learn at his own pace and will move on as he is fit to do," Dr. Coleman explained.
He continued, "Please, as the session is about to end, can I have only one more question. There will be other press conferences and information sessions in the near future. So let's have one last question and that will be all for today."
"What happens now?" yelled a voice representing Scientific American.
"This is a hard question to answer but I will tell you all that I know. Mark will go to school for the rest of the school year. His next six months of journal entries will be released as they are finished. Based on his performance in school, we will know what to do next. Regardless of that however, over the summer vacation, Mark and his family will go on a trip, more than likely to Williamsburg, Virginia. He will be able to experience both a theme park and an educational park there and see what it's like to go on vacation. We are very excited about this. We expect great feedback from Mark," he paused for just a moment, "Thank you so much for coming today. I hope we have helped you to better understand the progress of our scientific community now and to have a clearer vision of where we can go tomorrow or anytime in the future. I look forward to presenting you with new insights as we receive them. Have a great day!"