Dear Future Anthropologists, Archaeologists, and Explorers,

Thank you for finding this file. I hope you can read it. It is currently the year 2021 on planet Earth, and some of my fellow writers and myself have come together to send a payload of cool stuff to the moon–mainly books that we have written, art that we have made, and things like that.

I am Ariele Sieling, a science fiction author. I find it unlikely that my work has survived to whenever you are, but if it has, sweet! Things you might want to know about me: 

–I currently have 21 books published

–I like animals (I have two cats and a Great Pyrenees dog)

–I have lived in a variety of places in my life: New York State, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Pennsylvania in the United States which is one of the smaller continents on Earth (but bigger than Australia!)

–I believe that people matter, and a society should be judged based on how it treats the least “wanted” members of its society (and we, currently, are failing that test but still have the opportunity to change)

–I believe that life is short but worth living

–I do not believe in religion

The books you will find in this payload are the first four books in my Land of Szornyek series. It is a post-apocalyptic adventure about a woman named Askari, learning to survive and thrive in a world filled with monsters. Why only four books? you might ask. Because the rest aren’t done yet. You will also find several pieces of art done by me (several of them relating specifically to my series and some not), and several stowaways–people who I invited to submit work or ideas or poems to go to the moon alongside my books.

And wow. The submissions really blew me away. 

One of the themes I explore in my books is that of working together. Community. The ways in which we interact and relate to other people. And the submissions by the other people on my payload showed me (for the most part) that what people wanted to be remembered for in the future, was not themselves and the things they had accomplished, but their family, friends, and loved ones.

So, you will find a memorial with some photographs and dates in remembrance of our dead; messages to you, future people, in the form of poems, pictures, and general writings; a song written by my little brother titled Voicemails, which features recordings of my own voice as well as my mom, dad, older brother, and grandmother; and a video recording of an old family party during which me, my parents, my brothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles sang a song titled “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing In Perfect Harmony.” 

The one thing I’d like you to know, future people, is that the most important things to us, past people, are the people that we love.

Sincerely,

Ariele Sieling