Sincerest Utmost Thanks to Susan Kaye Quinn

Before anything else, I give my Sincerest and Utmost Thanks to Susan Kaye Quinn for creating this wonderful, inspiring project of hope in a snapshot of year 2021 stories and art from creators around the world, all to be put into a time capsule microchip destined for planet Earth’s Moon in the Summer of 2021 and to be opened by the people of the future.

I am excited and humbled to be included in this group of 125 talented writers and lovely people. I think I must be the least qualified of all of these writers, many of whom have had decades of success in their writing careers.

In comparison, I send one and only, my first completed short story, a fantasy science fiction called BATARIA, Sonic Ones of the Airborne Realm. Plus a few stowaways for company.

My humble and heartfelt thanks for being invited to come aboard,

Thank you so much!

About my Short Story, BATARIA, why do I want to put it in a time capsule on the Moon

This story is about a young woman named Sarah Qin, who is half-Chinese and half-French Canadian, freshly graduated from high school and celebrating her 18th birthday with her friends by going to see fun movies at a drive-in theatre. Instead her group is caught up in a meteor explosion, and she is flung into a surreal and dangerous journey, transformed into the shape of a human-sized flying bat, a species whose people are called Batarians.

I only give hints to the cause of her sudden and surreal journey; it might be that she was catapulted into the afterlife after being killed by the exploding meteor; or it might be that the explosion merely knocked her unconscious and she is dreaming; and a third possible cause could be from the car next to hers, where the three young men are toking so much weed that the smoke has wafted all over the drive-in grounds and has sent her into a dizzying slumber and a dream of a fantastical journey that only exists in her mind.

The cause of her journey is besides the point. I wrote this story to represent the kind of emotional journey that people go through when they leave behind everything that they know and are thrown into totally foreign circumstances, and have their will, ethics, mind, body, and soul challenged to utmost limits.

This story represents the struggle of people who must throw out the old known rules of their previous lives, and must think fast not only to learn and beat the new rules of this strange new world, but to raise the strength of their own character, increase in wisdom, and contribute to making a better world with everything that they have learned and experience.

The meaning of this story prompted me to place it in the time capsule of the Writers on the Moon project, because although it is an adventurous science fiction fantasy, I believe in its story of perseverance and hope that this underlying theme can be an inspiration to the people of the future.

It is my way of saying to the people of the future, that we the people of 2021 understand their fears and challenges even though the future may be vastly different from our present, because we understand the impact that challenges can have on the human psyche. In the year 2021, we have been in the midst of a COVID19 pandemic and lived past the rulership of the worst American President to ever hold that office, but we persevere and prevail and look forward with hope of building a better world. 

This is my way of saying to those in the future, if we who are so imperfect, can get this much done, then we know and believe in you and your ability to succeed in so much more, far into the future. May God Bless your every endeavor with goodness.  I send love, hugs, hope, and courage to you,

About my Stowaways and why I wanted their contributions aboard the time capsule

Originally I invited four women and three men to contribute writings or art, people whose origins are as varied as the world itself. Combined, their heritages span from indigenous cultures of the Americas to Europe, Aftrica, Asia, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. I chose them not only for their varied points of view, but also because they are friends and family whose intelligence and creativity add positive contributions to this project, each in their own unique way. 

By the time of submission, two female Stowaways stood out so well that they landed their very own stowaway spot, while two other females were unable to make the deadline, and this left me with three male stowaways to go in my cargo. I explain this so that the reader will not misunderstand why I only have male stowaways. I didn’t plan it that way, it is neither bad nor good, and I am simply glad that they could make it.

The three stowaways and their submitted creative works: 

Caio Sa, a Graphic Designer originally from of Brazil, South America. He submitted a vivid digital art rendering of planets and moons in space, which were inspired by the idea of going to the Moon

Rodrigo Rojo Leon, a Psychology major, Artist, and Computer Technician originally from Mexico, North America. He submitted an evocative piece of digital are of an intriguing creature in a submarine environment, along with a prose poem that hints at the conscious and unconscious inspirations sparked by thoughts of going to the Moon

Joseph Normand Magella Beaulieu, a Photographer, Writer and Artist who is the father of my two daughters, and hails from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He submitted a prose poem about remembrances of a lost loved one and an accompanying black and white photograph of the subject of the poem, a melancholy take on those whom we either leave behind or whom leave us, a dark reflection similar to the loneliness of those who live on the edges of civilization, whether as pioneers of outer space or as explorers of their own inner space

Welcome Aboard Stowaways, and Thank You for your contributions!

Why I added my childrens’ Family Trees as Stowaways

This stowaway is the biggest contribution to my cargo, the file size is almost twice as big as my own short fiction story. That feels appropriate to me, because I believe that much of what has helped me to succeed up to this point, comes from what I inherited and learned from our ancestors.

To me the most important and meaningful thing about this document, the collected family trees of my childrens’ ancestors, is its hopeful role in the future. When this time capsule is opened in the future, and I hope that my children along with many other people’s children will have contributed a positive part to that future, and if they do, and if people in the future wonder how our children found the wherewithal to accomplish things, they can look at this document and see hints of the human characteristics that aided their efforts.

I am dedicating the Family Trees to the people of the future so that they can read the stories of what it took for people to make lives for themselves in the deep past. I hope that the people of the future might appreciate and learn that it is possible to endure unexpected hardships and endure, because these humble people of the past, who were just trying to find a place with enough room and opportunity to live a decent life, succeeded despite even the most unimaginable difficulties. .

 The story of going far away from one’s ancestral home, whether it was a thousand years ago, or today, takes just as much effort and risk now as it did in the past. Human emotions and virtues are still just as keenly felt and keenly needed nowadays as they were hundreds of years ago in the past.

It is my hope that by sending the names of our ancestors to the Moon, I am offering the experiences of these long-ago families as a blessing to the people .in the future. May the people of the past with their vast variety of challenges and experiences, be an inspiration of tenacity, virtue, hope, and love to the people of the future. May the people of the future know that many amazing things are possible so long as they never give up on their efforts and maintain faith in seeing good endeavours through to the end, never quitting halfway. Because, these stories of the people of long ago prove that those who do not give up, can prevailed and succeed.. 

I hope that the people of the future will enjoy reading these stories. The many good, hard working, honest people of the past have valuable lessons that make life worth living no matter what time period a person is from.

I dedicate these family trees also to my 2 daughters, Ambrose Suzanne Alexandra Beaulieu and Nicole Danielle Beaulieu, and to our extended family members of the future, may they feel a sense of connection with their beloved ancestors when they read these stories.

Lastly, it is also my hope that by sending the names of these ancestors to the Moon, I have given them one more opportunity to be a part of a brand-new place, with brand new people full of hope for their own futures too. By sending their names to the Moon, in a poetic manner our ancestors get to leapfrog into the future, in these records. It is an experience that I at present cannot imagine.

My Best Wishes to all for Love, Joy, Happiness, Peace, Safety and Prosperity.

About the Author, Allison Florence Chan

I was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a Chinese Canadian woman whose parents emigrated from the southern mainland China. From childhood I enjoyed reading, drawing, and going to movies with my Mom, and as an adult I studied Animation and Film at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In Montreal, I met the father of my two daughters. He and I were married for twenty seven years, until a series of car accidents left three out of the four of us debilitated. Our marriage was unable to survive the long road to recovery from those accidents, but we do as best we can for one another post-divorce. Our two daughters are independent adults blessed with creativity and good souls, and that heartens me.

As a writer, I face daily challenges of physical and mental disabilities. It has been a longstanding wish of mine to complete just one creative project that I am not embarrassed to put my name next to, just to know that I succeeded in making one worthwhile creation with noting but my imagination and effort. I hate failure and refuse to give up. This project and my short story, BATARIA, have finally helped me get to that finish line. If nothing else, I can say that I got one good thing done, and that makes me happy. I hope to keep writing better stories and make better art. We will see.

Regarding the disabilities, I’ve been crippled by Rheumatoid Arthritis (RhA) in every joint of my body since the age of 40, since the year 2006.  RhA is a hereditary inflammatory disease, my Mom had a bit of it in her hands, but my Dad’s mother had it the worst. Secondarily, that disease causes depression and anxiety, mainly due to the frustration of being unable to get things done. I also have PTSD from the aftermath of the car accidents and divorce. Combined, these make every task and thought four times harder to achieve than they were I was able-bodied. Thankfully I manage the disabilities with recommended medical advice and tools, and am able to maintain a reasonable quality of life. And oh well, we all have some kind of hardship in our lives and feel like biblical Job at one time or another, nobody is alone in having struggles.

It’s the hardships that we allow to stay in our way, that seem to be our biggest and worst nightmares. It’s our efforts to work past that, which can turn those nightmares into seeds for something better.

So this is why I write and create art. Whatever comes to mind or happens in life, nightmares, dreams, whatever leaves an unusual impression on me, compels me to externalizing that impression in the form of art or words. When I offload some of that, it frees up my mind, heart, and soul and keeps me as present and capable as possible for whatever will come next.

I take those varied impressions and attempt to weave them into worthwhile stories or art, to give purpose to life’s chaos. As the saying goes, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. I want to create treasures out of the stuff of life, or at minimum, create an entertaining distraction.

I am deeply grateful for being a part of this Writers on the Moon project. It has challenged me to improve as a writer, and that feels like a big success in my heart already.  

Hopefully there will be more stories and art to come from my hands. That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, I hope to offer something positive to those who are willing to take a look.