Edge of the Universe: Art On The Run!

Art's Journal Entry: Tuesday - May 15

I'm feeling so excited about this trip. I can't believe it's really happening. A few months back, this guy named Johnny contacted me out of the blue. He said he contacted me because my English is pretty good.

I've been studying the language since I was seven. My mother enrolled me in a local English school because she wanted me to have a good education.

But still, this was weird because he speaks fluent Portuguese. Somehow, he knew about the projects I've been working on and showed a real interest. I never actually told him about my own personal side project, but he mentioned a few things that make it sound like he knows about it.

He eventually came down to visit me and wanted to learn more about the company I work for. He claims that his company wants to buy us out. But if so, why doesn't he contact my boss or my boss' boss directly. Anyway, I decided to play this by ear and see what happens.

After Johnny left, we kept touch off and on although I never really thought much would come of it. But then last week, he told me to pack my bags and sent me a passage with all expenses paid to America. This is such a dream come true for me. I've always wanted to travel abroad, and now that the opportunity is here I kind of nervous. I wish I had more time to prepare and get ready, but Johnny says that it's very urgent.

I wonder what they want. They've spent a lot of money on this trip, and Momma always warns us that there's no such thing as a free lunch. So, I sure there will be strings attached. Momma said that they might make me a job offer, but I don't think that's it. I mean if that were the case, they would have approached me about it first or sent a headhunter after me.

I still think this is related to my project, although I'm not really sure why. Or how they even know about it. I've only told two other people. Anderson, my friend who helps me work on it, and Pedro, my boss, because I wanted to use some resources from work when I was off the clock. But Pedro told me it was a stupid idea that would never work and laughed me out of the room.

I still don't know why that would even interest Johnny. I mean, sure, Anderson and I are doing some pretty cool stuff, but it's not really in line with what Johnny's company does. I asked Johnny about it, but he wouldn't really say much. Jonny just told that he was doing what his boss told him to and that I would get more details when I arrived personally. In the end, though, it seemed like he was actually trying to talk me out of coming.

Johnny finally sent me the official invitation last week, but I told him I wasn't able to go on such short notice. I said I could go this week though. So, he went on about it probably being too complicated and might not work out. I informed him that it wasn't a problem for me though. In the end, he changed the date on the ticket for me to come now.

I still don't understand why he didn't ask me when I could go before buying me a passage. It's pretty strange. Then he seemed upset when I said I couldn't go on those dates. Anyway, I apologized, and he seemed cool with it by the time we got off the phone. But he still asked several times if I didn't want to cancel my trip. So, weird. But he's a really cool guy when all is said and done.

Anyway, my bags are packed, and I am ready to roll. I've already told Momma and everybody goodbye. My ride should be here in a few minutes. The app says it's about three minutes away. So, I guess I'd better wrap this up and go downstairs.

This is gonna be a whirlwind trip, so I probably won't have time to update my journal every day. But I will make sure to fill in all the details when I get back. Wish me luck. I got my fingers crossed.