EARTH: 2073

The world has changed a lot over the past few decades. Just as the movies and books had predicted, we now have flying cars. Humans and machines work together as robots help people at work and in their homes. We've come a long way.

"BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR LASER STICKS CHILDREN"

While the other kids liked to play with all of the latest gadgets, I preferred to spend my time reading a good book. I really enjoyed my time alone. I wasn't lonely. I just preferred to be on my own. My only regret was that I had so many interests but nobody to share them with.

My Mom was one of the top scientists in the world. She worked for The Intergalactic Human Genome Project. That was a fancy name for cloning as she was able to reproduce cells to help people who were sick or injured recover. After the animal population went extinct about fifty years ago, my Mom was able to bring back a few species.

My Mom wanted me to go outside and play with the other kids but I'd much rather read until my eyes grew tired. I would sometimes drift off to sleep as my incredible ideas became amazing dreams. If only I had someone other than Ziggy to discuss them with. What? You never saw a kid with a pet zebra before?

One night I was awoken by a loud meteor shower. Unable to get back to sleep I headed downstairs for a glass of Tang. I started to head back upstairs when my curiosity got the better of me. I quietly snuck into my Mom's office and starting poking around. I couldn't reach her computer so I had to find something to give me a boost.

"OUCH!"

I spotted a machine covered by a white blanket and so I tried to push it over towards the computer. It was too heavy and I was barely able to move it. I slipped and got my finger stuck in the machine. It hurt so bad that I yelped in pain. Not wanting to get caught by my parents, I pushed the machine back and went back to bed.

The next morning I noticed a big chunk of skin missing my from thumb. It must've happened when it got caught in the machine. As my Dad was getting our spacecar ready, I snuck back into my Mom's office to make sure that I had covered my tracks. Everything seemed to look the same except for a few drops of blood by the machine. I quickly cleaned it up and closed the door.

After dinner that evening, I went upstairs to work on my homework. Ziggy was acting a little strange when I walked into the room. "Oh, hi there" I said to the boy. The boy? Who was that? "Who are you?" I asked. "I'm you Isaac. I'm your clone. We are the same in every way." "Is everything okay up there?" my Dad yelled up having heard the book hit the floor. "Yeah Dad!"

At first I was afraid of what I had done. But soon I realized that it could be something wonderful. I liked going to school but some days I wanted to sleep in.  I had my clone go to school for me while I slept until noon. He ended up doing my chores, taking piano lessons for me, and best of all, I finally had somebody to have intelligent conversations with.