The 8th Wonder of The World

June 7, 2014

Dear Diary,

Where were we? It's been like a year right?

This diary has been hard to keep up with since everything that’s happened.

Oh! We were at the part where my brother came back!

Well, over the next several months, doctors and scientists alike came to see him and study his perplexing condition. His body was completely human—his DNA and blood type confirmed that it was the same as before he left.

But when they looked at his head... it was just a normal TV.

The news and media called him the 8th Wonder of the World.

He still couldn’t talk, but somehow, he could hear. He could play anything he saw on his screen, including every TV show and movie he had ever seen. He could even play his own memories and pick up live TV! But mostly, he communicated using red squares that appeared on his screen.

At first, he could only shape them into an X, an O, or a checkmark, but with practice, he learned to express emotions through smiley faces or angry faces.

He got tons of sponsors just to exist and he made major bucks from people paying to see him and book him for appearances.

But even though we got all this stuff from my brother’s condition... I know he hates it.

He may not act like it, but I know he hates his life.

See, not everything is roses for him. We kinda got kicked out of our church. Apparently, his condition was seen as an abomination.

Phil was so into religion—I can’t even imagine how he felt. Anytime we tried to comfort him about it, he’d ignore us and act distracted by something else.

I might not see his face, but my brother wears his heart on his sleeve... even if he tries to hide it.

When he thinks no one’s looking, I see him pull out a picture of his old self on his phone and try to change his head back to normal.

He’s also written a manuscript for a book where he talks about how much he misses eating food. Also his life long dream of becoming voice actor is kinda impossible now.

He says he gets so bored at night, since he doesn’t need to sleep. He just plugs in his cord tail for about an hour, and he’s good to go.

He gets dressed by doing that pixel thing he does, and somehow, he can even take baths without getting shocked.

Though, if he’s not fully charged, he reverts back to a regular TV.

His whole body gets sucked into the bottom of the TV.

The first time it happened, it was super scary! We thought we lost him again, but as soon as we plugged in the TV, his body popped back out.

We also noticed that when he’s low on power, his cord tail gets shorter and shorter.

Sometimes I wonder if whatever brought him back... did this to him.

Ava

June 8, 2014

Dear Diary,

I think I’m sick today. My nose is super stuffed.

To make matters worse, we had to bring Phil along to nullify his death certificate.

He had already seen the video of himself disappearing into the TV, but this must have been the worst part for him.

He had to acknowledge who he was.

And then, we had to visit his gravesite to reclaim the tombstone and empty coffin we had buried.

Before we started, Mom said we should give him some time to himself to look at it.

I was standing too far away to see if his screen made any symbols, but I did see him pixelate into black clothing and a long jacket.

It wasn’t cold, but I guess that’s just how he felt.

When they dug up the coffin, he ran his fingers back and forth across it, like he recognized it somehow.

His screen was still blank.

Then, he picked up his tombstone and put it in the car.

When we got home, he took it to his room and just stared at it for hours.

Still wearing that dark, blank screen.

Until next time,

Ava

June 9, 2014

Dear Diary,

So today, I went to visit our new school!

To cheer Phil up, we invited his friends and the rest of our family to a giant party to welcome him back into our lives—even though he really didn’t want anything like this.

He met up with all his friends and saw that they had all graduated college—except for one or two who were still in grad school—while he had to redo his entire senior year of high school.

And then, at the party…

I overheard his very best friends talking about him behind his back.

There’s Miyako, a Chinese woman who’s an accomplished artist. Catalina, a Chilean lady who’s a video game designer still in school. And Duncan.

Duncan Johnson is a very tall and very handsome man.

Like, super fit too. He’s always really cool and calm.

And don’t get any ideas! I don’t like him!

I mean, he’s so much more mature than I am. And besides, my brother and his friends are way older than me.

But if I was their age, I bet we would’ve been friends or something. Ava Jackson isn’t too far from Ava Johnson either…

But whatever! He’s just some tall, fit, black guy who works for the government and drives a flippin’ Lamborghini!!!

It’s night black, the underlights are green, and the headlights are purple! It’s so cool!

Anyway—like I was saying—they were talking about Phil. Saying weird stuff like, “Is this true?” or “What sort of cruel trick is this?”

I confronted them, and they got super quiet.

Then Duncan asked me the unthinkable.

He asked me if that was really my brother.

The nerve of him!

I got so mad, and then Catalina explained the “theory” they’d been discussing.

Their theory was that Phil wasn’t really my brother—that he was just some kind of really well-done copy.

Just because they couldn’t see his face or hear his voice, they thought it wasn’t him!

I will admit, something does seem a little off about him.

Phil used to be so expressive with his actions, but now, he’s calmer—not as wild as he used to be.

But they don’t know what he’s been through!

My brother was always talkative and all over the place, and now, after being locked in a TV—or wherever he was—his whole world is different! It’s probably so weird to have people constantly staring at you and treating you like some kind of experiment!

That’s when I remembered his manuscript.

I ran upstairs to his room and grabbed it.

When I brought it back for them to read, they snatched it right out of my hands.

After reading only a few pages, they suddenly believed me.

Miyako sighed and said, “I was so upset, I didn’t really think about how he feels. And even though I’m not really sure if he has a brain, I am sure of one thing. Only one soul in the world talks like this, and that’s PJ.”

I could see how guilty they felt.

Then Duncan told me to put the manuscript back and never look at it again.

He thinks it might be more than just a manuscript. Like maybe it’s his inner thoughts or something—and that we shouldn’t pry.

But Duncan forgot one thing.

I’m his sister!

I have to pry! It’s, like, a sibling thing!

I wonder if Duncan has any siblings…

Anyway, speaking of writing—I’ll finish this later! I’m gonna go see if Phil’s written anything new!

Until next time,
Ava