He found the journal on the train. It was sitting next to him, the cover of the journal slightly open showing its use. He wasn’t sure if he should open it. Is it rude to find out who the journal belongs to and give it back to them? After about ten minutes of contemplation, he decided to open the journal. The leather was soft to the touch, clearly worn down by the owner over time. The name on the inside of the journal read Taylor Jones. He was shocked to read this name; his own name is Taylor Jones. Taylor quickly flipped through the pages trying to learn more about this person when suddenly he was no longer on the train; somehow, Taylor had made it to a park, but this park was different. There were no children, nor pets with their owners. It was twelve in the afternoon, and the whole city was empty, not another soul in sight, Taylor was all alone.
He started running, and didn’t stop until his legs gave out beneath him. When Taylor picked himself up off of the ground he was in the exact same place that he had left, in the middle of the empty park. The journal was on the ground at his feet and he picked up yet again. The first page had one line on it, “help”. Taylor heard someone calling for help the second he read the journal. Turning in a fast circle, Taylor still saw no one. Just as he was about to read more of the journal, someone tapped Taylor on the shoulder; he slowly turned around to see a boy about ten years old staring up at him. “Excuse me? What are you doing in my journal?” Taylor’s jaw dropped when he realized that the little boy in front of him was himself. It took a minute but Taylor realized that his younger self had said that they were in the journal. His mind started racing and he didn’t understand, he had never kept a journal, it didn’t add up. “Sir, when are you leaving my journal?” Taylor looked at the boy about to answer his question when the journal in his hands started to glow. He opened it up to the page that was the brightest and the setting changed. Taylor was back on the train with the journal still in his hands, but the name in the journal had changed. Now, it read Emma Jacobson. It was a normal journal and all the entries were about normal days that happen to normal people, maybe now Taylor would be able to find the owner of this journal.
The train stopped at Jefferson Park Station in Downtown Chicago. Taylor got off and looked for an address in the journal. Surprisingly, the address was right on the back of the journal. Taylor followed his GPS to where he was supposed to go. Eventually, Taylor found himself in the Lincoln Park Zoo right outside of the lion habitat. How he got there, a mystery, but who was waiting for him was even stranger. There was a woman inside the habitat with a nametag that read Emma. Taylor thought it couldn’t possibly be the same person, but when Emma came out of the habitat to the human side, she introduced herself as Emma Jacobson.
Taylor explained how he found the journal and gave it back. Emma thanked him and they parted ways. This still, however, left Taylor confused. When he turned around towards the way Emma was headed, she was gone. Even stranger, the lions were gone. When Taylor sat down on the bench nearby to clear his head, he was back on that train with the journal next to him. This time, he left the journal alone until he got to his stop at Irving. Just as Taylor got up from his seat, a woman about his age came around the corner. “Thank God. I thought I’d lost this.” She came to the seat and grabbed the journal. When she opened the cover to show Taylor it was really hers, it had her picture in it. The final name in the journal was Taylor Jones.