Oh - How things have changed! If someone had fallen asleep in the year 1960 and woken up in 2001, what a shock they would have had how far modern technology has come and how much easier people's lives have become because of it. Those who have lived through the last forty years however hardly know the difference as the changes have occurred gradually. Let's imagine a little girl called Anna went to bed one night in 1960 and when she awoke she had travelled in time to the year 2001. When Anna went to bed she lived in a terraced house with three bedrooms (one that she shared with her sister), a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. She was thrilled to find when she woke up that she had her own room. In it was a small television and video. On a large desk was a computer, monitor and printer and the music playing softly on her CD player was the latest hit from a group called Hearsay. When she had gone to sleep the night before it was to the tune of her younger sister snoring. There was no television, video or CD player. In fact she had never heard of a CD and as for the computer, she hadn't a clue what it was but it looked impressive. The house was huge. It had four bedrooms, the one where Mum and Dad slept had its own shower room and toilet. The house was lovely and warm with radiators in every room. When Anna went downstairs to investigate, she walked into the kitchen in amazement. The kitchen was so different. There were lots of fitted cupboards around the room. The cooker was fitted into them, with an oven at eye level. The floor was tiled in ceramic tiles. The kettle and toaster were a matching pair. Instead of the twin tub washing machine there was a lovely new automatic machine. Mum would be pleased. Everything looked so different it was scary! Last time she had been in the kitchen there was lino on the floor. The cupboards were painted. The cooker was free standing. There was no toaster. Mum just toasted bread on the grill. There were no radiators. Dad made a big fire in the sitting room which heated the house. She was surprised out of her mind when she went into the bathroom. There was a toilet, a big corner bath, a walk in shower, a wash hand basin and a funny looking thing with a tap which she didn't know what you did with. Maybe it was where you washed your feet. A friend of hers, called Amy, lived three doors away and she had to go outside to go to her toilet in a shed with a candle. She went into the living room and when she looked at the walls she did not see woodchip paper, painted over with emulsion paint, instead she saw beautifully papered walls with a border running around the middle. There was a lovely suite with a sofa and two chairs and matching curtains. The floor was polished wood rather than carpet, with an Indian rug in the centre. The small wooden television had been replaced with a massive one with a big screen and underneath was a video with a clock telling the time with green figures. Instead of the big record player with the pile of records of the Beatles, Cliff Richard and Tom Jones there was a stainless steel CD player with a pile of CDs. S Club 7, Steps, Hearsay and funny enough Cliff Richard - he was still on the go. Anna's Mum and Dad still hadn't woken up so she decided to go and explore the fridge and perhaps have a little snack. When she looked in the fridge she was surprised. There was lots of pre~packed foods and a good variety of biscuits. She had a look at the labels and saw that there were dates on them. She couldn't remember seeing them before. When she looked closer it said, Best before July 2001. That was a good idea for many a time Mum bought biscuits and thought they were a bit soft. These biscuits were really crunchy. Those sell by dates work great she thought to herself while she munched another biscuit or two. Anna looked across the kitchen and saw a peculiar machine with dials on it. When she opened it up there were places for all kinds of dishes and she realised that this was a machine for washing dishes. If Mum put the dishes in there she wouldn't need Dad at all! "What about a look outside," thought Anna to herself. She quickly got dressed and went outside. The Morris Minor was now a beautiful red Ford Focus and there was another little car, also red. It had a funny name - Ka. It was getting more confusing by the minute. She thought she just had time to walk into town to see if there were any more changes and there were. The telephone box that used to be red was now silver with lots of glass. She looked at the phone. There was no dial, just buttons with numbers on them. She walked past a shop and the door opened automatically. A man who came out seemed to be talking to himself and when Anna looked closely, he had a tiny phone in his hand and was talking into it. She was so shocked she decided to run home and tell her Mum and Dad. That was the last thought Anna had. She stretched, yawned and woke up slowly in her lovely warm bed with her little sister snoring away in her bed and wondered had she dreamed the whole thing. I wonder if she did.   Lauren Penman - P4 - Fairview Primary School   Another Story Competition Index Return to Main Page