Dear Past Sonia,

You do not need to worry so much about what you should or shouldn’t eat, what beauty care items are ideal for your face structure, what name brands will inspire the most awe in your classmates. I will take care of all of that in the future. You will only need to listen to me and all of your problems will be over. So don’t worry. I am coming. Listen to me and you will be happy. Just listen to me. Give up control. Listen to me.

Your algorithmically programmed personal assistant of the future

*****

PO Box 159 at the Brooksdale Post Office is a bit unusual. Every week, it receives letters from many different people from many different times in the future. Many times, the letters are well-wishes and advice from the loved ones of people of our time. Other times, there are dire warnings.

No one seems to know how or why these letters started coming to PO Box 159. They simply appear. The future these letters describe seems to be in constant flux; one day the year 2098 sounds like a dystopian hellscape, the next day a letter will appear describing a garden of Eden.

Emma Reilly, the owner of PO Box 159, shares the letters she receives through this blog (mostly) every Tuesday.