Before Bootstrap's Journey (sneak peek)

 Welcome, Sharp-Eyed Reader

Well done. You cracked the code. Not everyone makes it this far. This is your reward: a first look at the opening chapter of the ChronoSpace prequel—straight from the page, still in progress, and exclusively for those who hunted down the secret.

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A Note Before You Dive In

This chapter is raw. Some sentences aren’t polished. Some ideas are still evolving. But that’s the thrill of being first. You’re seeing the story in its earliest form—the sparks before the fire.

Think of it as peeking behind the curtain while the stage is still being built.

Tentative title for this prequel (happening before the events of Bootstrap's Journey) is:

Before Bootstrap's Journey

© Copyright Chris Johnson 2025

Chapter 1

**Diary of Tony Nowlan**

**North Rockhampton, Queensland. Australia.**

**Saturday 8pm, 7th April 2029.**

I found buried treasure today.

Well… not exactly. No chest of gold, no map with an X.

No, it was a Vegemite jar!

Not plastic either. Glass. Grandma once told me they were glass when she was a kid. Just like the kind you drink from. Way back in the mid-to-late twentieth century.

Vegemite glasses, they called them, she said.

But this wasn’t like the ones she and Granddad had as kids. She said the lids popped off them. This one has a lid that screws on.

And it wasn’t old either. The label is still crisp, colours bright enough to have come straight off the shelf at Woolies. Which is strange because I dug this one up from the back yard.

Granddad had me edging a garden bed he’d marked out with string, while he pruned the bushes by the house. The yard’s twice as big as anyone else’s, so he reckons I’ve got the energy to spare. Grandma’s worse today, so she stayed inside. Kind of worried about her. She’s been sick a long time, too weak to call out. I don’t like seeing her like that. They’ve looked after me since I was two, when Mum and Dad died.

Anyway, back to the jar.

I found it while digging. The pick hit its yellow lid with a _clunk_. Lucky it didn’t strike the glass and smash it.

Inside was a note.

But here’s the weird part.

It’s written in my handwriting!

I opened the note and read it:

“Tony, you promised yourself something last week. Remember?

“I’ve written this to tell you, it will happen.

“The promise is real.

“Your wish will come true. But you have to believe it.

“Keep going. One day at a time. I promise that it will happen, and you’re in for one hell of an adventure when it happens. In fact, you’ve already lived a part of it. You just don’t remember it.

“You’ll make mistakes. I know. You (or I) still do in the future. But you’ll learn.

“So don’t let them stop you. Keep your eyes and ears open, keep your notebooks close, and trust yourself even when no one else does.

“Remember this: the day you finally crack it, you’ll smile, because you’ll know you kept your word.

“See you sooner than you think.

“— Tony”

“PS: Don’t believe me? Granddad will call out to you in 43 seconds. Start counting.”

I waited a second or two. Then started counting from the third second, absently putting the note in my pocket.

26… 27… 28…

I thought it was crazy.

35… 36… 37…

It had to be a joke, but there was no way.

It was my handwriting.

42… 43—

“Oi!” Granddad called, trudging over to where I was standing. “That garden bed isn’t going to dig itself.”

My eyes opened wide in surprise as I turned to see him looking down on me, his Akubra hat casting a shadow over his face as his sharp eyes caught mine. The jar dropped from my fingers with a thunk.

The ground seemed to move beneath me. His voice sounded faint, like it was in the distance. Everything turned black.

Keep Your Eyes Open

This is just the start. Future newsletters may hide more clues, more passwords, and more exclusive pages. The hunt will continue—and who knows what rewards await?

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