The Forewarning
It was a bright sunny day, typical of the desert. The breeze was blowing carrying the sand from the desert along with it, forming large dunes. As Henry was walking through the seemingly boundless desert, he gulped the last drop of water. He was feeling so parched that blood was oozing out when he coughed. His vision was becoming blurry and he had this strange but familiar light-headed feeling. He suddenly spotted an oasis. His eyes gleamed and he thought, “My last chance to find water!!”. He gathered all his strength and ran towards the oasis. He drank his fill of water and once satiated he thought about food. He figured he could only eat the coconuts as a source of food. He decided to fill the water bottle with the coconut water. He guzzled the flesh of the coconut and carried some for later. He continued his voyage and walked for what seemed like forever.
Henry finally reached a town brimming with inhabitants. He was bamboozled and asked a man, “Which place is this?”. The man responded, “We are the people who have survived the ‘The Great War’.”. Henry was astounded. He thought the man was speaking gibberish, but at the same time, he thought to himself, “What could have happened to this place? What is the great war he was talking about?”. He wasn’t sure and wanted to know more. He now asked the man the date as he had lost his track of time. The man said, “The date is 20th February 2022.”. Henry was taken aback. He thought to himself, “I have somehow travelled through time after I had been sucked through the water vortex or ‘Portal’ I guess.”. He probed further and asked what happened in the great war. The man said, “Where have you been living? The great war was when the world was facing a pandemic. A small, microscopic virus had almost eradicated the world’s population. We are the only people who survived, so we have created a place where all the survivors can stay in peace.”
Henry was flabbergasted at this revelation. He felt dizzy and closed his eyes to steady himself. He opened his eyes and found himself on the bed in his house. He was feeling dazed, so he got up and made coffee, not noticing the stranger in his house. It was his nurse who called for the doctor frantically. The doctor bewildered, came to his patient who was still having his coffee. Henry noticing the stranger finally asked him, “Who are you?”. The doctor said, “I am your doctor. You have been in a coma for almost 11 years.”. Henry exclaimed, “Really? What is the date today?”. The doctor replied, “It is 14th April 2019.” Henry got contemplative. He only hoped that the world didn’t have to face what he had seen.
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