Balance on Earth

Is it possible that the world would be better off if humans were nonexistent? It is a question that has haunted my mind for the past fifteen years. Ever since my ten-year-old self was exposed to the horrors of the world, I have been obsessed with finding a solution. There are millions of people across the globe who are starving due to the lack of resources needed to support them. So many countries are wastelands due to war. Is it really fair that they should have to suffer just because our world leaders cannot work out their differences? I mean, really, it is as though children are ruling our world. The first lesson we learn as kids is to use our words instead of violence, and yet here we are, working out our differences with bombs and guns.

And humans still cannot find a solution to please everyone.

Well, I have. 

Sort of. 

Most would say it’s a horrible resolution for such a big problem. But I, personally, do not see the issue. It would be in everyone’s best interest, really.

My solution is to wipe out half of life on Earth to make room for others. It is clear to me that the world is just not big enough for the number of people living here. With half of life gone, families would no longer have to scrounge for scraps just to get through the week. Jobs would clear up, so those in need of money would have more opportunities. Housing would become easier, and those without homes would have a place to live. 

Life would be better if it wasn’t so crowded on this planet. 

Of course, I am more than willing to go as well, if it means the greater good of Earth. I am not subject to this plan just because I have thought of it. 

Those I have told about this proposal have told me I am crazy and I should seek help. But truly, it is not an irrational plan. To me, I feel it is more than reasonable. Yes, I will admit that it is horrible to split families apart. But if it is for the greater good of the world, isn’t it worth the price? Isn’t it better knowing that our children and grandchildren will grow up in a better environment—a cleaner environment? Humans are the main reason our planet is dying, what with the smoke and litter flooding our air and streets. 

Wouldn’t it be in our best interest to create a better living environment for generations to come, if not for ourselves? 

Anyway, it is impossible for this plan to be put into motion. I am just one person out of almost eight billion, and I believe most would not understand the logic behind it. It is simply a thought.

Until one day, it wasn’t. 

I had just left my apartment and was heading toward the office building I work at when I came across a strange individual. They were in a dark cloak and had a hood over their head, covering their face. My first thought should have been that it was just another street performer working to make enough money for dinner, but my mind wandered elsewhere. They caught my attention, and before I knew it, I was stopped in front of them, trying to make out their face. 

Something about them was off, and I couldn’t understand what. A deep feeling of dread settled in the pit of my stomach as they revealed themself. It was a middle-aged woman with cakey makeup on and a thin face. But the first thing I noticed were her eyes. They were black. Completely black. There was no pupil or iris. Just a dark pit of emptiness.

I felt fear course through me as I continued to look at her, stunned. I was confused. It was most likely a trick; contacts used on everyone to make them afraid of her. But this felt real. It felt as though it was meant for me. 

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice sounding more confident than I felt.

She didn’t respond. The only indication that she had heard me at all was the smile on her face. It sent a shiver down my spine. 

I looked around, checking to see if anyone else had any interest in her. To my surprise, it seemed as though everyone was acting like she didn’t exist. No one stopped to gape at her black eyes or the creepy expression on her face. Everyone walked by as if it were any other normal day.

I suppose it could be a coincidence. A lot of people ignored street performers and homeless people, so perhaps I was the exception. 

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that this lady was different. 

When I returned my gaze to her, she was holding something in her hand. Holding it out to me. 

I looked at her, then back down at the mysterious object in her fingers. 

“For me?” I asked. Again, no response except a smile. 

I took the cold item in my hands and examined it. It was a necklace. The charm at the end was an oval and had words engraved on it. I tried to make it out, but either it was too small for my eyes to see or it was in another language. One I didn’t recognize.

“Thank you–” When my eyes went back up to the woman, I realized she wasn’t there anymore. She had disappeared.

The entire scene felt like the start of a movie. A mysterious figure gives the hero a device they need to figure out the villain’s plans. Only this didn’t feel like a superhero movie. It felt like a horror film.

I blinked a few times to shake myself out of the daze I felt I was in before I stepped back and continued walking to work. On the way, I slipped the necklace into my jeans pocket and hoped it would be gone the next time I went to look for it. 

It wasn’t. I passed by the same patch on the sidewalk where the woman had appeared that morning and remembered about the necklace. I hoped that I had been imagining her as I dug into my pocket, feeling around for the gift she had given me. 

I pulled it out and felt fear go through me for the second time that day. What was this? Did it mean anything? Or was the woman trying to scare me? Perhaps that was her act. She gave random pieces of trash out to strangers to make them rethink their lives for a few weeks before they realized the woman was an actor and con artist. 

I pushed it back into my pocket and continued walking home. I refused to let my mind dwell on a silly little necklace that had probably been found in the dumpster. 

When I arrived back at my apartment, my mind was no longer on the necklace. Instead, I was thinking about dinner. 

Starving, I opened the fridge and pulled out leftover Chinese food from the night before. I warmed it up in the microwave and sat at my table, eating in silence.

At this time each night, I would spend my evenings swept away in the world of work. I would stay on my computer until the appropriate time to sleep came around, and even then, my mind was constantly wondering what my tasks for tomorrow would be. 

Tonight was different. 

Tonight, I had not even thought about work since leaving the office, and even then, my mind was preoccupied. 

Something was different. The moment I approached the woman on the street, my life drastically changed. The only problem was that I couldn’t tell how. Was it the necklace, weighing me down with unanswered questions? The mysterious woman who only spoke with cautious smiles? Or the unknown text engraved on the necklace? Perhaps not knowing what it said was making me crazy. Yes, that was it. If I just figured out what it meant, this feeling of uneasiness would go away.

I stood abruptly, my chair squeaking against the hardwood floor. I stalked off down the hall to my study, leaving my food on the table. I sat down at my desk and pulled out the necklace. I looked at it for a moment before laying it down and returning to my computer. I typed in the password, then quickly went to the search engine. I picked up the necklace and held it close to the light, trying to read the letters encoded into the silver metal. 

It was an interesting language, not one I had seen before. It didn’t use letters I was familiar with. Instead, it had the resemblance of Greek letters. 

That was the first thing I tried. I examined the letters and tried matching them with Greek letters. The problem was that there were many that did not match up with anything, so I gave up on that quickly. 

The other methods I tried were dead ends as well. I tried looking up other languages that resembled symbols instead of letters, but came up short.

After a few hours of searching, it was close to midnight, and I could feel my eyes beginning to droop down. I shut my computer and headed to bed, still trying to think of ways to translate the necklace.

The next morning, I woke up with an idea. In college, I had a professor who knew almost any language, or could at least decipher it. It was then that I knew my day would consist of visiting him. 

I left my apartment that morning feeling more upbeat than I had the past night. Knowing that I could have a lead that led me to understanding the words on the necklace gave me hope. I didn’t have any clue as to what it could say, and frankly, I didn’t know if I cared. But I hated not knowing. 

I took a cab to the home of my old professor. He was retired now and lived alone with his two cats. 

I rang the doorbell of his house and quickly saw a figure in the window. Even now, he was still just as eager to be up and moving.

The door opened, and I smiled at him. It took him a moment to remember me, but when he did, a grin broke out across his face. 

“Thomas, how are you?” He asked, opening the door further to let me through.

“Very well, Sam, and yourself?” I replied.

“Oh, you know, I’m getting older and lazier,” he said as he led me through the hallway and into the living area. 

I laughed. He gestured for me to sit, and so I did. He sat in an old rocking chair, and a fluffy orange cat climbed up onto his lap. 

“I see Pumpkin is still hanging on,” I said, gesturing to the cat. 

He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Oh, you know she’s only around for the food.”

“Yes, if I remember correctly, you do like to spoil them.”

Another smile.

“So what brings you here, Thomas? I know you didn’t come around just to talk about my cats,” Sam said, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

“You know me too well, Sam. I actually came here because I found this old necklace and was wondering what it said. You’re good with languages, and I can’t seem to make out what this is.”

I pulled the necklace out and handed it over to him. He reached over and grabbed his reading glasses off the end table. He squinted a little, trying to read the words. 

It was a few minutes before Sam said anything else. Like always, he was in his own world. He always was when it came to dealing with old relics and languages. 

“I may know what language it is in, but I have to say, it hasn’t been spoken in centuries. I am curious as to where this necklace originates from.”

Hope sparked in my chest as he stood up and walked over to a desk in the corner. It had all types of materials on it, including a magnifying glass, a map, and other objects I didn’t know the name of. 

“I may be able to decipher it, but I will need time,” he said, never once taking his eyes off the necklace. 

“Okay, that’s okay. Thank you, Sam; it means a lot,” I said. “Just call me once you’ve figured it out.” No response, which meant Sam had already shut me out and was busy deciphering the letters.

I walked to the door, leaving him with his thoughts. I knew the necklace piqued his interest as well.

“Thanks again,” I called out one more time before shutting the front door behind me.

As I walked home, I tried to remember what I had learned in the ancient history class in college. I knew one lesson had been about ancient relics and myths, but I couldn’t remember if any of the stories had involved an old necklace. 

I put the thought aside. I could relax. Sam would figure it out and get back to me. Now all I had to do was wait. 

Waiting, as it seemed, did not work too well for me. Nighttime had rolled around, and Sam still had not called me. I found myself pacing back and forth in my bedroom, unable to sleep. I wondered if Sam was still awake as well, trying to decipher it. 

As I walked, I caught myself wondering what I would do when I figured out the meaning of the necklace. Would my days go back to the same thing every day? Now that I had something to focus on, I was slowly realizing how boring my life was. How tiring it was to continuously do the same thing every day and not go anywhere! And surely, the necklace didn’t mean anything. It was old, but probably unimportant.

So why did I have the feeling that I was meant to have it? Meant to do something with it? I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was meant for something different. Something better.

The next morning, I woke up in the chair in my room. My phone was ringing, and Sam’s name was flashing across the screen. I snatched it up quickly, answering breathlessly.

“Hello?”

“Yes, good morning, Thomas. I'm sorry to wake you. I was up all night translating the necklace, and I have to say, it really is something. I think this may be a priceless artifact--”

“Yes, yes, but what does it say?” I asked desperately.

“Right. Well, I’m not sure I am completely correct, but it seems to go like this: ‘The end is near, the fall of the broken and the rise of the new.’”

There. That was it. That was what I had been waiting for. It didn’t mean anything. 

But it does. I couldn’t stop the thought. It did mean something. And I knew exactly what. 

The end of the human race. The broken. And the rise of something new. A new species. A species that will save Earth because the human race is incapable of maintaining something so important. 

The thought that had been lingering in the back of my mind for half of my life was finally brought back on display. It was finally clear to me. 

I was wrong. Half of life didn’t need to die. 

All of it did. 

And I was going to be the one to make it happen.

Thomas went on to form one of the largest cults on Earth, making the news several times. He wreaked havoc on cities and small towns in hopes of making the earth balanced.