L'amour Est Altruist

People say when you die, all you see are the glimpses of your misdeeds. But what if everyone dies, but you. It sounds horrific, right? Here I am today, all alone, stuck in the future. I have no clue what year or day it is. Last I remember, it was November 21, 2020. There is no sign of living here, except me. I’ve lost my power, and I have no idea how am I going to survive. Oh god! What have I done? Was all of this just because of me? Am I the reason for this awful plight? I NEED ANSWERS!!! Ugg. I need to search for some water else I am going to faint. I am thirsty for two frigging days as the water I somehow managed to get has been used. PLEASE. SOMEONE. HELP. ( Sees a bright light and notices someone coming from behind it.) ‘Jacob?? What are you doing here? How did you find me? Did you also get my powers? I was alone here for 2 … 2 ..’, she says. (Cries blatantly and faints.)

 (The day of the apocalypse)

‘Wake up, Anna!!!! I need to talk to you. It’s 8:30 am. How are you going to wake up for college if you’re a sleepyhead in the final year of school?’ he says.

(Anna blinking her eyes and wakes up in shock)

‘Oh, good! You’re awake. Now listen!’ he says.

Anna angrily says, ‘What’s your problem, Antonio? How could you possibly be so restless and yet, be my elder brother? I saw a bad dream, a bad one. Also, I am feeling different today. Something’s off.’

‘You’re such a self-centered girl. Listen to yourself. I have real-life relationship crises, and you are stuck in your dream world. I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM HERE. JULIE WANTS TO END HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ME, AGAIN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER??’, Says Antonio.

Anna mockingly asks, ‘Be honest, did you actually forget it?’

Antonio looks confused and asks, ‘Forget what?’

‘What date was yesterday?’, says Anna.

‘SHIIITT! IT WAS MINE AND JULIE’S 4^TH  ANNIVERSARY. IT WAS 20^TH  OF NOVEMBER. HOW COULD I FORGET IT AGAIN? SHE IS GOING TO KILL ME! I NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO HER.’ Antonio cries out loudly. ‘Why didn’t you remind me of that?’ asks Antonio.

‘Julie asked me not to. She wanted to see if you remember it.’ Says Anna giving a devilish smile.

‘I will get back to you later. You won’t get away with it, but first, I need to talk to Julie.’ Says Antonio and walks away.

(Anna gets up and moves towards the shower in some deep thought)

Why can’t I get this dream out of my mind? Maybe I should talk to Jacob about this. But, I know he is going to make fun of me. Am I overthinking this? Oh, Anna, stop analyzing this shit and get ready! It’s 9 am already!

(At the breakfast table)

Anna sits on the table waiting for breakfast as Antonio passes by saying, ‘Mom and dad are not home. They had to go to Amsterdam for a meeting. Eat a toast and have a glass of milk. I ate all the eggs. Make some if you have time. Ops! You will get late for school if you waste your time making any.’ Antonio gives a devilish smile. ‘I HATE YOU!’ screams Anna. ‘You brought this on you!’ says Antonio while his voice fades as he goes out of the house.

I am in no mood to either make or eat anything right now. Better leave for the bus stop, else I am going to miss the bus and sitting next to Jacob. That bitch “Sasha” will again sit beside MY BOYFRIEND. I hate calling her one, but she deserves it after trying to kiss my boyfriend, THRICE, THAT TOO IN PUBLIC. I better hurry as I have to walk. The one who gives me a ride to the bus stand has already shown that I can’t rely on him after the Julie incident. I have such a bad luck today!

Anna starts walking out of the house after picking up her bag and home keys. As she steps out of her house gate, she sees the season change. From summer, it went snowing. HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! AM I AWAKE?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? WHAT IS HAPPENING! OH MY GOD! And as she gets more tensed, she sees the color of the house beside her change, and the little girl she knew from the neighborhood wasn’t little anymore. She screams, ‘AM I TRAVELLING IN TIME? CAN I? HOW? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? I NEED TO GET BACK!’ She focuses and tries going back, but she can’t. She tries again and could not. She gets more tensed, and it is summer again but not in the same year. All of a sudden, it struck her, and she calms herself and walks. Here, she is back in the original time. I DON’T KNOW HOW THE FUCK I CAN DO THIS, BUT I CANNOT GET STRESSED OR HYPERACTIVE AS GOING IN FUTURE OR PAST AGAIN ARE THE RISKS. I NEED TO SPEAK TO JACOB, AND FIND ANSWERS!

She reaches the bus stop and sees the bus arriving. She tries to stay calm and takes plenty of deep breathes. Stay calm. I am almost there. I can do it. I. HAVE. TO. Thank god, the bus is here. She rushes towards Jacob with a sigh of happiness, who is sitting beside the window seat, saving the other one for Anna. She sits and gasps loudly. Everyone looks at her and laughs. ‘Oh, poor Anna had to walk to the bus stop today. Are your princess legs okay with so much of exercise?’ mocks Sasha loudly, who is well, sitting exactly behind Jacob. Everyone laughs. ‘Oh, poor Sasha… Well, I don’t have time for your bullshit! Shut up, and mind your own business.’ Says Anna. Everyone in the bus gasps and, Sasha rolls her eyes without uttering anything to Anna, as she seems different than ever. ‘I have to tell you something, Jacob.’ Says Anna, trying to stay as much calm as she can. Jacob takes the water bottle out of his bag and points at Anna saying, ‘Have some water first. You look so tired, and what is this snowflake doing in your hair?’ Jacob removes it while Anna drinks the water. ‘Well, I kind of time traveled.’ Says Anna. Jacob laughs, and says ‘I came from space then.’ ‘How can I make you believe me?! Ugg! Please, trust me, as we get down the bus, I will show it to you.’ Says Anna. ‘Okay.’ Says Jacob, weirdly.

(In the school’s basement)

Jacob, Emily, and Anna are in the basement. Emily is Anna’s best friend and Jacob’s sister. Anna stands exactly in the center of the basement, looking at Jacob in the eye. ‘My god! You guys now want me to see you make out?’ says Emily and giggles. ‘Emily, what I am going to show you and Jacob today, happened to me this morning out of nowhere. Please be serious for a while.’ Says Anna. Please, please, please make it happen, god! Or else Jacob’s going to think I am an idiot or have some kind of brain disorder. And you have no idea how shitty assumptions Emily makes. Well, you have, so please make it happen. Anna shuts her eyes with a leap of faith, and she could teleport from the center of the basement, next to Emily. Jacob rubs his eyes and still can’t believe it. He says, ‘How did this happen? How? I mean, HOW?’ Emily screams, ‘ MY BEST FRIEND HAS SUPERPOWERS!!’ ‘NO, I DON’T. I DON’T RIGHT, JACOB?’ shouts Anna anxiously resulting, to reach directly in front of Jacob. He holds her from the waist and says, ‘Firstly, yes, my girl, you have unnatural powers, and secondly, I guess your emotions are controlling them.’ ‘I guess so.’ Says Anna and smiles. ‘ This is BIG! HOW DID I GET THESE POWERS?’ Wonders Anna. ‘Forget how and when, and use these as much as you can. Tell me how do I look in the future. Go. Go. Am I fat? Or married? Or what?’ says Emily excitedly. ‘I had this weird dream today, where I get these powers, and I don’t remember further. It is kind of fuzzy. I tried telling Antonio about it, but you know how he is. I am afraid. What if I can also see the future? I have no clue Jacob, Emily, help me.’ Says Anna. After kissing Jacob on his cheek, she cries squeezing her eyes, hugging Jacob, and after a few seconds, sees nothing, but herself. Alone. Lonely. She screams, but no one listens. Shit! I time-traveled again. It’s black and smokey. There is a fire far away, and the rest is destroyed into pieces. OH MY GOD! WHERE AM I? WHAT IS THIS PLACE? IS THIS SOME OTHER PLANET OR WHAT?! She finds a newspaper lying on the ground. She picks it, and her heart sinks and skips a beat. ‘OH NO!!!!’ screams Anna and travels further in time, as this time the fire was extinguished. ‘ OKAY! THIS IS BAD. REAL BAD. THE NEWSPAPER SAYS 20^TH NOVEMBER.’

(The present time. Anna wakes up on a spaceship)

‘Okay, it was the 20^th of November, I had some weird dream, I got superpowers and the .. the APOCALYPSE! SHIT IS THIS REAL? WHERE AM I? MOM? DAD? JACOB? EMILY? JULIE? ANTONIO? ANYONE?’ says Anna and sobs. ‘Somebody? How did I come here?’ questions Anna scarily. There is a hand touching her from behind, she turns and happily sighs, ‘Jacob? You? How did you come here? Is this real? Yes! It is. Where are others?’ ‘Who Jacob? I am not Jacob. I am Fred.’ He says. ‘Huh? Stop teasing me, Jacob. I know it is you. Where are others?’ says Anna. ‘I am right in human form right now. And you are in my UFO.’ It is a small, cabin-like room where Anna is over a small couch, which feels like a bean bag. It is behind the control room. And, on the other side of the room, there are multiple other rooms as it is a giant cosmic spaceship. Anna laughs and says, ‘Oh, stop it, Jacob.’ The alien transforms into a green-colored structure, with jelly-like hands and legs. Anna gasps and screams, hoping to travel back in time and somehow figure out what the hell is going on. ‘It won’t happen.’ Says Fred to Anna. ‘How do you know? What are you doing here? Do you know the reason behind what happened on the 21^st of November? AM I THE REASON FOR ALL OF THE SHIT THAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME? IF YES, THEN DO IT NOW PLEASE! I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MY FAMILY AND JACOB. WHERE ARE THEY? ARE THEY DEAD?’ says Anna and sobs for a while. Fred again changes into his human form and takes a tour of the other side of the room. While coming back, he brings water and a cheeseburger. ‘First, have this. You need energy.’ Anna stares at him as he looks just like Jacob and tries to process things in her brain. ‘I can know what you are thinking right now. I have powers. Remember?’ Explains Fred. Anna makes a confusing yet, annoying face and speaks, ‘Why are you doing this? Is there some sort of poison in the food or something else? Are you using me for some experiment?’ Fred laughs, and as Anna looks at him, it reminds her of Jacob. Fred could feel that, so he says, ‘No, not an experiment. I just happen to know what you like, and as you fainted earlier and were screaming for help, here is some help, so have it.’ He has a point, and I am hungry, so why not eat it? I have nothing left to lose anyway. ‘Exactly!’ says Fred with a smile. Anna gives him a confusing look and gulps down the burger in no time. After drinking water, she says, ‘ I beg you, if you are aware of anything that is happening since November 20, PLEASE EXPLAIN!!!!! I NEED TO GO BACK TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.’ Fred sits beside Anna and starts explaining, ‘This is all my fault. My brother and I visited Earth on the 1^st of November. As we were looking down, I saw you. There was some force pulling me towards you, and that made me vulnerable. I have never felt in such a way in my entire life span of 150 years.’ Anna was in shock. She says, ‘You’re 150 years old!’ and laughs. ‘I know, I look younger. We have long lifespan.’ Says Fred, and continues, ‘We left at that moment, but you were in my head. Your smile was constantly reflecting in my brain cells. I could not resist so I came again to see you on the night of 19^th November. At that time, I felt something, and as I could try and understand it, my powers were already shared with you. I didn’t know that then. I am sorry. This has never happened on our planet ever. It is said there that, “When you love someone, you share everything.” I never understood it when my mom told me. But now, I do.’ ‘Oh, god! YOU LOVE ME?! I mean, is that even possible? An alien can love a HUMAN?’ Says Anna. Fred exhales a deep breath and says, ‘I could not understand it either, but yes, I can love an alien. Yep! You heard it right. You are an alien for me just as I am for you because we are from different planets. How do I explain it? YES! As a catholic can love a Jewish, the same way, we can love humans.’ Anna thinks for a while and says, ‘Okay, so how is this related to what I saw a while ago? Is the earth actually destroyed? Or was it some sort of dream? And how can I understand your language?’ Fred says, ‘You see, I have powers so I can understand and speak your language. These are not powers on my planet, but yours, as I am an exception. And about the earth, you remember when you woke up and were traveling in time again and again?’ Anna freaks out and says, ‘Uh-huh.’ ‘So, the earth revolves on a particular speed and that is related to time. So when you traveled so much in such a short period of time, you disturbed the time pattern of your planet as you did not know how to control your powers, and that led to the apocalypse.’ Explains Fred. ‘OH MY GOD! SO WHAT WERE YOU DOING IF YOU KNOW THIS COULD HAPPEN? HOW COULD YOU LET A PLANET GET DESTROYED?’ Anna says loudly. ‘Well, you see, I did not know that at first. And until I could figure it out, it had happened already. Also, I know what you are thinking about whether there is any way to undo this. And the answer is – No.’ Anna gasps and starts crying. ‘OH NO!! SO I KILLED EVERYONE? HOW COULD I? THAT IS NOT DONE. Can’t you travel back in time and stop me?’ says Anna. ‘I could but there is a 90% chance that the remains of the earth might destroy too and if the magma below comes out, it may affect the rest of the planets i.e your solar system including the Sun. And my family won’t let me take that chance. I am sorry.’ Says Fred. ‘ HOW COULD YOU SAY THIS? YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME, SO HOW COULD YOU NOT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE I LOVE? I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE OTHER PLANETS OR THE FUCKING SUN! I WANT MY PEOPLE, MY FAMILY, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE BACK! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!’, Shouts Anna to Fred. Out of nowhere, a sound comes from behind saying ‘NO..!’ As Anna turns behind, there he was THE ACTUAL FRED. Anna is confused, but until she could say something, the poison works and starts killing her. It was David, the twin of Fred who came in with the food, while Fred was out, trying to bring back his powers so he could help Anna get her family back. ‘Wh... what is h.. happening?’ says Anna as she is on the floor trying to breathe. Fred cries and says, ‘My brother gave you poison, while I was outside trying to get your people back. No, Anna, you cannot die. What did you give her David?’ David says, ‘She deserved it, brother. You might be blind in love but I can’t let the other planets and sun destroy too. By the way, it was strychnine poison. In no time she will die too. She is the reason for everything that's happened. Did you hear Anna? YOU KILLED EVERYONE!’ David goes to the control room, starts the UFO, and proceeds toward his planet. Anna cries in her last moments. Fred is trying to somehow stop her from dying, but his powers don’t work and in her last breath, Anna smiles seeing Fred and says, ‘It is okay. I am going where the people I know are. I will be safe. Take care. Good.. b.. y.. e..’

“The way you love anything is to realize that it may be lost”

                                                                             -Gilbert K. Chesterton