What Happened to Yesterday

As I wake up in a bed that isn't mine, the winter breeze compliments the cracked window in front of me. This house doesn’t look the same as when it was when I fell asleep. The more I explore the house that isn't my own, the more I realize how familiar it seems. It was my grandparent’s old home that no one used. This house served as a safe haven for our family. But why would I be here? Out of all the places in the world. I travel outside with my grandfathers’ favorite slippers. There has to be a reason why it's winter. When I fell asleep it was a nice summer breeze. It's obvious that I prefer a breeze while sleeping. I begin to look at the world around me. Homes that were once there are no longer. People I once knew from this town, seemed to be gone. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I decided that my first cup of coffee with suffice this awkward exchange of reality. Everything in the home seemed to be working, although my grandmother did own a generator. The coffee was wonderful, just as my grandma taught me. My surroundings didn't match the quality of the coffee. Just yesterday my grandma and grandpa were on a trip up here just like they did every weekend. I thought about the lake out back and decided maybe they would be out there since my grandfather loved to go ice fishing. I totally forgot about their dog, Leo. I called out to him as I stepped outside to check the lake. No response from Leo and I didn’t see my grandparents by the lake as well. The coffee hasn’t helped. My reality has been torn. I know they wouldn’t be out in town this early in the morning also. I run back into the house for my phone, but I didn't see it. I look anywhere I can to find a device so I can contact someone, anyone. For me, this is strange. I knew my grandparent didn’t own a telephone, but they sure did have a government phone for emergencies. In this case, it is an emergency. My eye catches a glimpse of the calendar, which should say June 22, 2012, but it shows June 22, 2022. This couldn't be possible, how could I jump ten years in one night? This must be a dream; it must be. My false reality starts to cave in. I try my best to remember the last 10 years but my mind is too blown to get a grip. Also, why is It snowing In June? Life was supposed to be glowing with energy this month. My mind must be playing tricks on me. I slap myself in an attempt to regain some perspective. While opening and closing the door, I try to see if the time has changed. If I see any of my family walking up to the house or not. No one showed up, as expected. So I decide to bundle up and make my way into town to find out more information about what's happening. It’s cold and it takes about 30 minutes to get there but what else am I to do? Sit in this house and wait for an answer? It appears no one is coming. I begin my walk while analyzing the world that I once knew. Green wasn’t a color trend for outside as it always use to be. Everything looked so dull. It's almost like I'm from the movie Wall-E, but without all the trash piled up. The whole place looks burnt to ashes. But why has my grandparents’ house stayed afloat? I shake off the feeling of confusion and continue into town. I hope to see someone I can actually talk to. What was once a thriving town that smelt of blooming roses was now a ghost town. I've watched many cowboy movies, but none could compare to this town. I start with the first shop; the windows were busted in and everything was wasted. I continued for my search of a person or at the very least an explanation as to why the world looks this way. The shops in town seemed to have all the same type of theme; busted in and ruined. As I’m standing by a store that was once my grandmother's favorite, I see a newsletter half burnt and clinging on to life under a pile of dust. The date stated was June 22, 2012. Which was yesterday in my world. The words were barely there and the only thing I could see was something about a company that was launching a worldwide test dated June 22, 2012, at 7:30 pm. This only drew more confusion in me as I begin to list the possible things they could have been testing with the whole world. As I’m looking down in disbelief out the corner of my eye I see a woman about my age, 22. I try my best to walk away but as I do so she starts running towards me saying “Wait! Wait!” She catches up to me and tries to ask me who I am while she catches her breath. “My name is Tobias,” I say. Wondering why the questions are coming from someone who has just chased me down. I stabbed back, “and who are you?”. “I’m Lilith” she says. I never knew anyone with the name Lilith, although I know people with that name can be mischievous. On the outside, she looked like a sweet beautiful girl but to have survived what has happened she must be strong. I begin to ask her “What happe..”. She interrupts me and tells me she knows as much as I know. She woke up this morning as well, in her grandparents’ home. With nothing to do we pace slowly, and I ask her if she’d like to go to my grandparents’ home as I have a generator. She immediately says yes. Her grandparents had just purchased the home and didn’t have the time to put in the generator. As we're walking back to my house I asked her a few questions to make sense of what happened. I showed her the newsletter that I found, and she gasps in disbelief. She knew of the test that the company was doing, not too much but just enough to make some type of sense. She explains to me how this test could have been good or bad depending on how it was executed. And obviously, it went wrong. We got close to my house and to get her mind off the topic I offered to make her some food. My grandma’s favorite meal, although I couldn’t remember the name of it, I knew the recipe like the back of my hand. As we get back and I start to prepare the meal I watched as Lilith prepared the table, something she must be used to back home. Being the hopeless romantic I am I start to daydream about a life we could build. Suddenly there was a stern knock at the door… I wonder who it could be…

They waited for no invitation. It was sort of like they were just letting us know they were coming in. In front of us stood two women with a dark complexion and an angelic face. This was something like out of a movie, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They seem to appear out of nowhere as behind them stood nothingness still. They assured us that everything would be okay and that they were here to help. In my disbelief, I didn’t realize that they weren’t speaking as I and Lilith were. It was almost like they were in my head. They asked us what we knew as they were just passing by. There was still a lot we did not know. With no information to give them and nothing else but the world around me, I asked them if it was possible to discover more of what they are. Although they weren’t interested in the food I was making they stayed for dinner. The information they gave us blew my mind. They seem to know everything about earth up until this time. We were told, however, that the best way to figure out what exactly occurred was to go back to their homeland and run some tests. Lilith and I looked at each other hesitantly. We didn’t know who they were. What if they were the wrong type of people? As you can imagine, my heart wasn't feeling such a way, but my mind was in a funk. Lilith asked if she could talk to me in private and I’m glad she had the guts to say what I was thinking. We went to a distant room, and she closed the door enough just to hear the outside room. “Do you think we should do it?” She said, her body seemed to be shaken like she had seen a ghost. I explained to her how I felt. I didn’t know the beings personally but there seemed to be a sense of comfort coming from them. The two of us looked at each other and agreed this was the best thing we could do. There was nothing left for us in this world and the only thing we really wanted was to find the truth. We walked into the kitchen slowly as they rose from their seats. They had a lot of courtesy and moved like royalty. The two women already knew our answer, almost like they heard the whole conversation. I left behind my grandparents’ home. All the memories they gave me. Understanding that I was here for a reason. It was like my grandparents gifted me this home in whatever disaster happened. My life at this point felt like a fairytale. We walked out in front of the house and they uncovered this portal for transportation. I began to learn not to question things at this point. We walked into the portal, and what we found on the other side was worth remembering. The sky was fluorescent and beautiful. The colors were vibrant, which brought me a sense of calmness. The water was blue but not earth blue. The landscape was so beautiful it is almost indescribable. They ushered us to where they stayed, and we sat down while they got the equipment they needed. It wasn't much. Headphone-like equipment and a tablet-looking object. They talked us through the process and got us calmed down enough for us to see the world before today. They started on June 22, 2012. We watched as I went to sleep for the night. I went to sleep extra early because I had a special job interview in the morning. I watched as people dropped off the face of the earth like they were nothing. I watched as my grandmother and grandfather brought me to the home and left without a trace. Most people had disappeared out of thin air. They observed all of the years we lived. They sped up the time to just before the day we woke up, not remembering anything. Our brains, it seemed, had rebooted, our memories no longer stored in our conscious memory banks but stored in our subconscious. I was pretty happy they sped the time up. I wasted my life away depressed and lonely in that house. I could have gone outside at any time. Explored the world. I missed the opportunity to find the people that related to me. I guess it was all for a reason. I thought back to the fact that I never looked in the mirror. I was now a 32-year-old man. The woman next to me wasn’t my age but just a bit younger. I knew she was powerful beyond the idea of her name to me. She was strong. And also got through a lot. As did I. They rushed over a part of my memory that was crucial, but she recalled it slowly and steadily. We had met before. We had a beautiful connection. When I saw her this morning, it was almost like I remembered her somehow. She unplugged herself. Hugged and cried to me about our life. I begged to be back on that headset, but they insisted that I not. As we had nothing left back home, the women offered us a place to stay on their planet. I knew they were kindhearted. We stayed together and built the life I dreamed before I knew I loved Lilith. They went back to gather more people that were stuck in the same situation as we were. Earth began its journey of recycling and life began once again.