100 years +-

100 Years+-

I awoke from my dream, or what I thought was a dream, to what I thought was going to be a normal day, if you could call any day in my life normal. I would eat my breakfast, take my medicine, complete my exercises, and get on with all my obligations. Then, I would help my wife get the kids to school and go to work as a firefighter at the local station in town.

I rolled over and looked out of the window to see ugly cumulus clouds building in the eastern sky. My wife was not on the other side of the bed and something about the sky didn’t look or feel right. It was greenish gray with vial scary swathes of puke yellow. In another area, it looked as though it had been smeared with a mixture of raw green and blue paint that had no cause or purpose. I rubbed my eyes, sat on the edge of the bed, and wondered where my wife was. I scrambled and stumbled around the house, discovering that there was no one around. Just me. The refrigerator door was wide open, nothing inside, and looked bleak. The streets were deserted as well. Occasionally, a car or motorcycle (which normally I could identify), drove swiftly through the neighborhood. But for the most part the neighborhood was eerily quiet. No one to talk to. I could hear only occasional birds and the barking of a dog in the distance in my backyard. I yelled for my wife who most assuredly would be somewhere close by, but there was no answer. I yelled to see if my kids were around, no answers either. I went into the den and could feel the sweat develop on my brow.

I turned on the television to see if I could find clarity. There was only one channel on the television and an unfamiliar face on the screen. The woman looked different than the woman I watched every morning and was conducting her business with strict professionalism. The woman spoke a language that I didn’t understand, and the television had English subtitles. I scratched my head, which was now full of sweat, and sat down on the sofa. At the top of the screen was an indication of time, date, year. It read:

7:30am

October 12

2125

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief while my whole body was engulfed with stress, and I stepped outside into the backyard only to discover that my swimming pool had been filled with dirt and covered over. Weeds had grown over the entire area. It was a dead zone. My wife’s flowers were all gone, and my favorite apple tree was nowhere to be seen. It looked like someone had chopped it down.

I saw the wild dog that I had heard earlier lurking off in the distance. He was foaming at the mouth and snarled at me, so I quickly reentered the house and shut the back door. I was always afraid of dogs, and this dog did not need any further inquiry. Soon afterwards, I could hear him leaping at the back door and barking violently. It sounded like he could tear the house down as he slammed the door aggressively with his body in bloodthirsty mayhem and turmoil.

I went back to the television and the pictures depicted something about the current state of the earth and the overflowing oceans. Pictures of radical storms from the earth's past were being shown with commentary on where the state of the earth was in 2125.

“Susan! Susan!” I screamed out in agony.

“Susan!” No answer.

Further panic began to set in as I discovered more and more that I was not in the same space and time as when I went to bed the night before. I rushed back to the television and verified that one hundred years had passed since I had gone to bed the night before. The television announcer was describing food and water rations for all “good citizens.” I wondered what their definition of a “good citizen" was. Was I a “good” citizen?

Environmental cleanup was underway throughout the territory which was now called “United Federation of States”. This was no longer the United States of America. It appears we have been absorbed by foreign powers.

I went outside in front of the house with speed after watching the person on the television drone on and on about civic duties and the environment, to see if I could find my wife. I watched the television through the screen door intermittently as I yelled from the front porch for my wife, always being cautious of that dog lurking in the backyard. The announcer described piecing the world back together again after the “Big War”. She was talking about the total devastation of the western part of the “territory.” For some reason, I quickly ran barefoot to the mailbox to get the mail. Although I was compelled to get the mail, I did not want an encounter with that beast in the backyard, so I ran as quickly as I could. I looked down and saw that my beautifully manicured green lawn was now a pile of dirt, and all the kids’ toys were gone. As I ran to the mailbox, I stubbed my toe hard on the walkway. I could feel it bleed. Opening the mailbox with veracity, I found an envelope with the message pasted to the top - “How to Get Back To 2025.” I ran back towards the entrance of the house and heard the ferocious animal coming for me. His bark was getting louder and louder with every moment. I imagined his viper-like look and made haste. He would round the corner soon and be at my throat if I did not move faster.

As I ran back into the house, I almost stepped on a wirily snake scurrying across the lawn in front of me. A harmless garter snake, I realized, but I was startled, nonetheless. As I freaked out about the rabid dog, which was now closing in on me, I slammed the door before the monster got to the front porch. His mouth foamed and snarled at me. He barked incessantly and I slammed the door shut.

Anger welled up inside. In the year 2123 we had almost destroyed earth in the “Big War” the woman on the television explained. A new regime existed in what was formerly known as the United States, and they were dictating the populations every move and action. Surveillance was everywhere. Freedom was non-existent. I opened the letter:

Dearest Comrade:

You have a crucial decision to make. Your decision will be whether to stay in the future and fight with us in the resistance or return to your comfort in 2025 and try to change the world. We summoned you with the intent that you, having seen what has become of the world, might return to the past and help shape a better future. That you might get involved and be a part of the solutions to save the earth from what you are seeing today. You can stay at 2125, or you can go back. If you stay, we will contact you soon. You only have less than one day to decide. There are no guarantees that you will have a positive effect either way.

If you decide to return to the past, simply find water at the respite station at the end of your street and take the capsule that is in the small envelope which accompanies this letter. Then, return to bed, fall asleep, and you will wake up back in the past. Either way- stay or go- you can and will make a difference, if nothing else, to warn others of what you have seen.

As I finished reading the letter, I commenced to ring my hands throughout the afternoon trying to come to conclusions while pacing back and forth. I wondered how my wife and kids were. 2125 was a living hell. The dog that barked incessantly outside my window was proof of that. I could not fathom living under totalitarian rule. Would it be better to stay and help the future? Or try to change the past and prevent this from happening in the first place. I had a small place in the world, or at least I thought I did. How much power to shape events did I have anyway? I could not decide.

As I sat on the couch pondering my future, I wondered if the dog who was leaping at the window could come crashing through the window in front of the house. I went to the bedroom with speed and found my Glock that I had stored under lock and key under my bed.

The phone rang…. I had not yet taken the pill.

The End.