Beyond Belief

It’s been fifty-five days since the Annihilation happened. The earth beings faced unimaginable destruction which caused the extinction of living organisms. Fifty-five percent of all living organisms went extinct. Unending darkness and a grim silence spread all over the world. The whole world looked like a grave. Everything shattered. There is no place to live, no food, no water. Most of the forests were devastated; oxygen is not normal. A group of armed people named “S.O.A.”, which means “Survivors of Annihilation”. They went on a search to find the living. 

No one was prepared for this… still, no one has a clear explanation for this destruction. Some claim that the sky turned green for a moment before the Annihilation.

 “Is this the curse of simulation?”, Mercy perplexed. She is one of the survivors of Annihilation who is not yet found by the S.O.A. She is weak, shattered, and broken in the middle of a forest with her eight-month-old baby girl, named Nova, who is sleeping on the lap of Mercy. Most of the trees and plants were fallen. Everything turned upside down.

Mercy turned on the walkie-talkie and said, “Anyone there… I’m Mercy with my eight-month-old baby, stuck in the western forest. We need help… we… need help”. No response from the other side. She lost hope. She looks at a photograph of her husband, who died in the Annihilation. She cried. Tomorrow is the 22nd of April, which is Adam's birthday, spouse of Mercy, who firmly believed, “We are not alone in this universe and the Simulation curse will happen one day”.

Adam loved Earth more than anything. He was born on April 22, 1970, which is called “Earth Day”. He believed that there is a strong connection between his theory and this planet.

There is a passage written on the backside of the photograph, “One day or another, Our Mother Earth will show her extreme anger and that’s the day the simulation curse happens. But…”, Suddenly, Nova shivered for a second. Mercy puts the photograph to the ground and sings a lullaby for her. Her voice struggled and she cried along with the lullaby.

She again called for help through the walkie-talkie, “Anyone there… I’m Mercy. One of the survivors of the Annihilation… I’m stuck in the western forest with my eight-month-old baby. We need help.”

Thunder rumbled. She gathered the woods and placed the rocks in a small circle to make the fire ring, and she lit the fire with the knife. The night arrives. Mercy is still calling for help. But no response from the other side. Nova gave small whines and later started crying again and again. The green eyes of Nova look so pure in the light of the fire. But Mercy is so weak. She has done everything to keep the child quiet. She tried lullaby, tried everything. Nova is in the lap, crying continuously. Mercy can’t control her tears.

“We need help!!!”, Mercy shouted with a prolonged, high-pitched cry of pain. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… your mama is too weak… I’m sorry, Nova… I’m not… I’m not a good mother for you… you don’t deserve me, Nova”. Mercy grieved. 

Mercy placed her on the ground. Nova didn’t stop her crying. Mercy cried loudly. The whole forest heard the crying as everything was silent except Mercy and Nova. Mercy took the walkie-talkie and shouted, “Anyone… Anyone there… Help us… Help… us… we are dying here!!!”. Mercy shouted in a high-pitched voice. No response from the other side. She threw the walkie-talkie away.

Mercy lost her total strength. Suddenly, she turns to Nova as she stops crying. Mercy found Nova with the photograph of Adam, which she put down earlier. Nova looked at the photograph with her green eyes. Nova smiled, looking at the photograph. She looked at Nova and smiled with pain. The rain started drizzling. Nova shivered again. Mercy took her in a second because she thought Nova can’t handle the cold. She hugged her tightly. Suddenly, thunder rumbled again. Nova was frightened and put down the photograph to the fire.

The fire ignited and started burning the photograph. Mercy, in a hurry, tried to take the photograph from the fire. But she can’t. She took the mud and put it on the fire. But it doesn’t stop burning it. Suddenly, it began to rain with thunder and the rain extinguished the fire. Mercy took the half-burned photograph from the fire. The top side was burned. She wailed loudly towards the rain and fell to the ground, cried, and closed her eyes.

After several minutes, Nova slowly crawled in rain. Mercy lost herself. Nova took the photograph from the ground with one hand and saw her father’s face burned. She turned the photograph and suddenly, Nova saw the sky turned green for a moment. Her eyes glittered. It’s like a green fire all over the sky. For a moment, it’s like the earth took a reboot. 

Nova didn’t know what’s happening, but she smiled. She crawled again towards Mercy and taps her mother’s face several times. Mercy opened her eyes with a sudden breath. “mma!”, Nova said with a smile. Mercy sits and hugged her tightly. The rain stopped. Mercy and Nova slept on the ground. Thunder rumbled a little again.

The sun rises and it’s the 22nd of April. Earth Day, and the birthday of Adam. No one predicted that our Earth will be in this situation on Earth day. Everything shattered. Earth has shown us the ultimate anger. Maybe humans don’t deserve Earth. If humans had not appeared in this world, at least other living beings would have survived.  

Mercy opened her eyes with nervousness. She can’t lift her quickly. “Nova… Nova…”, she said weakly. She slowly lifted her. “Nova? Nova?”, She shouted nervously. Mercy searched all around her, but Nova wasn’t there. Mercy shuddered. Mercy ran everywhere to find Nova. She can’t find her anywhere. 

Suddenly, a voice was heard from a little distance. Mercy ran towards the voice and when she was running fast she was suddenly blocked by a tree branch and she fell. “mma!... mma!”, Nova called happily. And Nova is crawling behind a tree. When she fell, she saw a small plant slowly sprouting in front of her. When the plant sprouted, Mercy saw Nova grabbed a tree and slowly stood up by herself. Nova stood patiently and raised her hands and called her mother, “mma!”. A small raindrop falling from the top of the newly sprouted plant. Mercy happily lifted Nova and hugged and kissed her. Nova smiled and she pointed to something and showed it to Mercy.

It’s the half-burned photograph of Adam. The photograph lay on the ground. And the passage in the backside also half-burned. Mercy looked at the continuing passage at the backside. “…and that’s the day the simulation curse happens. But this is our world. This Earth is our mother. If she has shown us her extreme anger. She will show us, extreme love, eventually. Because she is our mother. She will always be our mother and our mother will take care of us always.”

Mercy understands and sheds tears. Mercy took the photograph and she let out a sigh and stepped forward to see what could happen. Suddenly, she heard a noise from that walkie-talkie and she looked back curiously. There were a few seconds of silence. “mma hah!”, Nova smiled happily. A voice came from that walkie-talkie, “Anyone there?”.