E-PAT-A

A day that never seems to end. That’s what it felt like on Saturday, August 20th of 2022.

 I woke up early to the soft singing of birds in the trees and the surprisingly relaxing dings produced by the elevator outside my room. I rose out of the white bed, stretching. That had been the most comfortable bed I had slept in in a long time. I brushed my teeth and showered, and put on a pair of black leggings and a white and olive green striped top. A light layer of makeup, a purse, and a ponytail holder later, I went down the elevator for the breakfast provided. I read the menu and selected a meal of eggs, bacon, and morning potatoes, whatever those are.

After eating, I gathered my single suitcase and my backpack and took them to my car. I walked back to the front of the hotel and sat down on one of the benches at the front, feeling for my key card in my pocket. I had a tendency to misplace things, leaving me checking for them often.

After a few minutes, I found my sister pulling up in the parking lot. I could tell she was in a hurry, so I was really glad she showed up. We went into the hotel to check me out. Since I’m not of legal age to stay by myself yet, she offered to rent a room for me, and go in, then leave and come back when it was time for check out. I know it sounds impossible, and illegal, but we already knew no one in this community would fall for it.

Once we got away with that, we headed in opposite directions. I’m not sure where she was going in such a hurry, but I was on my way to camp. My family owns a nice bit of property at a campsite where there are trails to ride ATVs and bikes. We had one of the nicest places there, though. We had a dish connected in our backyard for internet, and a small building fenced onto our RV.

I met my dad there, and we always start the day off with our work. We were installing a surveillance camera and removing a lot of the trash in the yard. We had already put a couch in, and we had multiple game consoles set up. After that, we started to ride our quads into the woods when I got this feeling that rushed over me like a wave. I assumed it was barometric pressure changes or something like that. It was barometric pressure all right. It was far more than that.

Once we got back, it was around 3:00 in the afternoon, but it looked as if the Sun was directly above us. I was a little tired and uncomfortable in my muddy clothes, but I sat down and turned on one of the video games we had. Even after what felt like an hour of playing, I had accomplished much in the game, and it was only twenty minutes.

I asked my dad if he thought time was passing fast today, well as a joke at the beginning, but then he was serious when he told me he agreed. It was as if he were trying to act nonchalant, but was failing at it. Soon after, I got a phone call from my mom crying. I was a little nervous. All these thoughts racing through my head I wasn’t focusing. I told her to slow down and repeat herself. I learned that my sister had gotten into a car accident on her way to work. I have no idea exactly what happened, but if she was okay- No. She is okay. She has to be. My mom and I agreed to meet at the site of the incident. I raced to my dad who was outside repairing something underneath his truck. His phone was sitting on the top of the wooden porch rail, and I couldn’t help but notice the eight missed calls from my mom. How could he not have heard it ring?! I handed it to him, well practically threw it at him, startling him. I was almost in tears. I didn’t get very much information from my mom, but it was enough to make me go find my sister. “We have to go. Right now!” I told him. “Wh- what,” he mumbled, trying to climb out from under the vehicle. I explained to him everything I knew, and he tried calling my mom back on the way. He didn’t receive a response. I wondered what was going on.

When we finally got there, probably a little sooner than allowed, we saw that she was okay. There was an investigation going on in her car, however. My first reaction was, of course, to run up to her, but I stopped myself when I saw the caution tape the policemen had wrapped around the site of the crash. I don’t think she noticed me standing there. She was too busy answering the questions that were dropped like a weight onto her. Then I realized there were news reporters there, too. What in the world? I wasn’t so sure what all was happening. Then my mom tapped my shoulder and pulled me and my dad aside. “What happe-” I started to ask. She cut me off. “Apparently someone loaded her air conditioning with flour somehow!” She was yelling. She was beyond furious. “When she turned the air on, she couldn’t see where she was driving, and it startled her! How could someone do that?! She could have been hurt!” I took a deep breath. My dad looked really, well, I’m not exactly sure, but he wasn’t liking the situation. I could tell he was keeping something from my mom and me, but now wasn’t the time to say that. “This was done on purpose?!” I screamed. Hot tears were rolling down my face. I’m not exactly sure why to be honest. I mean, I was so grateful that my sister was okay, but how could a person do this to someone?

Later, I looked at my phone to check the time. Maybe 7:00? 8:00? Nope. Neither. It was only 4:00 PM. How…? This whole thing was starting to seem surreal. Was it a dream? My mom was sitting at the kitchen table with her hand rubbing her forehead. My dad was sorting through something on his phone in the family room. I knew something was up with him, so I sat down next to him and didn’t say anything. “I was just texting your sister. She is just now getting out of the questioning. She was taken to the hospital before though, just in case. Everything is fine. The cops found out her airbags were tampered with, though. They have more investigating to do.” He clenched his teeth, but then groaned and sunk down into his chair, like he was giving up. “Come on Dad. At least she’s okay. They’ll figure this out, leave it up to them.” He nodded, but I’m thinking it was only to comfort me. I got up and then went in to talk with my mom.

My family went to pick up my sister from the questioning. When we got there, she was ready to get out of there. She said she needed to tell us the truth, and my dad’s face went pale. “Ever wonder why the site of the crash was completely out of the way from Walmart?” Walmart is where she works. ...right? Mom nodded, wiping a tear, and my sister’s compassion and empathy were showing. “I don’t work at Walmart.” The car slowed and everyone got quiet. “Oh sweetie!” Mom exclaimed. “It’s okay if they let you go!” My sister nodded her head no. “I never worked there.” “But your boss. I talked with your boss.” “It was all a set up.” my dad said. “You know what’s going on?!” Mom asked. Neither my dad nor my sister made eye contact with anyone. After a long and awkward pause, my mom asked what I had been wondering for quite a while. “Where had you been all this time, then?” “I work for-” “*Cough cough* Would you look at that? Home already!” My mom scowled at him. “What aren’t you telling us?” she asked. “Why aren’t you telling us?” “E-PAT-A,” my sister said. My mouth dropped open. “The Environmental Protection Attempt and Test Agency?!” My mom and I said in sync. My sister looked ashamed. I felt bad. Maybe she really was trying to do good. The E-PAT-A is an agency belonging to the government that is responsible for testing environment friendly solutions and putting them into use, but the workers started proceeding with the failing tests just to make a profit for themselves. “I’m sorry,” she said. “No, I’m sorry,” Dad chimed in. “I pressured her to do this.” He shook his head. “Dad, you didn’t. This was my idea.” The car became silent as it pulled into the driveway. 

“Is this clock right?” Mom asked. I checked my phone and nodded. It was only 4:30. The darkness of the night should have been beckoning by now, but it wasn’t. It was as if the Earth was holding its breath. Suddenly I felt very light. And so did my backpack, which I managed to bring home from the hotel. With the short notice, I left my suitcase, but it was no use going back to get it. My vision started to blur for a second, but then that went away. I looked up to see my sister looking around concerned. I gave her a questioning look. “It’s starting,” she said. She looked confused. “Gravity? Why didn’t anyone think about that?” I didn’t know what she was talking about. “What’s starting?” I asked. The family was still in the car, but my parents were so weak they couldn’t get up. “What’s wrong, Mom? Dad? Are you okay?” They were rubbing their heads. “It affects their heads. The rotation, I mean,” my sister told me. “Adults are more prone to it. It should clear up soon. How do you feel?” “What?” I demanded answers. Suddenly, the night fell fast. In only a few seconds, the world went pitch black. The Earth was trapped in a place where the Sun and Moon were equal, causing it to be darker than ever before. “Is it an eclipse?” I asked. A fear was starting to instill me. My sister shook her head. “They wanted to conduct this test. I told them not to, but it would be worth millions if it succeeded.” “And if it doesn’t?” “Who knows. I don’t know what they were thinking.” She got her laptop out and started typing fast. I wondered what she was doing.

The air felt hot and then cold and then hot and then cold. Mom and Dad perked up a bit. “Let’s get in the house,” my sister said. We all went into the living room, dropping our bags in the kitchen and sat on the couch. “They are using magnetic-” “Ah!” We all yelled at the same time. There was a sudden jolt and sunlight started shining through the open windows again. My sister started talking faster. “They are messing with the Earth’s rotation using some kind of strong magnetic force. They sent it up into space and are activating it now. Their goal is to have the ability to make it day or night whenever they want to. That doesn’t change the time, only the amount of light.” “How safe is that?” My mom asked. “They will be careful, but that doesn’t mean the test will work anyway.” A hot tear rolled down my face and I wiped it away with my sleeve.

My sister jumped up in a hurry and got into her car. “I’m going to the laboratory. They were expecting me to come in today. They could need help.” “We’re coming, too,” my mom said. “It’s too dangerous-” “That’s why we’re coming.” “No time to talk about it. Get in!”

Turns out, the lab was 45 minutes away, and it was even more advanced than I had imagined it. Everything inside was a glistening white, and there was complete silence. Especially for the new test, too much silence. That’s because the walls and doors are soundproof. There were no windows anywhere, which gave me the idea that they were secretive about their work. My sister quickly adjusted her lanyard to show her employee ID, and she grabbed one of the white lab coats from a hanger. She started reaching for protective gear when a noise came over what seemed like an invisible loudspeaker. It was an alarm. Instead of doing the obvious, getting out of there, my sister motioned for us to stay quiet and calm. She instructed us to get under the bench where we found a trapdoor leading to a wider opening. It was empty, and to our benefit, pitch black.

We waited there for some time, but our human instincts told us when the Sun rose and set, at the abnormal times that it was. What felt like a long hour later, although I can’t say for sure, the alarm stopped, and my sister came to get us. She helped us climb out one by one, struggling to get us uncripplied from being on the floor for so long. “Are you okay?” Mom asked. I was wondering the same thing. Her wavy hair that was earlier pulled into a ponytail was now knotted and untidy, her lab jacket was covered in stains, and her shoelaces were untied and starting to fray. The fear on her face was not gone as I had hoped it would be, and you could see her eyes were tired from tears. “Anyone who didn’t make it out is gone. Dammit! Why does everyone keep dying on me?!” Mom tried to give her a reassuring hug, but she pushed her away. “I’d suggest you take the elevator to the bottom floor. That’s where everyone else went.” She paused. “Tell them you’re with me so they’ll let you in. They’ll be leery because you don’t have an employee ID.” We nodded and ran to the elevator. My sister raced back to the room she was in before.

It took the elevator a short time to go down twenty seven floors. At the bottom, people in lab coats like my sister’s, and protective gear, grabbed me and pulled me away from my parents. We yelled for each other, but it was no use. I was pulled into the crowd of people hunkered down on the floor. “Get down!” Someone demanded at me. Out of fear, I put my head down like everyone else. I pulled my phone out when I heard it buzz. It was my sister. She asked if I made it all the way down, and I explained what happened. “I figured you’d get split up,” the message read. “I’ll make sure you find each other soon. I am just waiting for the Earth to go back a rotation to make up for the time lost. I should go now. I love you.” “I love you, too,” I replied. I hadn’t tried it before, but I couldn’t contact my parents. My sister was my only contact. And she was on the twenty eighth floor, left alone, no scientists or workers willing to help her, while she controlled the rotation of the Earth, her life, and every life on this planet.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, louder than anyone has ever heard before. Light flashed before my eyes, and I couldn’t see anything but swirls of white and black, even having my head in my lap. My eardrums were temporarily destroyed, and waves rushed over me like bombs. What was happening? There was no time for fear, however. When the atmosphere returned to normal, I brought my head back up to see that everyone in the room was ...dead. Was I the only life left? I raced out to see my sister and she gave me a big hug. We shared a moment filled with tears. “We’re some of the only ones left,” she said. “I know,” I whispered back. After the moment passed, my sister explained what happened. “I destroyed that machine. The Earth is in control of itself.” “No more greed,” I said. She nodded. “They risked this because of greed. And this is their punishment. They wanted money. Millions. But that doesn’t matter to them anymore, does it?” I shook my head and was silent. “What are we going to do? Why did we live?” “The Earth was almost completely destroyed because of a gravity malfunction,” she said. “But I am so grateful that you are still here.” She paused. “There are others like us,” she said. “Others that survived. We will rebuild the Earth. This is our chance to start over. I’ll help with the knowledge I have, but I’ll only use it for good, I promise.” “I believe you,” I said. “You’ve already proven it. You were brave enough to save as many as you could. What would have happened if you didn’t?” “Then we would all be gone,” she said without a doubt. And to be honest, I don’t know why we are the ones who happen to still be here. Because we aren’t greedy like them, maybe? Maybe it’s having the right morals in life?” I shrugged. I was surprisingly calm. “I don’t know,” I said. “But sometimes I don’t know how things happen, but they happen, so it works for me. We’re alive and that’s all that matters.” I paused. “Well, we have a planet to rebuild. We ought to get started.”