Chambound Lake, Population 2300

~2025~

The sweltering heat of the summer sun, which was hoisted so far into the cerulean sky as if to narrowly escape the grasp of towering skyscrapers. They were some of the tallest structures Audrey had ever seen, in fact. She almost failed to conceive how these gargantuan masses of concrete and metal could be concocted by any mere human. After all, she had grown accustomed to the dreary and mundane reality of rural life. In contrast, the bustling city was wondrous enough it could have been built by gods themselves. Audrey parked her prized pink Volkswagen Beetle, gifted to her by her doting father as a parting gift. Somewhat anxiously, she fiddled with the lock before rushing off into a nearby building. This was the very moment she had been anticipating and envisioning since she departed from home. She cautiously turned the door knob, as if with any movement this opportunity would slip through her fingers. 

“How can I help you, miss?” A sheepish voice called out from behind a mound of papers resting on a mahogany desk. Audrey only realized his short stature and unkempt hair was revealed when he arose from his chair. 

“I’m Audrey Rockwell, I’m here for the interview, for the journalist position.”, she replied. Her palms began to sweat in anxiety as the man gestured for her to follow him. 

“Nice to meet you, miss. I’m Finn.”, he mumbled as he led her down a narrow corridor lined with precariously stacked towers of papers. Finally, they settle in a room. Finn invites Audrey to seat herself in a fraying armchair across from a rather comically large desk. 

“Now, tell me about yourself, Miss Rockwell.”, Finn begins. 

“Of course. I’ve always been enticed by journalism, you see. I’ve dreamed of a life away from my little rural hometown; I’ve been yearning for an adventure in the big city. And what better way to do so than gathering stories?” Audrey recites, desperately trying to recall the lengthy speech she had jotted down in her journal just for this moment.

“You’re hired, Miss Rockwell. Welcome to Johnson Printing Co.”. Finn grins reassuringly at this announcement.

“Hired? You really mean it?”, she retorted in awe. 

“Yes, in all honesty you're the only applicant we’ve received in quite a while, but no matter, I'm sure you’ll be suitable."

Audrey was utterly thrilled by this news. It was the first step in the uncertain path towards what she wholeheartedly believed was her destiny. Like a living embodiment of her parents’ hopes and dreams, she had secured a stable job, and a stable life. This was no surprise, as she had worked like clockwork to execute tasks flawlessly. Often overlooking the social necessities a young child has, she spent her youngest years confined to the academic world. It was as if she was caged like a point on the plane of life. To an outsider she was as enigmatic as the equations that consumed hour after hour of her youth. In the dingy little elementary school she attended, tucked away in emerald rolling hills and sapphire lakes, the only gem she had devoted her being to was the glistening diamond of success. In the city, she felt as if she was in the land of diamonds. Even the sidewalk glittered like a jewel when graced by the light, wearing a crown of pure silver with its spears of rampant capitalism and boundless wealth extending upward unconstrained. It was as if with each new construction, the clouds cowered like little lambs, injected by the needles of industry with noxious smog. And just like the other workers, confined in these towering office buildings like cogs of a grotesque machine, Audrey took a seat at her new desk. 

For weeks, she worked away, crafting articles with ease. The words simply flowed off her fingers, and onto the keys of her keyboard. She collected each accepted article like a trophy, her life once again becoming entangled in a need to achieve. She lived like a kite tethered to the finger of her employer, wound up in the whirlwind of tedious articles. Carrying out her routine, Audrey reached for her next assignment. Her daintily shaped nails scraped the crisp paper, and as she turned it over, she paused. Her eyes scanned the page, wondering if her superior had made a mistake. If she had read correctly, she was being asked to venture out of the city, to interview an eccentric scientist, living in the heart of a secluded village. This was the most ambitious task she had been given thus far, and she was utterly determined to make the most of it. Audrey hurriedly packed up her essentials, and sprung out of the confinement of her desk. Saying goodbye to Finn, she rushed towards her car, desperate not to lose time. The town was around an hour away, if she took a path through the mountains, and she would arrive just before nightfall. 

She had been driving for quite some time, winding between ancient trees and deserted trails, until she noticed a sign overgrown in bushes. Between the snaking vines, she made out the words, “Chambound Lake, Population: 2300”. The sun had just begun to melt into the horizon, the sliver of light guiding her becoming dimmer and dimmer. She found herself struck with a radiating headache, only intensifying as she drove further. Though she believed it was just a reaction to her sudden painful affliction, Audrey had a consuming feeling in the pit of stomach that something was off. Perhaps the jagged silhouette of the forest, looming over her like the angularities of a watchful bat’s outstretched wings, struck a sense of fear into her. She tried to overlook the discomfort brewing within her, continuing down the crumbling road towards the town line. And then, in the span of just a blink, it all went black. 

~1961~

The deafening sound of metal grating against gravel screeched in Audrey’s ear. Sparks erupted from the wreck that had once been her car, and the already disheveled road was now peppered with gleaming shards of glass. It was as if Audrey had been hurled through an invisible wall, as could be deduced from the crumpled wreckage she found herself laying inside. Her mind was spinning, clouded by shooting pain from every appendage of her tattered and bruised body. Once her eyes adjusted, and the ringing in her ears subsided enough for her to form coherent thoughts, Audrey glanced around for anyone who could help her. She found only the watchful moon, like a wide eyed observer of her strife. And so, the only feasible action was to walk towards the town where she had been so hopeful to find her next story. She limped on aching, tiresome limbs for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she stumbled across the vague shape of the town, like a mirage calling to her fatigued mind. 

As she grew closer, she examined her surroundings. The main street of Chambound Lake stretched out before her, lined with antiquated looking cars. It baffled her already strained mind, looking at this perfectly preserved specimen of the past. She couldn’t grasp how this town seemed so perfectly frozen in a time long past. It was deserted of any human presence, even as Audrey scanned the various shops and establishments. She continued to walk, her anxiety growing. Her senses were on the highest alert, as if her subconscious could deduce that this was no ordinary town. Only when she picked up a discarded newspaper, reading between the rips and gashes, was her uneasy notion confirmed. “Soviet Attack Coming”, read the foreboding lettering. Audrey paused. Soviet? The nation that had been wiped from the map decades ago? Even if she had been in better condition, her mind would not be able to conceive such a thing. It was as if she had leaped through time. 

Despite the conundrum of her antiquated surroundings, Audrey’s throbbing and disgruntled body urged her to seek refuge. She limped between the horde of classic cars, lined up like soldiers guarding a strange and unfathomable truth. The sudden cacophonous cawing of crows startled her, like a portentous alarm to warn away intruders. If she failed to find a place to rest, she felt like her legs would collapse beneath her and she would slip out of consciousness at any moment, So, she rested her weary head on the splintered wood of a deteriorating bench. It was just outside of what seemed to be a small diner, decorated unmistakably with memorabilia from a time far behind what she was familiar with. 

As the sun began to pry its way over the trees, Audrey squinted in the bright light. Her head had not yet recuperated from her blistering headache, and her joints ached like the neglected, rusted hinges of an unopened door. Her thoughts of misery at her predicament were interrupted by a shrill voice. 

“My goodness!”, an older woman cried out. The greying wisps of her hair glittering in the sun as she gazed in concern at Audrey. “What on earth happened to you?”, she inquired, her voice full of worry. 

“My car…crashed”, Audrey replied hesitantly. In reality, she had no inkling of how she had ended up in this situation, or how her car had managed to fling itself off of the road. The woman ushered Audrey into the diner, which seemed to be bustling with morning customers, though they all embodied an underlying anxiety. It was a bewildering scene to behold, like stepping into the scene of a vintage film. Audrey found that every person in her line of sight was dressed in clothing clearly distinguishable to the early 60’s, clutching the morning paper in their hands. In her modern clothing, she appeared quite out of place. Or perhaps it was due to the tattered and grimy state of her clothing that was alarming. She felt the scornful eyes of the townspeople on her. There was not a single cell phone in sight, no hint of modernity to offer solace to her. It was apparent that she really had found herself trapped in an entirely different timeline. 

The concerned woman, who introduced herself as Diana, urged Audrey to sit down at a booth. She seemed cordial and welcoming, even offering to provide the frightened newcomer some new clothes. The pair returned to Diana’s apartment after a hearty breakfast. Desperate to replace her shoddy clothing, Audrey accepted the offer, and dressed herself in the dress and cardigan which were laid out on the bed for her. In her new attire, she looked like just another feature in this specimen of the past. She thanked Diana, and stumbled back onto the street. In her effort to learn more about her bizarre surroundings, she discovered a small newsstand. In her normal life, she would be the one writing articles from the safety of her office, working for an esteemed publisher. It was as if she had fallen from grace, her expertise holding no value in this world which was so foreign to her. She purchased the daily paper, scanning the page for any indication of what exactly she had become entangled in. 

As she read further, Audrey realized every story warned of impending doom, as the world seemed to be entwined in tension and threats. Nuclear threats, it seemed. That would explain the tense demeanor of the townspeople, as they were condemned to carry out their daily routine despite their fear. The words read like a death sentence, like the nation was holding its breath waiting for an execution by the Soviet Union. Even in the eerie stillness of this town, it seemed as if the twitch of a finger could propel the earth into a man-made apocalypse. She wondered if the clouds could be concealing a hurling bomb at this very moment. Even if Audrey was an outsider to this period of time, her heart ached in fear to think that this quaint little community was living on the brink of destruction. 

Her morbid revelation fresh in her fatigued mind, Audrey made her way across the town. She wandered somewhat aimlessly. The town appeared somber now, all its citizens having rushed off to work. She walked along neatly paved sidewalks, past years of architecture that reflected lifetimes of inhabitants. Even in such an uneventful, dreams radiated from each crevice. From the carefree school children prancing and playing, to store owners who prayed each day for more customers, and every parent whose eyes glow with hope for their children’s future. All around her was a tender innocence, because raw fear outweighed all the greed and the immorality. Audrey found herself at the rusted gate of a small cemetery. The damp soil sank under her shoes with a squelch, as if recoiling from her intrusion. The weeping angels eternally hunched over graves weep not only for lost souls, but for the hunger for power that haunts the narrative of human history. 

Even the trees seemed to sway and tremble, seeking each other for comfort as the wind whispered prophecies of disaster. Though she had learned of the tension of this time period, to be thrust into it so suddenly filled her to the core with apprehension. Her mind was tormented by grim thoughts, as she surveyed the graves surrounding her. She wondered how she would ever escape this living nightmare, and if she would live among these people from decades of the past or die in a cataclysmic blast by their sides. In that moment, her life, and the lives of every inhabitant of this planet were held like a tightrope walker on a fraying string. At the whim of the conglomerates of world power, the greatest nations in the world would crumble to ash. The political traction was like an empyrean fire roaring ablaze, on a warpath to cleanse its surroundings of good and evil alike. 

All alone, and filled with agonizing thoughts, she outstretched her form onto a chilling stone bench. It was almost uncanny how she could sense strife creeping towards her, as the set once again. Concealing itself just out of sight, it cowered in fear. And as if some benevolent source had sent a second sun, a piercingly bright flash radiated from the blackened horizon. The sound was deafening. Before she heard the screams of terror, Audrey’s senses were consumed by what sounded like a stampede of angered bulls all around her. The sky exploded into a mosaic of red and black, like drops of blood in murky waters. It spread with alarming fear, turning the night into a hellish scene. Everything around her seemed to grow tentacles of crimson flame, as scorchingly hot wind clawed at her flesh. It seemed the apocalyptic predestination had been correct, as human ingenuity and foolishness dismantled every foundation and feature of the living world. 

~2025~

Audrey awoke from a deep, dreamless slumber. Her eyes were met with a clear sky, with only a few wisps of cloud to shield her eyes from the sun. Around her, all she could make out was greenery and towering trees. Below her, blades of grass pricked her miraculously unharmed skin. There was no cemetery, no town, only a clearing nestled amidst an ancient forest. She trembled as she coaxed herself to rise off the clammy soil and grass, and began walking towards what seemed to be the edge of the forest. She pondered what she had just experienced. Undoubtedly, it had been reality, as the horrific memory was engraved in every nerve of her body. Perhaps it simply wasn’t her destiny to die at the hands of a nuclear catastrophe from decades in the past. Once she saw the light glinting off the fresh paint of her somehow untouched car, it was clear that she had been thrust back into the present day. She walked past a disheveled sign, laying at the side of the road like a discarded corpse. Tears rose in her eyes as she read the words, “Chambound Lake, Population: 2300”. 2300 souls gone in an instant, a town transformed into an unmarked mass grave. She weeped as she drove away, the sole participant in a pitiful funeral procession. And in the depths of her tortured heart, she felt a harrowing feeling that she would never find solace. After all, every age of human development yielded a probable disaster worse than the last, because human flaws are a poison that will never expire.