GAM E O V E R words by Milleny Kwan illustration by Lua Presidio
I
wake up and my head is pounding, my body is aching and my stomach is turning. I attempt to roll over onto my right side and use what is left of my body strength to push myself up. Unsuccessful, I collapse on the wooden floor and a cloud of dust explodes into the musty air, consuming me. My stomach contracts violently and while lying on the floor desperate for help, I lurch forward and forcefully begin dry heaving. The acid of my vomit claws at my throat and I try to swallow the bile, but my guts need to expel what was within me. The vomit surges up from my esophagus and comes out my mouth looking like greenish-yellow congealed contents. The warm bile covers the dirty floor and oozes down my neck. I throw my body up against a wall and lean on it, desperately trying to breathe. With my mouth coated with a pungent smell, I say with a shaky and raspy voice, “Water.” I fall to my knees and clench my sore throat. Beads of sweat roll down the side of my face and find its way to the corner of my mouth, salty. My eyes are heavy and I can barely keep them open. Each blink feels like a fight to keep myself awake. Suddenly, a deafening, thunderous sound cracks through the atmosphere’s sound barrier. I quickly limp toward the shattered window in front of me and stick my head out, careful not to cut myself on the jagged
edges. Looking up towards the dark and black beyond, I gasp. A startling sight forces my jaw to drop. The night sky is illuminated in a deep green and blue hue by an enormous hole that stretches over a kilometre in length! I observe it and immediately, I know that this is a wormhole. A jet plane speeds in its direction and the silver object disappears. It was three years ago. I remember it so clearly. August 7, 4080. The event that would change human history forever happened during one normal summer evening. The residual heat from earlier in the afternoon lingered in the air and made it uncomfortably hard to breathe. Colours of yellow, orange and red married together in the sky, creating a piece of art so breathtaking, I thought I was living in a painting. I remember looking out the window when I saw the earth beneath me moving up and down like the waves of the ocean. It all happened so quickly. I heard and felt the earth come alive; rumbling and shaking, making noises that sounded like I was in the belly of a whale. Behind me, glass dishes shattered all over the hardwood floor. I attempted to take cover, but the ground was shaking so violently that it was difficult to move. I fell over and attempted to crawl to my fragile desk. The ceiling lights were swaying from side to side, then one by one, the light bulbs exploded into a million pieces.
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