by Atri Kundu
“Congratulations to everyone on the victory,” began Mar, but her face scarcely displayed any sign of victory pleasure. “We did win today, but that was one futile battle.”
A sudden hush loomed in the air inside the hall. No one dared to interrupt her.
“This planet is not habitable,” she said. “It was, some thousands of years ago, but not anymore. We all made a mistake. This mission was a big mistake.”
“But these creatures do live here, how can they?” someone asked.
“Why thousands of years ago? Remember, the satellites sending us pictures of a green, lively Genesis? What about that?” Another question was shot at Marlene.
“Yes, life is still possible here and even human lives,” she replied in a calm tone. “But not a new civilization. The planet won’t survive another thousand years. We’ve already scanned the entire planet and the only habitable place left is here, but this land stretches only for a few hundred miles. Rest of the planet is either ice or water.”
“We calculated the axis of Genesis to be inclined 31° but now for some reason, it has lost the inclination. Lucky for us though, or the entire planet would be a desert by now. Even its rotations are slowing and within centuries, it will stop rotating at all.”
“How could everything change so fast?”
“Not fast, thousands of years have passed since the satellites landed here and sent us those images. Time is a very strange thing,” she repeated the line father used to tell us always. “There is one thing, we discovered just now, in the five time skips we did we moved forward through thousand years and along with us, so did the entire Universe. Genesis also.”
She didn’t need to tell anything more. I already knew this and the rest of the members didn’t take long to realize how Genesis lost its previous glamour in these thousand years of aging, which we had skipped. But there was something that I didn’t realize, none of us did until she said it.
“Earth has also aged another thousand years. When we’ll return, it will be thousand years more,” Marlene turned; she was already leaving the hall. I could feel the breath choking inside my throat. At the door, she paused and turned back for one last look. “There’s no point going back there.”
Then she left.
***
286 days later,
A cold wind kissed my skin, sending a shiver down my entire body. I was sitting on a large rock and Marlene on a smaller one beside me. We were watching the hide and seek show of the star behind the clouds. Here we don’t have the pleasure of days setting into nights. Far in the horizon, light was dazzling on the crystal blue waters of the ocean, creating a mesmerizing sight.
We did survive these days on Genesis. Only trouble was food but we did manage to hunt and scavenge for it. Those aliens were not the only life form here, flying creatures similar to birds, trees and many other smaller animals could still be found deep inside the forest, which was only a few miles from the civilization. Sitting here with Mar and watching the ocean, play of clouds and white bird-like things crossing the sky was the pinnacle of my life now.
Life on Earth, I realized, was an illusion, because we were hardly living it. Following rules and conventions, the same routine every day and all the pollution and fights, we are free from all these here. But then the thoughts of father, my friends and every person I knew would flash before my eyes and choke my breath with a desperate desire to see them again.
“Time is such a strange thing, isn’t it?” said Mar, her eyes on a small device dangling between her fingers.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Who else would understand it better than us? But why say that now?”
She raised the little device, and I realized it was a message transmitting tool. Her lips were “Father sent us a message.”
I snapped out of my thoughts. Suddenly I felt a ripple of excitement in my veins. Am I hearing her right? Is father still alive? My mind knew it couldn’t be, but all sense of science faded into a sea of Hope. Can we go back home?
She continued. “The message took thousands of years to reach us. See—” She turned the device towards me. Her words had already stabbed my hope, and yet I looked at the screen. It read,
Dear Sylvestre and Marlene I’m sending this message knowing that when you get it I won’t be alive anymore. But of this future, I was aware many years back through one of my inventions and so I sent you to Genesis. Earth is gone, destroyed of what was left, by an alien army that invaded a year after you left. With all of our advanced weaponry, we are like small preys to them.
So, hoping that you have found Genesis habitable, I ask you not to come back. Sending you was a leap of faith which I had to take to save you from this evident doom. At least I could give you HOPE and I really wish you are reading this message somewhere out there. Stay blessed and I loved you both.
My sight drifted into the horizon. So now, we few on Genesis, the members of Hope and Endeavor were the remnants of the once soaring human civilization.
Sending us here, giving us Hope and everything he did was a part of his father. He did succeed in saving our lives, but what about the humanity? They are gone, forever or would they ever take birth in some other planet like Earth? Maybe they already had.
For now, I’d like to believe his two favorite lines—time is a strange thing and miracles can always happen.
A bitter pain gurgled up my windpipe and my stomach churned. I had been strong these days, always being the support of Mar, an ideal big brother.
But now, I felt tears dilating my vision. I closed my eyes and Corrie’s words buzzed inside my head. “We are humans. We are born predators.” He was right. But we were not the only ones, were we? This is a chain and we are not on top of it, no one is.
Every prey was a predator, and every predator will be a prey.
~~~***~~~
Acknowledgement
This section is bound to begin with the mention of only one person. I won’t say the name, though. I really don’t know what to say, words aren’t just enough. It is only because that person ever came in my life that I could do this. That person has given me so many memories—both good and bad, the good ones make me smile even today at the hardest times and the bad ones inspire me to express them through my stories. “You have been my best friend for the last twelve years and will be so forever. Thank You for Everything, my Eternal Best Friend.”
Next I’d like to thank my English teacher who is more like an elder sister to me. Any acknowledgement also would be incomplete without mentioning about my great buddies—Anubhab, Soham, Sandip, Akash and many more—they all have been great to me always and supported me when I needed them.
My lovely siblings are also very much instrumental in keeping me going. My mom and dad also need to be thanked for raising and nourishing me to what I am today.
To the reader, “This Book Belongs to You. Read it, Love it and Treasure it.”
About the author
Atri Kundu has had found a new world in his imaginations since childhood. It was only when he reached high-school that he decided to pen them down. Currently residing in India, he decided to publish his first collection of novelettes and began working on 2013. It took one year to complete and now he is a self-published author.
Now in the concluding part of his high-school years, Atri was always praised for his academic skills. Even after school and study, he manages to find time for his imaginations. Always a believer in the human power of love, he tries to portray that very concept through his stories.
For him, pain and hardships are always the best inspirations. Currently, he is busy penning down his next book, Killer-Victim Bond. To know more about him and his other works,
Contact him on
Email— [email protected]
Website— http://atrikundustorytreasure.weebly.com
Facebook ID— www.facebook.com/atri.arcruiser.kundu
Facebook Page— www.facebook.com/StoryTreasure
Twitter— www.twitter.com/AtriKundu2129
More from Atri Kundu
Darkness never fades until someone forces light through it…
When the Devil is reincarnated, will you run or fight back?
From the author of Present in Love, comes a dark tale of power, hatred and vengeance on the eve of this Halloween.
Elise Harper, age nineteen and a sincere student of applied micro-biology and biotechnology, hardly believed in the tales of ghosts and curses. But when she took her brother Josh and his friends for a trick or treat session to the most Haunted place of their town, her world turned topsy-turvy. She hardly knew the fate that would follow them until that night and until she saw her. After a series of disappearing, she must learn to be a hero.
When a secret buried for decades is excavated accidentally, innocent blood are sure to be spilt. A forgotten beast, dormant for ages will rise to seek the power that can change the destiny of human civilizations. It will come out in the open, hungry and lurking for new preys throwing the world into a state of unspeakable terror.
>>> "Darkness never fades unless someone forces light through it ," Elise believed.
Will her belief be shattered? Or will Elise find a way to save her brother and the humanity? And what will it take to defeat the Devil himself?
>>> Blood. Nightmares. Destruction and mysteries.
A dark spirit was awaiting its revenge for decades. But what does it really seek? Blood of humans or the Devil’s end?
Scroll up and grab a copy of the first installment in The Horror Nights Saga Today.
Scenes from A Blank Page
The shower water touched her naked skin, freezing her down to her bones. Elise shuddered and stepped back. That bloody geyser was making crazy sound, so it was better put off and this left her with no other option. She started humming Ellie Goulding’s Beating Heart to bear with the cold. Her voice shimmered and the tune came out weird. She laughed and within minutes, she was enjoying the bath.
Almost after fifteen minutes she turned off the shower. Water dripped from her hair into her eyes, blinding them. She reached out for the towel. Her half-frozen fingers fumbled and the towel landed into a bucket filled with water. “Holy…!” she muttered.
She was shivering and now was without a towel. With a bow she snatched away the towel which was half-soaked from the bucket and as she lifted her head, she glanced at the mirror. It reflected two figures.
Elise swirled around immediately, wrapping the cold and wet towel around her. No one except her was there. She checked the door, it was locked from inside. An illusion? It must be. She smiled, the cold was having its plays on her mind.
Then again, the image she saw on the mirror flashed in her mind. A woman was standing beside her—white gown and snow-white hairs and a face so pale that it seemed inhuman. Now that the image was gone, she could feel it carved inside her mind even though she saw it only for a blink. How could she just imagine all these? A chill ran down her spines, suddenly making her realize that she was standing in a cold towel on a chilly November morning.
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Present in Love
When Love seeks forgiveness, sacrifice is the best present you can give!
A heart-melting story of union and sharing presents; separation, longing and the desire to share more presents.
A short love story of the present generation, filled with sweet and ever-lasting presents to fill the void in your heart.
Jeremy Woodshaw, a billionaire from Texas, fell in love with a waitress in a small inn, Emily. Beyond the world of money and luxury, his love for Emily will craft him into a person he never was. But then one night, the sweet love story shattered into a thousand pieces of death, despair and separation.
The man alienated from the world seeks to revive his old love but as the search comes to an end, one last present will change their lives.
˃˃˃ "Love is like an ever-lasting present which only teaches us to smile," he believed.
Will his belief be shattered? Will the two lovers ever re-unite?
˃˃˃ When love seeks forgiveness, sacrifice is the best present to give.
His love will return to give him one last chance to correct his deeds, but not without a cost.
Scroll up and grab a copy of the first installment in the Eternal Romance Saga Today.
Available on Amazon for $0.99
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Scenes from Present in Love
The glass windows almost acted as mirrors. I checked myself. All okay.
My full-sleeve snow-white shirt and black tuxedo trousers made the perfect pair — perfect for a waitress. Usually I leave my hair open, flaunting its waist-length. Today, I gathered all of them and tied them into a tight pony. The man back at parlor did his best to tighten my hair into little rolls, to reduce its length. But those curls should be invisible at night from a distance, especially from the opposite foot-path.
My face hasn’t aged much although I’m twenty-two now and my reflection in those windows refreshed my school memories. ‘Huh! It’s time now.’ I left my breath which I’d been holding for—an obvious indication of the emotion inside my heart. It was pumping faster than usual. Sweat drops formed on either side of my chin, I rubbed them off.
Sliding my fingers in my shirt pocket, I took out the picture. Emily Woodshaw. Indeed we had similarities. Even if it was not much but still the resemblance in figure and posture was far too much and just enough to be mistaken.
The memories of my first school play flashed inside my head. I did awfully bad that night on stage. Too nervous, just like now. Today my part is different, though, most similar to a ramp walk. No dialogues to remember. So no chance of stammering, which was another symptom of my nervousness.
I stared at the manager. He smiled back at me, followed by few other staffs who awaited my show. He nodded his head up and down, raised his thumb wishing me luck.
I stepped towards the glass door, pulled it open. A blast of chill wind hit my face. It was around eight at night—a busy time at Northwood Square. Cars and bikes flew past me. As usual Jeremy stood on the opposite foot-path. He didn’t see me yet as the fast moving cars obstructed his vision. The signal turned green only seconds ago. It’s the perfect opportunity for me. I stepped out of the hotel compound.
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***~~~***
