A SCI-FI SHORT STORY
2018
CHAPTER 1: His Memory
"You forgot to call me again Jason, you have to stop doing this", said Rhea.
"I was working & didn't want any distractions", I smirked.
She chuckled at this and I could see her eyes light up. When people ask me how I met Rhea, I usually give them a short version: “At a party!”, but it’s so much more than that. It was at the college fresher’s party right when we both knew that we didn’t want this to end.
Soon, we started dating. It was only a few years ago when I asked Rhea to move in with me. She had experienced a great deal in life up to this point. She lost her mother at the mere age of 11 to Alzheimer’s. Ever since she had been a quiet and reserved girl but with me she was different. She opened up to me, she discovered comfort in me, as did I in her. Seeing her upbeat and happy fills my heart with love and happiness.
"You have to quit crunching now, at least for a half-hour. I am trying to focus on my work", Rhea murmured. In any case, it was my most beloved Lay's flavor so I continued crunching on the chips.
"Can we take a break from this inert task and go get something to eat?" We went to her most loved place. The enticing smell of the food was calling out to us. Judo, her bulldog, gave me company while waiting for her. After the catastrophic event that burdened her, Judo became a major part of her life.
“Here you are, let's go. We are running late!” I grabbed her hand and streaked across the lanes. On arriving, I turned my back and saw Rhea panting. I asked her if she was okay. She hastened to the washroom to fix herself up. When she’d been gone far too long, I went searching for her. She looked dreadful standing in a corner just near the washroom. She kept rubbing her eyes. I took her to the upper floor since it’s generally vacant there. "What is it?" I asked. “something is wrong with my eyes, I can't see anything” she answered. I asked her to elaborate. She kept saying her vision faded. It sounded like color blindness. Her vision was getting duller and duller. We left the place and went to the eye clinic.
Throughout, I was attempting my best to comfort her and make her feel safe. We completed the tests. The doctor said it is very rare for women to develop color blindness, especially in later life. I couldn't see her like that. I was with her all the time. Her condition showed no signs of improvement.
On our way home, she kept saying the same thing again and again. I held her tight and put her to sleep. The following morning, I cooked her favorite breakfast and went to wake her up. She was already up, standing near the balcony, smiling at me. “Looks like you slept like a baby,” I said. I asked her about her vision and she told me it might sound crazy but mom visited her last night and stayed the night. She described the touch of her hands almost like she was there. It was definitely a dream. I told her it was only a delusion, however, she continued denying it. By that point her vision has worsened, her color blindness was making her sick. She depicted it as a family of dark shades with restricted tints of blue & yellow. She was seeing things that weren't real.
Her condition was awful. She was talking in a dull voice. I needed to make her understand that the delusions were just mistaken beliefs and not real. We returned to the hospital and she completed a PPD test. She went through the entire procedure of cerebrum X-Rays. The reports demonstrated that she had Paranoid Personality Disorder. According to the doctors, Rhea was the first patient they’d come across with visual impairment alongside PPD. Likewise, she was the first to depict her partial blindness in an unexpected way. Everything was visible, just in high contrast (shades of black) with restricted 2 hues (blue, yellow).
After a point, she was no longer seeing any shades or gradients aside from high contrast. As per her next round of tests, cones in her retina were damaged which was in charge of visual impairment. She was continuously freaking out. Rhea had these dreams for the duration of the day. It was getting increasingly hard for her to endure it. She was in the doctor's facility for most recent weeks. I felt helpless. The only thing I could do is watch her and be with her. I informed authorities at work about the awful turn of events.
I took leave and raced to the healing center and remained there until the next morning. I went to visit her as usual, but this time, she was not on her bed. Neither in the restroom nor on the balcony. She was not in the healing center at all. I lost any control I had left. I was crying and yelling at the doctors and staff members.
Distraught, I went back to our apartment only to find her lying on the bed. I tried to wake her up. She wasn't reacting. I called the doctors immediately. The specialist couldn't find her pulse when they got there. They began chest compressions. Nothing was helping her. It was the call of death….
CHAPTER 2: Her Journal
You are the only one who has faith in me. Never attempted to make me silent. It's not important what you think, but rather what I feel.
Today, I met her, my mom. Even though my vision has faded, I can still use my other senses to feel. I was astonished to see her. I did not believe it until I felt a soft impression on my face. I could feel the warmth of her hand. She was beside me. Holding my hand tight. She did not speak as if she had no voice. I told her about you, Jason. I believed, she believed but not you. Why? I felt her presence. Not for long, I could feel my hand and not hers anymore. Where did she go?
I was not generally in the clinic. I went to the park, inside the pipe. It was the same as it was years prior, enchanted. I could see the hues, the rainbow. Not solely did I saw it yet additionally felt it. It was cold inside. Colors were not visible but rather I could feel every one of them.
This evening, someone came to my room. Handed over a device. It resembled a computer game. It was dim. There were distinctive creatures on it. I looked down and the rundown was endless. I tapped on one and the surrounding changed. Those creatures resembled delivery men. Conveying their service, they were appointed for. The more they came, the weaker it made them. Some were overwhelming. Some were dreadful. There was one animal, calling it was a slip-up. It came yet would not like to take off. It was staring at me the entire night. He was moaning. His voice was split. He looked rotten. There was fungus grown everywhere on his body. He was dull and filthy. He had teeth developed everywhere on his body. It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. It didn't hurt me however it took my journal away with it. And afterward, the gadget vanished. It was miserable.
I found you, don't play hide and seek. It had now happened more than 20 times yet I will keep writing.
Today the entirety of my hues took off. I would prefer not to open my eyes. I felt like a piece of paper. I didn’t feel the heaviness of my body. The world resembled a high-contrast film. Everything was miserable here. I missed you. At some point on the off chance that I vanished like them, I needed this journal to remain in my home. Watching out for….
Today I went to the library. She joined me.
I can feel you. You are inside…
CHAPTER 3: His Reaction
She was correct. It was our misstep, that got everyone into trouble. The news was all over the world; she was not the only one. It's been 2 weeks and it had spread widely. Presently it has turned into a world war among them and us. There had never been a battle like this one. Before we could understand and find an answer, it dealt with a large portion of the world. It was snappy. As indicated by Statistics, it took control over the whole world within a month. It was alarming to see everything highly contrasting with constrained hues. It was obscure to us.
There was no chance to get out on the off chance that I got frozen and did nothing. No one was coming here to save me. There were no lifelines. I had to focus on me, my body. "Indeed, you are correct". whispered Rhea. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was real. I hugged her. I could feel the warmth of her body.
"You missed me, didn't you?" Said Rhea. "I was lost; I didn't know what to do. I was vulnerable, I couldn't save your life. I doubted you and made wrong choices." I never wanted this to end. I needed her to be with me until the end of time. "We can, we are together here." Said rhea with temptation in her voice. I wasn't going to get fooled, I know she wasn't real. I pulled myself together. By and by she went.
"I could feel my hand and not hers any longer. Where did she go? And afterward, the device vanished. It had now happened all the more than 20 times yet I will keep writing."
I know they felt real yet they were most certainly not. If I went with it, it would take me elsewhere.
I can feel you. You are inside…
Who was inside? Inside the body? All I could do was try to stay calm. She sat beside me silently, held my hand, and looked me in my eyes. “Leave! I know you are not here”, I said after completely losing it. I needed her to stay even if it was a delusion. I saw her, heard her, felt her. At this point, I wasn’t even sure if I was real. I heard a sudden gush of air. I sat there and let things happen as if I was just an object in this obscure world.
I saw something drawing close to me. I could smell Rhea’s aroma. It was extremely dull. An animal with an immense stomach. I went towards it. It was certainly rhea’s fragrance. I simply closed my eyes in an improbable hope of waking up from this nightmare. (Animal draws close to him) I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Rhea's name. It reminded me of all that we did together. It was a note by my darling.
I have been here and I know what it does. It will in the long run slaughter you in the event that you run with it. It's inside your body. Think inside you to return your reality. You can feel it, devastate it with the forces nature has given you. The real power lies inside.
“Those creatures resembled delivery men. Conveying their service, they were appointed for. The more they came, the weaker it made them”.
I couldn't do a similar slip-up, which ended her life. I did what she said. I closed my eyes. I disregarded each voice, each touch. On the off chance that they endeavored to hurt me, I battled. I didn't give them a chance to trick me once more. I focused on me, my body. In the end, it got weaker and didn't dismay me any longer. Whatever it was, it was quick.
I had two choices, one was to go with the flow and the second was to stay in present. I heard voices saying the virus was controlling parts of the brain. It had control over a part of the brain known as the hippocampus which is responsible for our memory, emotions. It affected the largest organ of our body, the skin. I couldn’t rely on touch to know what is true and what isn’t. Apart from that, it numbed our cone cells in the retina at first and then slowly destroyed them. Which also misled the technologies. The damage done to the eye was forever. I spent every minute left of my life mastering my other senses. Soon I drew the line between what I wanted to feel and what the reality was. At least I think I did. After a couple of days, I started feeling things I had never felt. I felt connected to every individual. Almost felt like I was on some drug, maybe Ritalin. Meanwhile, delusions got weaker, the virus got weaker.
CHAPTER 4: Return to Reality
The time had come to end this. Although it made me partially color blind, I got a lift in my energies. My memory, my reasoning limit, my immunity, my energies everything multiplied.
It was quiet. I could just hear the sound of air as if there was no one alive. I went to places searching for people. It was like a sea of dead bodies. I had now the capacity to send my energies with a specific end goal to spare the existence of individuals. I whispered in their ears, "It's not real, don't give it a chance to trick you. I have been here and I know what it does. It will in the long run slaughter you in the event that you run with it. It's inside your body. Think inside you to return to your reality. You can feel it, devastate it with the powers nature has given you. The real power lies inside".
I helped them to come out of it. It was hard for each one of us. We were confounded about ourselves and in the place, we were in. I didn't know whether I was in my reality or not. Certainly, I was. Each one of the Survivors had energies like me. We together spread the message and helped people come out of it. We could spare a portion of the total population.
The creature with immense stomach went to 300 individuals like me everywhere throughout the world and afterward vanished.
Those creatures resembled delivery men. Conveying their service, they were appointed for. The more they came, the weaker it made them.
It was a great loss. We couldn’t even think of half population already being dead. We all had lost our loved ones. It was a nightmare. After all this, she came. It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t think of anything. I almost gave up. Was I still not in the reality? Was all this an illusion again? Did I lose?
“No, you didn’t, cried Rhea. Rhea’s death was my first illusion….
