Notes

8 Minutes

Sunday, October 28, 2028.

I woke up as I had for the past 4 years, to my alarm, and got ready for work. I got into the shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and went down the stairs. I ate my breakfast, and walked out to the bus stop. On the bus, I sat in my usual spot, 12 aisles down, in the window seat. A lot has progressed since we figured out how to harvest energy from our star, the Sun. Everything became more efficient, and global warming was at an all time low. Back in 2020, my bus ride would’ve taken 30 minutes to go the 30 kilometres to my job at the solar harvesting plant. Now it takes me 30 seconds. It’s not just society that changed since The Harnessing. In 2020, I was obese, depressed, I still lived in my parent’s basement, and had severe social anxiety. When I heard that we discovered the ability to harvest the Sun’s energy, I realized that society was progressing, and I was going to be left behind. I decided it was time to get my life together. I started an exercise routine that I still do to this day, and I got a job working at the solar farm. Of course when I say solar farm, I don’t mean those measly little solar panel fields that harvest very little energy, I mean a real solar farm, where we built a Dyson Sphere to harvest energy much more efficiently. The Dyson Sphere surrounds the Sun, and harvests its energy. My bus arrived at work, and from that point until 4 P.M., I was a slave to the Sphere. At about 11:30, I stopped my laborious monitoring of the Sphere, and went to the break room to have lunch. After that, the rest of the day was business as usual right up until I opened the door to my apartment. I said hi to my girlfriend, Olivia, who I’ve been lucky enough to have been with for the last 4 years.

Nov 2, 2023
So that’s how I ended up how I am now. As I’m writing this, I get a notification on my phone in jarring bright red letters “SPHERE CORE UNSTABLE, SEEK ACTION IMMEDIATELY.” I’m not really sure what to do, so I do the only thing I can think of. I get on my motorcycle and ride, straight to my work. When I open the doors, everything is in a complete and utter state of chaos. Scientists in lab coats are all crowded around the central control panel. One scientist yells, “Everyone get down!” Then, an overwhelmingly bright light shone from the panel, as sparks jumped and danced around, before emitting a final flare as they hit the ground. When I open my eyes again, I see a grisly scene unfolding in front of me. One scientist was hit in the eye by what appeared to be a piece of shrapnel from the panel, writhing in agony as the searing metal burned the skin, grafting them together in the process. I’m amazed at the fact that not a single scientist is helping him, and instead, they are all crowding around the main control screen, which even though it’s cracked and burned, I’m still able to see five words vibrantly glowing upon the screen: SPHERE DESTROYED, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. Now anyone who has gone through the basic training required to work at one of the harvesting centres knows exactly what to do in this scenario. I run to the broadcast alarm, and I slam it with all my might. I enter the password, and it sends the signal out to every form of media on the planet. As you may know, light travels from the sun to the Earth in 8 minutes and 20 seconds. I just used my 20 seconds to send out the signal, so now I’m left here feeling lost. I have nobody to go to, and no one to be with in my final moments. I slump to the ground in a state of defeat. What can I do? By now I’ve decided I might as well make the most out of what little time left I have, so I burst out the door, and into the street. Everything is in a complete state of chaos. The train I took to get to work is completely derailed, fires are burning everywhere, children are crying in the street, and through all of this, a loud and piercing alarm slices through the air. I get on my motorcycle and ride. Ride as fast as I can, until I make it to my old apartment. I use the key that I kept, even after my girlfriend crushed my heart, and burst into the apartment. It’s completely empty, save that of a single note on the bed. I pick it up, desperate to find Olivia and make things right before our final reckoning. I check my watch. It says, “6 minutes remaining.” I look back to the note, written in her rushed, but still beautiful handwriting.

“Hey babe, I heard about what’s happening. I’m taking my parents to a safehouse in Quebec. We are taking a flight, departing from 43.272, -79.954. Please get to us as soon as you can.”

I rush back to my bike, and start riding as fast as I can to the coordinates. I get there, check my watch, and am horrified to see that there is only 3 minutes remaining before the thousands of rays of radiation hit us. I look to the runway, and to my horror, I see the plane racing along the ground, about to take off. I also see a stray rope hanging from the cargo port of the plane. I throttle the engine, and start taking off down the runway, closely trailing the plain, closer, closer, closer… got it! I grip the rope just as the plane goes airborne, and climb my way up to the open window of the plane. I haul myself in, and I see her, just as beautiful as the first day I met her. Her beautiful auburn hair, swaying in the draft, her beautiful green eyes shining like emeralds in the sand. We embrace, and before I can say anything, my watch beeps. 1 MINUTE REMAINING. Olivia and I look at each other, both knowing that we aren’t going to make it to the shelter. I think back to a song that my mother once sang to me.


As The World Caves In - Matt Maltese

Oh, girl, it's you that I lie with
As the atom bomb locks in
Oh, it's you I watch TV with
As the world, as the world caves—
Oh, it's you that I lie with
As the atom bomb locks in
Yes it’s you I welcome death with
As the world, as the world caves in.
We embrace, and I am blinded by a spectacular light, descending from the heavens. I feel my bones become stripped of flesh, and even my bones disintegrating, but I don’t care. I’m with the one I love, and that’s all that matters. Then finally, my brain stem is incinerated, and just like that, we are all gone.