Blast from the Past

For most people in the year 237A.E., today was just another day, but not for Aracella. Today was her 21st birthday, and that didn't mean much other than she would submit and hopefully be assigned one of her top three picks for jobs at the compound. She was hoping for scavenger so she could leave the compound every day with Malahki, her partner of the last five years. She dreaded the idea of being stuck within the walls of the compound on kitchen duty, or worse, rubbish sorter.

After the explosion that rocked the world over 200 years ago, life had been more about survival than anything. With the explosion incinerating 85% of the world's population and deeming the majority of the surface unlivable, the remaining people had been forced to move below ground, only surfacing to scavenge for useful things and to dispose of waste.

Aracella and Malahki were born in City of Hope, and as far as they were concerned, the 200 or so people who live here were the last people on earth. Aracella had spent six days a week waiting for Malahki to return from the surface to hear the stories of what he'd seen, and now, she hoped to be able to join him.

She had already submitted her desired jobs, but she wouldn't find out her job assignment until the next morning. Now, fingers crossed, she would wait for Malahki one more time. She busied herself with tidying the room at the compound they shared, and when she was finished, she decided to make herself a cup of bitter bark tea. She hated the taste of it, but it was recommended that everyone drink a cup a day for their health.

The day seemed like it would never end. The final siren finally rang out, signaling for all scavengers to return to the compound before the doors were closed for the night. Anyone who didn't make it back in time would be left outside to fend for themselves. As far as Aracella knew, no one had survived a night outside the compound on their own. No one knows why, but everyone knew it was dangerous.

As she waited, Aracella paced the five steps back and forth from one side of the room to the other. Eventually, the door opened, and Malahki quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind him. He had a big goofy grin stretch across his face which told her that he was up to something.

"What have you done now?" She asked him with a sigh.

"Why do you always assume that I've done something?" He asked her jokingly, knowing that it was probably because he had.

She didn't say anything, so he insisted that she sit down. She reluctantly went over to the edge of the bed they shared and sat down.

"Now, close your eyes!"

She looked at him with squinted eyes and a look of skepticism, but she eventually closed her eyes. After a bit of rustling around and what sounded like Malahki almost falling over, he stepped up in front of her and proudly announced, "Happy Birthday, My Love!"

When she opened her eyes, he was holding a golden heart-shaped locket strung on a long piece of what looked to be black electrical wire he had pulled from an old building while out scavenging.

"Oh, my goodness!" She exclaimed. "Where did that come from?"

"I found it while I was out today."

"How did you end up with it? It's so beautiful. I'm sure Sir Chipoff would want it for himself."

"That may be true, but today is your special day, and I found it for you."

She was still extremely hesitant and didn't want to touch the thing for fear of something bad happening for breaking the compound rules. She knew that everything found when scavenging must be given to the compound and divided up equally. Unfortunately, it wasn't usually divided equally as Sir Chipoff always took the best for himself and his closest friends.

Even so, punishment for breaking such a rule resulted in banishment from the compound for failure to follow crucial rules and for acting selfishly. What a joke, she thought.

"How did you manage to get it back here without getting caught?"

He smirked at her and tapped the heel of his shoe on the leg of the small table he was standing beside.

"They didn't check your shoes?" She asked in shock.

"Well, they did, but they didn't check my socks. After they saw the big holes in the heels, they assumed nothing could stay in the socks, so they didn't bother checking my toes."

"You wrapped it around your toes?" She brought her palm up to her face and shook her head with a little chuckle. "Ki, you will never cease to amaze me with what you sometimes do."

"Yeah, yeah. You always say that. Well, aren't you going to take it?"

She was still very hesitant. She wanted it badly. It wasn't perfect with a dint in the top left hump of the heart and a chard mark on the back. It has obviously been left behind by someone. The questions of who it belonged to, where it came from, and what happened to the person flashed through her mind, only interrupted by Malahki's insistence on her taking it again.

She slowly reached forward, still wondering about its previous owner, when just as her fingertip made contact, fragmented images of bright purple lights flashed in her mind's eye. She pushed herself across the bed and away from the locket as a look of fear spread across her face.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Malahki dropped the locket on the floor and climbed across the bed to her, not even worrying about taking his shoes off.

"I-I-wa-was there," she muttered as her skin turned ghostly white.

"Where? What are you talking about?" He asked her, deeply concerned, with worry and love dripping from each word. "You're here, with me, in our room."

"N-no, I mean. I saw it. I-I-s-saw the… e-explosion, and… and… her."

"Who? What do you mean you saw the explosion? That was 200 years ago. How could you see something that happened before you were born?

"I-I don't know," her voice still shaking with fear.

Just then, there was a knock at the door as they both froze, fearing someone had discovered what Malahki had done.

"Dinner delivery," a voice announced.

They both scrambled to their feet. Malahki grabbed the locket and shoved it in his pocket as Aracella stabilized herself against the table. Then Malahki walked towards the door and opened it to receive their daily stipend of food for dinner.

The young man noticed Aracella as he handed off the food and asked, "Is she okay?"

"Um… yeah. She just needs to eat something," Malahki lied, but apparently, it was convincing enough because the young man just smiled and continued to the next room to continue delivering dinner.

Once he was gone, they closed the door, and both collapsed on the bed.

"That was way too close," she said.

Not concerned the least bit about the young man, he rolled over and caressed her face, "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I-I honestly don't know. I just saw a street with shops, and trees, and people. Then I turned to look at the shop front where I was standing, and I looked at my reflection, and I was wearing the locket, but…" she hesitated.

"But what?" He pushed.

"But it wasn't me in the reflection."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it was like I was in someone else's body or something. I don't know. It was weird. You must think I'm crazy."

"Well, I've always thought you were a little crazy," he remarked, and she gave him a little shove, but he came back and kissed her on the cheek. "Well, what did you see next?"

"I-I saw a bright purple light, and then nothing."

"You mean whatever you were seeing just stopped, and you were back here?"

"No, I mean… it was just total blackness. Almost like I was there, and then I was gone in an instant."

"Purple light? You mean…" He didn't finish his sentence because he knew it would sound crazier than what she was saying. But she knew what he was thinking.

"Yeah, I mean. I think I saw the explosion, and… and I-I think the woman I saw or… was for a moment died in the explosion."

"But how is that even possible?"