What Remains

For decades people would claim the world was going to end. Each of these claims would come and go with nothing happening. After hearing many failed ‘end of the world’ claims, you become numb to it. You start playing a game with your friends over how bad a claim is, or what the one who is making the claim really wants. The answer was normally money.

Then things changed, and fact checkers started labeling everything that wasn’t government approved as conspiratorial. Took the fun out of listening to the crazy end of the world people. No one is doubting or making fun of them now though.

You see, starting around 2016, probably 34 years ago now, there was one voice. One voice in that wide group of crazy ‘end of the world’ conspiracy types. I only half listened, and can't even remember his name now. That person had evidence that most ignored him until it was too late.

He said there wasn’t any dark matter, that it was an electric universe, and the extra matter missing from models was because stars didn’t supernova and disappear. Yes, it happens from time to time, but most are recurrent micro novas, and that our sun would be next. The center of the Milky Way has a sheet, much like our sun, and its reversal has begun to impact us, was his claim.

As mentioned, he had evidence, and many scientists started to corroborate that evidence with their own independent studies. It was too late. Astronomers noted that a stars would have strange behavior, one got dim, then bright again, one burst in a Nova but remained once the dust cleared. The man who everyone thought was crazy, pointed out that the stars were in line between us and the center of the galaxy, and our sun was next.

During our sun’s normal solar minimum, it darkened. Religious zealots pointed to the Bible’s book of Revelation, or some other scripture. Many were still ignored. Some, like myself, who had listened with half belief to the warnings of the conspiracy peoples, had moved inland, away from the seas. I didn’t bring much, but I brought enough to set up a good little homestead. The sun darkened more, making growing things hard, and the temperatures dropped. My homestead was on the side of a mountain, the side away from the oceans, and I made sure to dig out a safe place below ground.

The sun darkened to the point that just cracks of light shown through, “black like sack-cloth” was the quote I had heard. Then it did what was foretold, it flared up, shook that dusty build up off with a micro nova. The shell hit the middle east as far as I know. The earth rocked, the sky’s darkened, lightning both came down, and went up in dazzling displays that I watched from my hand made cave entrance. The generator died, and all electronics with it when the nova hit. I watched as the earth split, and twisted; flooded and dried.

I was safe from that destruction, but for how long I will remain, I do not know. I wish I would have done things differently and prepared better. I am alone. I am sure others live still, but finding them on foot will be nearly impossible. The chances that they would accept me into the fold of whatever community they had built before the event, are slim as well.

As time passes though, I do not have the same desire to find them like I did in the days after the event. The world has calmed, and I have not ventured far. I have staked out my land claim in the area around my cave. The home I had made is mostly in shambles from the earthquakes. I think it was even hit by lightning once, but the rains made sure no fires spread. I will start to rebuild it when I think it is safe. My supplies will last for a while more as things calm and I can start to plant. I can always go out with my bow if needed, but I don’t want to disrupt the animal population’s chances of regrowth much.

The stars, sun and moon are still in the sky, though they are not at the same angles they had been. I guess that means I am at a different latitude than before. I’m not sure what time of the year it is now. It had been late summer, and all the turmoil and earthquakes raged for months, so it should be winter now, but it’s warm, so I must be near the new equator. I have a star chart, but haven’t figured out exactly how to use it. I have matched a few of the star formations, but the design of the book makes it hard to match completely, since the north and south are pages apart.

For now, my cave is my home. I will remain here. I will live out my days in peace. I know my time is coming to an end. I was sixty years old when this all started, now, I’m not sure. I feel younger, but also older. I think it’s the food. There are no worries, the land gives what it can be asked with a little hard work.

The government is gone, or at least can’t reach across the land like it once did. There are no society norms, no power. All those who thought technology would advance us to the next age have been proven wrong. We are back at the beginning. This is the new world. No flying cars, no A.I. take over. The skies are clear, the night is quiet, and the stars are more numerous than ever before in my life.

It's not Bladerunner, Mad Max, Waterworld and it’s not The Matrix. What remains beyond my cave? I will never know. I leave this journal for any who come across my cave. I was content, and happy here. There is nothing left that I need, so it is free for you to take and use. I hope you live another day and see the next age of the world start.