You have just been told by a source you trust implicitly that a meteor is going to take out life on earth; there is nothing that can be done to stop it, and they have no intention of alerting the public. You have four days until impact/game over. What would you do with your time?
Hmm. I really had to think very hard before answering this question. To help my thought process, I had to ignore the fact that it was for a contest and focus on what I would really do. Now, this is essentially freewrite in the sense that I would just pour out my words regardless of how they sound and incoherent they might seem.
First off, a meteor can only end normal human lives, super humans are exempted. Yeah, folks like Deadpool and Wolverine are going to survive (along with other fictional characters too.) My best shot is to try to become a mutant. Yeah, add that to some preventive measures and I might just not end with the rest of humans. However, seeing that is impossible, I’m moving on.
The First Day: The First 12 Hours
Immediately I decided to send in an entry, I went online to read up on meteors ET AL. I learnt that 60 mile is the magic number for a meteor that will be able to wipe off human life off the face of the earth. Well, I also learnt that the chance of that actually happening is very slim. As you can see, I have two problems: A reading problem and A thinking problem.
The first 12 hours will be filled with reading and thinking. I mean, I will really like to know more. Plus, regardless of how trustworthy my source has been in the past, I might not believe all of it. Besides, their predictions might be wrong you know. (Yes, it has happened before. They got the size of one of the meteors wrong.)
They say denial is the first stage of grief. Well, I’m going to die so, so that’s something to cry for. At the end of all of my reading and thinking, I suppose I’m going to come to the conclusion that indeed all life is going to end.
The First Day: The Next 12 Hours
Once I have concluded that the meteor is really going to hit earth, I’m going to experience a serious bout of depression. I suffer from depression once in a while. This time, it would be triggered by the need to make a choice between telling others and not telling them.
This is it. What good am I doing if I let others know that the world is coming to an end in four days. I mean, it doesn’t matter. There is nothing anyone can do about it. I would just be causing mass hysteria or be laughed off as a mad man. If I were a Christian or some religious folk, maybe it would. After all, I would be trying to make peace with my maker and also impressing on others the urgency to return to God. But nah, this is an 100% free thinker cum atheist.
Considering the fact that at death, absolutely nothing matters, the frantic need to need quality time with love ones and all won’t appeal to me at first. I believe that the most important thing we leave behind when we die are our memories. Well, since there would be no one left on earth, who am I leaving the memories with? So instead, life continues as normal. I’ll play and smile and do the things that make me happy. No special farewell party or tearful goodbyes here.
Lastly, if it turns out that the meteor unexpectedly misses earth or NASA found some way to either deflect it or reduce its impact on earth, then I would have thrown them in panic for nothing (especially if the meteor doesn't hit at all).
On the flip side, who am I to withdraw such an information from them? Who gave me that right? Fine, I don’t believe in an afterlife but my family does! Besides, I would look at them, at their smiles and love and happiness and feel the choke of my knowledge inside of me. I’ll try to remain cool but deep inside, I would be aching to tell them.
The Second Day: Struggling To Live
Living is going to be a drag. Like I said, I have a thinking problem. I’m the kind of person that will feel hunger gnawing on my stomach and decide it is time to eat something. I will then spend about thirty minutes evaluating my options: which would take less time, less resources, etc. By the time I’m done, the hunger has left me; only to come back an hour later and the thinking continues. It typically repeats itself until I get so hungry I eat whatever I can find.
Now, imagine I know the world is going to end in three days. Heck, I’ll feel like a chicken. People rear chickens around where I stay. They feed the chickens fat only to kill them with they are hungry. Well, that’s not a very pleasant analogy but that’s just about how I’ll feel. As such, living is going to be hard. I mean, I’ll have series of sessions where I will just sit down and ask myself what’s the point of it all. After all, I am going to die pretty soon.
To help my constant thinking, which could lead to another bout of depression, I will turn to these three things: reading, writing and watching movies. These three things help take my mind off stuff. (Although sometimes, they just refocus my thoughts on the problem.) So yes, the second day will be more like dragging myself, telling myself to make use of my last few days.
The Third Day: Reaching Out
My bouts of depression rarely last more than a day; I don’t suppose this would be any different. When I’m out of the depressing mood, I will simply reach out to friends and family - and I am not talking about social media. I will go visiting, engage in activities and try to create and share as much warmth and laughter than I can. Yes, the world is going to end pretty soon but at least I get a choice of how I end my life.
I figure that by this time, my thinking would have taken a shift. By that time, I would be like “Well, you were going to die one day, you simply have the benefit of knowing when and how.” And so, I’ll bask in that privilege and try to end my life with a bang. And no, I don’t mean murder or suicide or hedonistic activities. I mean doing the things I’ve always loved with the people that are most dear to me
The fourth day: Cooking For The End Or After-party
I’m definitely going to cook on this day and I’ll invite my folks over. Cooking is always fun when my folks are around. Everyone would be blaring out their tolerance levels for pepper, salt, how soft they want the meal to be and all that. They would also be tales and juicy gossips. I think that’s how I want to end it all. With the ones I love, with happinesses ringing in our hearts.
And if it turns out to be a hoax or miscalculation, well, (smiles) it’s one hell of a thanksgiving. I’ll share the news with them and get bashed in the head for leaving such ‘nonsense’. We’ll laugh about it and life continues.
If the meteor did hit the earth and all of human life is wiped out, well, adiós!
This is my entry for the 'What Would You Do?' challenge by @dreemit
Thanks for reading
Blessings
[Image source: Mirror]