next moment she was lying on a heap of skins in a log cabin.
Where am I? Alicia wondered as she got up. What happened?
“You’re awake.” The male voice said; making her nearly jump out of her skin.
She glanced to her right and saw a man sitting on a log in the corner of the cabin. He was in his early fifties and had a balding head of long, greyish hair and a short, but wild beard. He chewed on a twig while he spoke.
“Glad to see you’re awake.” The man said, “How are you feeling?”
Alicia was baffled as to who the man was, where she was and what had happened. Everything happened so fast; all she could remember was talking to Jack on the phone and the next moment the ash cloud engulfed her.
Oh my God! Jack! Timmy! She thought Are they alive?
“Who are you?” Alicia demanded, “Where am I?”
“My name is Bruce. And you are in a little place I like to call Utopia.”
The man smiled at her and spat out the twig as he shifted on the log.
“Utopia?” She asked perplexed.
“I’m not sure this place has a name so I gave it my own name – a suitable name, I might add.”
“How did I get here? The last thing I remember was my husband calling me and then everything turned into dust.”
Bruce nodded and said, “That’s how it happens.”
“How what happens?” Alicia asked completely confused.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened, but that’s how I got here.”
Alicia stared at the man a moment longer, got up and then walked over to the cabin door. She couldn’t linger. She had to find Jack. She had to find her son.
“Careful now.” Bruce warned, “It’s a whole different world out there.”
Alicia hesitated. She wasn’t sure she understood what he was talking about, but she pushed open the door anyway and stepped outside.
The first thing she saw was the pearly white sandy shore of an idyllically ocean and a gigantic red planet slowly rising over the ocean – a red giant with planetary rings roughly the same color of intense red.
The sight robbed her of her breath and she stared at it in admiration for a moment. She stared down at the soft sand beneath her feet – the beach as whiter than snow and stretched out without end to the left and right.
She stepped closer to the breaking waters of the tranquil ocean and only then did she notice that the water wasn’t blue, but rather a light shade of purple. She glanced up at the red planet again as she tried to fathom what she was witnessing.
“Oh my lord…” Alicia said awestruck.
“I don’t call this place Utopia for nothing.” Bruce said proudly.
She turned around; the cabin was nestled in thick undergrowth at the edge of a dense forest that bordered the beach for miles in both directions. Bruce smiled as he stepped out of the cabin and joined her on the beach. He just loved the feeling of the soft sand between his toes; it was like stepping on cloud.
“Every day this sight takes my breath away. I could never grow tired of this view.”
“It’s really something.” She agreed and stared down at the breaking waters again.
She turned to Bruce who was staring mesmerized at the red planet rising over the ocean as if seeing it for the first time. She glanced at the red planet on the rise as a giant bird swooped down, grabbed a fish from the ocean and disappeared over the horizon.
“How long have you been here?” Alicia asked.
“I’m not sure.” Bruce said half in thought, “I was on my way to my brother’s house for a dinner party when my car just seemed to turn into ash and vanish around me. When I opened my eyes I was here on this beautiful beach. Come to think of it… I don’t know. What year is it?”
“2016.”
The color drained from Bruce’s face and his legs felt weak under the weight of his body for a second.
“Thirteen years?” Bruce asked himself, “I’ve been here for thirteen years? It doesn’t feel that long. It feels like I’ve been for a year – two years tops. Thirteen years? Are you sure?”
Bruce was a bit distraught about being away from his family for thirteen years. Was his wife still alive? Were his brother and sister still alive? Thirteen years meant his dog was no longer alive and he loved that dog like it was his own son. He had lost out on over a decade with his family; a decade he will never get back.
He sat down in the sand, crossed his legs and then dug his hands into the sand like a child and sprinkled sand from his hands. Alicia sat down next to him while he got lost in his memories of his family. She could see that the news came as a big, unsettling surprise.
“Are there others?” Alicia asked.
“You’re the first person I’ve come across.” Bruce said, “But then again I haven’t ventured very far beyond the forest. It’s a dangerous place out there with dangerous animals putting us at the bottom of the food-chain.”
“If I’m here, my husband and son should be here as well.”
“Were they with you when it happened?”
Alicia wavered. She wasn’t sure how she would break the news to him about what happened. How to you tell someone about what happened when you hardly comprehend it yourself?
“Something happened.” Alicia said.
“What do you mean?”
Bruce looked at her perplexed; half expecting her to tell him that he was dying.
“Something.” Alicia said shaking her head with uncertainty, “Entire continents started disappearing into thin air leaving behind only ocean. It happened so fast nobody could escape it. At first it was on the news and then suddenly at our back doors. My husband called me and told me to get out and run, but when I turned around I could see the entire State of New York turn to dust outside my window.”
Bruce looked like someone knocked the wind out of him. He couldn’t grasp the magnitude of what happened and found it hard to process.
“Dear lord…” Bruce gasped.
“My husband was the one that theorized that this was some kind of transition.”
“Transition?” Bruce asked confused, “Like what the Mayans predicted? Did that ever happen? Did all hell break lose in 2012 like they predicted?”
“I don’t know. I don’t follow Mayan predictions, but I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what they had in mind two thousand years ago.”
“Oh… Well,” Bruce said, “From the sounds of it your husband and son should be here as well as the rest of the citizens. But you said it started happening all over the world?”
Alicia nodded.
“So where’s everyone?” Bruce asked gesturing to the empty world around them, “You’re the only person I’ve found so far…And I found you yesterday. Surely I would’ve come across others by now?”
“I don’t know.” Alicia said, “But if my husband and son are out there, I have to at least try and find them – that’s what Jack would do.”
Alicia got up and turned to the forest behind them and stared at it reluctantly; disinclined to venture into the denseness. Bruce jumped to his feet and grabbed her by the arm before she could take the first step.
“Wait.” Bruce insisted, “It’s much too dangerous going out there at night. You don’t know the area and you’ll get lost. Get some rest and I’ll help you first thing tomorrow morning.”
Alicia seemed timid to stay and even more so to leave. Where would she begin searching for her family? Would she ever find them out there? What would happen to her if she didn’t find them?
“I’ve been stranded here much longer than you.” Bruce said, “I know this area better than you. Please, stay until morning and I’ll help you look for Jim and your son.”
“Jack” Alicia corrected him.
“Jack…”
“Do you think they’re still alive?”
“If they don’t venture off into the night, they’ll be fine.” Bruce said.
Alicia sighed and nodded. She knew staying put was the right thing to do; it would be stupid to
venture out into the unknown at night. Bruce smiled at her and motioned for her to return to the cabin and with a deep breath, she followed him.
“Now, let’s go back inside and have some Guanana pie.”
“Guanana?” Alicia asked worried.
“It’s a local fruit.” Jack said proudly, “I call it Guanana because it looks like a banana, but tastes like a guava. It’s to die for! You’ll have to excuse my enthusiasm. You’re the first guest I’ve had since I got here.”
Alicia smiled nervously at Bruce and followed him back into the cabin. She was looking forward to tasting the foreign food, but also worried about her family and wondered whether they were safe. Jack was a smart man and he would probably do whatever it took to keep their son safe.
19
Jack and Timmy found refuge in the bark-cove of a massive tree that stood at the edge of a forest bordering the open field. The cove was large enough to walk around in and the tree trunk was almost the size of a house; an indication that the tree had to be at least a couple of thousand years old. It was the biggest tree Jack had ever seen and he couldn’t recall ever seeing or reading about a tree of such magnitude back on earth. The planet they found themselves on was indeed a strange and peculiar place with its sweet aroma to the air, fascinating wildlife, trees reaching up to the heavens like skyscrapers and millions of insects buzzing and humming in the undergrowth.
Sleeping was touch and go as Jack didn’t know what to expect - would they make it through the night in these unfamiliar surroundings? Jack was smart enough to know not to wander around in a strange new world at night, but what if something from the outside came inside their shelter