© Copyrights All Rights Reserved

Acknowledgements

I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the people who saw me through this work; to all those who provided support, talked things over, read, wrote, offered comments, allowed me to quote their remarks and assisted in bringing out this work nicely.

I would like to thank Renee McDaniel, Amy Morgan and all my friends around the world for helping me in the process of editing and proofreading.

28th January 2015

“Please try to understand, Elise,” said Richard Stevenson, trying to convince his wife of the forthcoming desolation. “The world is coming to an end.” He looked down at her with his hands in his trouser pockets, trying to be stern in his demeanor.

Sitting on a couch in the living room, Elise was busy with her embroidery work.

“No, Ric. You are wrong. I believe in God, and so do you. He cannot forsake us,” she retorted. “So don’t impose your thoughts on me. It’s the world we were born in, and it is the world we will die in.”

        “Elise, please, my dear. I know God won’t forsake us. Perhaps, he might forsake us if we are not rational, if we don’t act, you know, if we don’t leverage every window of opportunity. Do you believe He will help us if we just sit here and do nothing?”

        “The world’s greatest scientists are working harder every day to save mankind. The world leaders have come together to fight this problem,” said Elise hesitantly.

“Oh, right,” replied Richard, rolling his eyes and raising his right hand from the pocket, and then dropping it in despair. He paced a few steps in front of the couch not to let his frustration burst out on her.

“It’s all a media gimmick, don’t you see?” he continued. “The government promised many things, but have you seen any one of them coming true? Our country craves to be a superpower. Our politicians have said that it has emerged as a country with her arms always wide open for friendship. This came out in a press release when the world is falling apart and there is nothing that could be done. Now it has joined hands with other nations. With technology so advanced, our scientists should have foreseen this calamity many years ago. Those idiots are getting paid for nothing.”

“But Ric, I love this place. I have fostered so many pleasant memories. I don’t want to leave it,” said Elise with a sniff and tearful eyes. “We fell in love and got married here. We’ve raised our children. I don’t want to lose them. You can be hard as a father, but I am not born to be like you. We have spent thirty years being together. If nothing works out, I will be very happy to die together.”

Her eyes twinkled as her nostalgia began to kick in. She seemed to lose sight of her surroundings. “Remember our honeymoon? Those lush green landscapes, those streaming waterfalls. And do you remember our kids playing on the beach -”

“Elise?” Richard interrupted loudly. “Look at me. Don’t let your memories become your reality. The tales you retell are the video tapes of your family ancestors which your grandfather gave to you, like his grandfather did. And it’s been passing on ever since. Tell me, when was the last time you saw a tree? None of those things exist now. Neither of us had the pleasure of seeing them in our lives. We will never see them on this planet, ever.” he sighed.

He turned towards her and eagerly said “But if you trust me, we can stand a chance to turn our dreams into reality.”

“You’re asking me to trust your dreams when you don’t believe in mine?” Elise gave a cynical look.

“Yes, because mine is more tangible than yours,” Richard said curtly. Then he paused after feeling sorry. “I didn’t mean that. Look around you, Elise. We never took our kids shopping because everything we wanted was available to us at our fingertips. We don’t know what a steak tastes like. We can’t grow trees. There is no nature around us. This is not a home. We live in enclosed containers. We are made to consume tablets, capsules and health tonics. Inevitability has made us resilient.”

Suddenly, the house began flashing in red light and there was a continuous beeping noise. It was like someone hit a panic button. Elise and Richard began feeling loss of breath. They felt the smothering pain inside their lungs. But, Richard didn’t panic. He removed a pen-like device from his trouser pocket and pressed the red button. It made them feel better instantly. The alarm went off.

“See, Elise? This is the world we live in. We can’t even breathe its air! We depend on those bloody oxygen gas cylinders. No wonder Oxylinder Limited is making a fortune. You speak about sentiments. Out there, people can’t afford to buy even one of these. Does it mean that they don’t deserve to live? Who are we to decide that? We are leading our lives like a pack of wolves fighting each other every day. Robbery, theft, homicide, kidnapping - you name it - crime is on the rise. We have shaved off the green cover from the face of this planet to build something new. We did not care what Nature wanted from us. Do you recall those days when they tried cloud seeding? It didn’t work, because this planet had already lost its essential minerals along with its organic life. Our own world is grounding us.”

Elise was silent. She knew Richard was talking sense. Because of her own reasons, she failed to admit it. “Richard, I believe in our children. They will take care of us.” she said.

“Oh, great!” snorted Richard, “When was last time you spoke to them?” he said calmly and paused for her to respond. “If I am not wrong, was it last year? Hmmm, now they don’t even answer your calls.” he paused again for his words to settle. “And you imagine they will take care of you, hmm? Elise, the truth is they have forsaken us.”

Elise sniffed. Richard read her mind.

“I know, Elise. The truth is bitter. But you must accept it. Our children don’t have time for their kids. Their kids don’t understand what humanity is. They are seen sitting in front of big screens all the time which tell them what to do. They don’t know what human bonding is. Among many other things, they don’t know how to play outdoors or to mingle with people. The seed of creativity is lost in the new generation of kids. They are highly docile. They don’t understand what to do with their lives. I am certain that our grand-children don’t recognize us.”

“Ric, you’re right,” Elise sighed, raising her eyebrows. “Can’t you give the government one last chance? I am reading the newspapers. They are working on something to save humanity. They are working on systems that mimic nitrogen and oxygen cycles.”

“My poor Elise, you are talking about history. It is not happening now. Artificial nitrogen trees were developed to produce oxygen. They worked for a few months. Then they disintegrated. Because those geeks cannot fill the gap that delicately exists between natural ecosystems. It’s quite simple: we are created by Nature; we cannot create Nature. What we can utmost do is support its existence. But now, even that option is ruled out. Our planet is desolated. The scarcity of water is rapidly increasing. Very soon, there will be no water to drink. ”

Richard received a phone call. After a few exchanges of words, he said “All right Elise, time to go. Get your things. Our shuttle has arrived.”

The shuttle was made from aluminum alloy, light and sturdy, made for space travel. The body was polished nicely and it shone against the bright sunlight as it hovered on the ground. The shuttle doors opened automatically and they settled comfortably inside leaning their backs. When the doors closed, the shuttle’s voice command said “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson. Please fasten your seat belts. Have a pleasant flight.”

“I wish we had such parrots down here,” Richard laughed. “Sparrows aren’t working well anymore.”

In a matter of a few minutes, they flew to reach the stratosphere and furthermore to reach the point of zero gravity. The shuttle orbited a few miles and reached the space station. The shuttle was docked to its designated port. Richard and Elise alighted and they were escorted to their respective quarters by walking escalators.

Richard went to the window and asked Elise to join him. “Elise, come here. Look down there. You are looking at the face of our planet. It’s deserted. It is covered with dust and smoke. There is not a patch of green you can lay your finger on. Up here, we dwell in tin cans of the famous Asylum.”

“And you are pinning your hopes on this?” said Elise, throwing a stern look.

“No,” replied Richard. “First, I need you to have faith in what I am about to tell you.”

“That depends on what you are going to propose.”

“Fair enough,” said Richard, smiling. He joined his fingertips in contemplation. He began pacing up and down slowly. He brought his hands close to his pensive face as if he was trying to organize his disordered thoughts in one place.

“I am 65 years old, Elise,” Richard resumed. “I am blessed to have you as my wife. How many more years do you think we are going to live? Ten years… fifteen years tops? So, I have decided to live our life the way we want it. That’s my dream. It’s not too late. We still have time. I mean, we don’t have time to wait just for things to get better. We have already wasted many years in waiting - waiting for a new era to dawn. Now we have to look forward and take the next step, whether others are willing to join us or not. We have just enough time left to spend the remnant of our lives together by living our dreams. And you very well know the feeling that when we are old enough, we yearn to be young again. This is our chance to be young again, probably the last. We must start living this moment and make the best out of it.

“Don’t you dream of having a garden in front of our home? Sow seeds which grow into plants that bear flowers? We don’t even know how our senses would savor fragrances. I want to listen to the songs of the birds. I want to hold a sapling in my hands like a child before I plant it. I want to take in the smell of fertile soil. Wouldn't you like to do all these things? I want to have our evening walks together in the silent avenues and enjoy watching the trees rustle in the gentle breeze - where we don’t need oxygen masks. Then, get drenched in the rain while we run home. This is my dream, Elise.”

“It is only a dream, Ric,” Elise sighed. “I don’t see how it can be real,"

“Well, there is hope.” snapped Richard gently.

“Hope?” asked Elise with a frown. “You are counting everything on hope?”

“Yes, my dear. Hope is the very reason we are alive. We hope for things to get better, even when we know the truth. Don’t we? Truth is transient; but hope is eternal. A spark of hope flares up even in the blackness of the abyss. Hope is the purpose of life. Can you think of lifting our heads up in despair? The thought of it is itself suicidal. When I cradle that hope in my arms, my dream will come true. We cannot just sit here and hope for things to change by themselves. We have to act to nurture our dreams. When our efforts begin to show, we celebrate seeing our hopes come alive.”

“What exactly is your plan to make that dream come true?”

Richard went to the bureau and opened the drawer. He drew out a tablet. He went to Elise and sat beside her. “Look here,” he said. Elise watched the screen as he was swiping it. She saw images of beautiful landscapes of lush green hills and the mist floating over them, a flock of birds in a natural reserve and a small group of animals having fun playing Who's the King?

“It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed with great pleasure. “Where is this place?”

“It’s a planet in another extrasolar system.” said Richard.

Elise saw a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “All right, Richard, I can read your mind,” she said.

“I didn’t say anything.” he said with a teasing smile.

“Stop it. Do you want to tell me what this is all about?”

Richard cleared his throat as if he was getting ready for a long speech.

“Our history has witnessed a myriad of assorted faces of humanity. Several wars were fought in the name of freedom. But freedom is a matter of perspective. Some used it to rule nations - to fight oppression, while some used it for freedom itself - to gain independence. They kept forgetting that they were foolishly fighting against each other. But then, during the beginning of the last century, it was remarkable to see the world we live in slowly come together as one nation. Putting all their differences aside - religion, race, color, culture - all being forgotten and solidarity won the hearts of the people. There was a funny remark by a cartoonist in a tabloid that men cannot wage wars anymore since the world itself is falling apart; they make wars only when the world is becoming a better place. I found it to be true, because the people who waged wars were trembling in fear. Ironically, there can be no war if the whole planet is on the verge of destruction. Those people, who were messengers of terror and violence, became cowards praying in silence for their own survival. Some parts of the world suffered from blight; the crops failed. So countries began to remove all the import and export duties on food supply. Then, they started free immigration to those countries where a lower number of cases was reported of various endemics. Corrective measures were implemented in retaliation to the diseases with the help of science and technology, which grew at an unprecedented pace. But then, it was unable to satisfy the demands of all of mankind since medical care became too expensive. Again, people were discriminated against based on the ‘well-off’ factor. The rich were able to get all the amenities while the poor suffered. It’s a problem even now.

“The major concern was the drastic change in the atmosphere. The air we breathe was poisoned since the evolution of warheads. Many ballistic missiles were tested before they were actually used in warfare. And then, they were used in a multitude of wars. On the other hand, there were nuclear experiments on a large scale. Not to forget, nuclear reactors were leaking radiation into the atmosphere due to natural calamities which claimed thousands of lives also caused irreversible damage. There were some industrial disasters where gas plants exploded because of human negligence.”

Richard drank a glass of water before he continued.

“On the other side of the world there was industrialization. Chemical industries spilled their residue into the rivers and seas. And there were manufacturing plants which polluted the atmosphere with poisonous gases. This went on despite many warnings by many non-governmental organizations fighting to prevent the depletion of Nature. They were called the building blocks of developing nations; while developed nations criticized developing ones for depletion. (It’s funny to observe the bigotry of developed countries as they forget that the same child develops into an adult). Go-green initiatives were implemented in building new infrastructures. They helped a little.

“What I am about to tell you is classified information. I have my men working in the Space Research and Development Organization. This apocalypse was prophesied about two centuries ago by an Indian astrophysicist. He was also a scholar in mathematics and cosmology. Ever since then, there have been many advances in the field of space exploration. Considerable amount of money was spent on this secret mission. Yes, nothing is leaked to the public. Otherwise, the government had to face the heat of its tax paying citizens. Our nation collaborated with other countries for a long term project where the first twenty years was spent in studying the possibility of life on exoplanets or galaxies since there was no hope for life in our solar system. So the next step was to go and search the Milky Way. In early 2010, NASA’s Kepler planet finding spacecraft transmitted tons of data. It took years to formulate this information. When the deductions seemed satisfactory, there was more funding to develop hi-tech telescopes. WFIRST - Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope was developed to give a rough count of planets in our galaxy. This telescope was mounted on Kepler. It employed the mechanism of direct-imaging. It blocked light from the host stars and detected fainter planets in orbit around them.

“In the beginning of the year 2015, Kepler Spacecraft discovered two earth-like planets Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b among many possible planets. This discovery made the headlines in the newspapers: Do we have a companion? Then with further examination and new discoveries, scientists found a ray of hope - an earth-like solar system was discovered and the possibility of habitable planets was high. Space observations proved satisfactory. Although, many manned missions were failures and many lives were lost. Honestly, they sacrificed their lives in saving the future of the human race. On the brighter side of things, results led to evolutionary breakthroughs. They learnt from their mistakes and corrected their calculations using quantifiable data relayed from space to build advanced life support systems and explore possibilities of human life on the exoplanets or other galactic systems.

“Discoveries made in space explorations in the last fifty years have been extraordinary. A few wormholes were discovered. Intergalactic travels through these wormholes found new planets. A few planets are believed to be habitable. Pictures of planet hemispheres revealed the presence of rain forests. Several surveillance drones were sent to examine landscapes. They reported the presence of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere. Scientists were sent to set up colonies on those so-called habitable planets. Their job was to carry out intensive research to nurture different life forms. The presence of water was evident since our men were able to spend earth-days on those planets without life support systems on their backs. It was a pleasant surprise when astronauts found a natural ecosystem operating in harmony. Then, there was a big leap. A decision was made to take the next step - saving the human race.”

Richard Stevenson paused. He turned around to face his wife. The empty glass in his right hand and the other hand in his left trouser pocket - his posture stood in elegance with a halo emanating on his back from the light through the window. It was a sight of sheer greatness. His eyes twinkled teasingly.

“They are currently planning to build huge spaceships, which will carry about hundred people,” he said. “Whether the project succeeds or not, I want to go and spend my last years there, on that planet, with you. I have told my men to build a private spaceship for just the two of us.”

“But how do you think it’s going to work out?” Elise stammered doubtfully. “What makes you believe that the ship will take us safely and then, we will be able to make our living on that alien planet? What planet are we talking about? How do you know that there are no aliens on it? What -”

“Kepler-186f. That’s where we are going.” Richard interjected. “I told you before that I have my men working in the agency. They are building a private spacecraft for just the two of us. They have taken care of all the risks and the safety measures. We don’t have to worry about anything.”

“We don’t have to worry about anything, huh?” Elise looked at him doubtfully.

“Ah, come on dear. There will be risks when you fly-”

“No, I didn’t mean that. What about the rest of mankind? Don’t you think you are being selfish, Ric?”

Richard snorted.

“Ric, I am serious.” Elise replied sternly. “You spoke about human history of sacrifices for the future. Now, are we supposed to just escape from it? We have come together this long to save our own species and in the final step you are forsaking everything we did. We are humans, Ric; not savages. If both of us make it on the new planet alone, then mankind has survived for nothing. Everything you told me so far will be a lie. We all have dreams; not just me and you. We all dream of a bright future even in despair. Then they thrive to build them out of rekindled hopes. Why do you want to abandon them? They belong to us. They are us; we are the same species. You and your slobbering men are being mean; don’t you think? Their minds are as corrupted as yours.”

Richard frowned and raised his hand without looking at her. “What are you trying to say?” he said.

“I am not coming with you,” Elise said bluntly. “unless we are travelling to the new world along with others.”

“All right, Elise,” Richard sighed. “Have it your way.” he finally conceded.

“By the way,” said Elise casually. “you didn’t tell me the name of our new home.”

“It’s called,” said Richard thoughtfully. “Dawning Hope.” Then he looked at her curiously, raising his left brow seeking acknowledgement.

The words caught her attention. She smiled at him approvingly.

*        *        *

The tension in the editor’s office was absorbing. Denise Broadway stopped pacing along the huge wall of plain glass. She was on one of the highest points in the city. Her blank stare on the skyscrapers was conspicuous on her thoughtful face. Her hands holding the manuscript dropped as she turned around to face the Chief Editor.

“That’s the story, Mr. Cowle,” she said. “What do you think?”

        Malcolm Cowle was a huge man with a bald head. His hands rested on the desk with his chin buried in them. There was an expression of admiration on his face. He blinked and pulled his chair back, stood up, and took a deep breath.

        “Excellent piece of work, Denise,” he replied. “It will make it in the upcoming issue. I promise.”

        “Thank you, Mr. Cowle,” Denise said, delighted by the news.

        “Oh, no. Don’t thank me. It’s nothing. Your great-great grandparents would be proud of you. It’s a great story. Every one of us must learn about this history. Of course we know what happened later, but this needs to be known.”

        Denise left the office and went to the cemetery. She bowed in front of the resting places of Richard Stevenson and Elise Stevenson. After paying her respects, she headed home. Her thoughts drifted towards her great-great grandfather.

When Richard Stevenson scrapped the secret project of building a private spaceship, he directed his attention to building as many spaceships as possible. He spearheaded the progress which led to saving fifty percent more human beings than expected. As societies were thriving in the new world, Richard Stevenson passed on to the next world.

She came to a corner and saw a little house made of wood with a front porch having two arm chairs on it. In front of the porch was a small garden with a lush green lawn bordered with multicolored flower beds. She smiled as her gaze drifted to a corner of the garden closer to the street. It was a mailbox with the name The Stevensons embossed on it. She entered the garden and walked up to the front door. She looked up above the door frame. It read: Dawning Hope painted in a semicircle. No one knew this part of their story and she planned to keep it that way. It was enough for her to believe that Dreams come true. They really do.