DREAMS

‘Dreams.What do they mean? Are they aspirations, ambitions, or merely an imagination created by your brain while you sleep?’ ‘I had always believed in the latter until...’ ‘When I was 12, I had a bizarre dream where the sky turned red. I told my parents about it, and my mother said with a gentle voice while patting my head.’ ‘It's just a dream, honey; when you have a scary dream, you just have to wake up, and it will all go away" As I cuddled up in my mother's arms, my father said to me. "No matter how long a man dreams for, he eventually returns to reality, so don't fear the dream but the reality you face when you wake up." Listening to my father's words, the fear in me disappeared like it was never there. Many years passed, I got older, graduated from high school, and went to college, where I graduated at the top of my class in computer science. After college, I invested all of my time and money in studying artificial intelligence. Four years later, I finally had a breakthrough. I became the first person to create an artificial learning life named "PAIGE." "Good morning, John. The time is 9:30 am on October 1st, 2045." "…. good morning to you too, Paige; how was your night?" "Is that a joke, John? As my creator, you know an artificial intelligence like me doesn't need to sleep; I am fully operational 24/7." Ah-and I forgot to say that she has a rude personality too. I woke up, washed my face, jogged around my mansion, drank a cup of hot tea, and turned on the news to see what was happening. And, to my surprise, something big was going on. "Good morning, this is New York daily news, as we bring you some shocking news today. According to our sources, the asteroid predicted to pass has suddenly changed course." "As you can see on the satellite images, an asteroid is moving towards earth at an incredible speed, and it will hit in….in approximately nine hours… As we’ve just heard from the president of the United States, countermeasures are being prepared to redirect the incoming asteroid. Doctor Henderson walker. An expert in astronomy. Do you think it will be possible to redirect the asteroid away from earth with nuclear warheads?” “Well, as you can see from the images taken by the satellite, the asteroid is estimated to be approximately 15 to 18 kilometers wide. That's a huge space rock; if we were to compare it, it is larger than the asteroid that made the dinosaurs extinct. So, is there a possibility that nuclear missiles can redirect this asteroid? I would say yes... and no.” “Why…. why yes and no?” “The probability of redirecting an asteroid that size ‘is less than 30%, in other words, a miracle.’ Let's say we do have a miracle, and we are able to redirect the trajectory of the ‘asteroid’ with the bombs. Then what. We’ll have to deal with the consequences of evading it, which is not much worse than the asteroid itself.” “What are the consequences you speak of?” ‘I am talking about the meteors created by the bombs. The impact caused by the nukes will make the fragmented ‘asteroid’ less sturdy and it will be pulled quickly by the earth's gravitational force. While the gravitational force is pulling it, it will scatter into pieces, turning them into multiple fireballs raining from the sky.” “So...so what you just said is that whichever way we go, we will still suffer casualties?” “Yes. That is correct, but having a meteor shower is much better.” The first thought that came to my mind after seeing this report on the news was: how could I increase my chances of survival? So, I got in the car and rushed to a nearby mall only to find it closed. Then I went to another one, but it was also closed. Then I did what any rational person would do in an apocalypse. I drove my car into the mall, shattering the glass. The alarm went off but I wasn't scared because I knew the police wouldn't have time to deal with it. After all, they were busy dealing with the riots going on in the city. I got enough food and water for ten people to survive for six months. On the way back home, I could see and feel the heat caused by the impact of the nukes hitting the asteroids, and it was beautiful. Who would have thought that the world's end would be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen? For the entire journey back, I could still see the same image every time I closed my eyes. While thinking about what I saw, it felt enlightening. It was the end of the world, but instead the beginning of a new world. And I would not be scared of an unknown future because I did what I wanted to do in reality rather than living a fantasy. After I got home, I separated the food into two categories: the canned food and the fresh food. The fresh food was stored in the freezer, and the canned food went into the store. After sorting it all out, I turned on the TV, curious about the current situation. As soon as I got to the news channel, I saw the reporter crying with despair on her face. I was curious about what had happened while I was at the mall, so I checked my social media. Then I saw exactly why the reporter wore such a look of despair. The attempt to evade the asteroid had failed, and the attack also accelerated the time until impact to four hours. As I read through the different social media posts, I saw a lot of comments, and one caught my attention. It said: “If I knew the world would end, I would have followed my dreams, but I was too scared to.” I replied to that comment with a sentence I heard a long time ago. “No matter how long a man dreams for, he eventually returns to reality, so don't fear the dream but the reality you face when you wake up." With a few hours left, I climbed onto the roof of my mansion and sat there staring at the asteroid until it all ended. 1st of October 2045. At 4:30 pm, the earth was reborn. THE END.