By Isaac Ching 4/10′09
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I saw a speck over the mountains, slowly but surely, approaching me.
It disappeared from my sight and suddenly, there came a vague rumbling from the heavens. There was a shattering thunderous roar, or so it seemed. Then, there was silence. There was no sound, not even the call of a lone bird in the clear turquoise sky. It was still, perfectly so. And then, the light came. The bright searing light that pierced through my eyes as through it was a sharp dagger.
The instantaneous illumination made me turn instinctively. Out of sudden, there was a tingling sensation on the surface of my skin, somewhat warm. Soon, there was an itch, and then many spots began to sting. I felt as if fire and flames were dancing all over my skin – my back, my arms, my neck, my face and then it was a sharp stab of pain all over my body instantly.
I slowly opened my eyes and for the first time looked in the direction of the light. My face glazed in shock and I gawked in disbelief. A mushroom cloud appeared from the direction of the city area. Just then, a jet black cloud came rolling towards me. It spread in between the mountains, swirling in unbelievably high velocity. Even before I could escape, my body was scooped up and was sent flying from wall to wall.
When I was conscious again, my house was in a dreaded condition. Walls collapsed, furniture was seen all over the place. My limps protested as I tried to stand. What happened? Was it a bomb? Was it some kind of divine punishment for us Japanese?
These questions kept playing across my mind like a broken record as I got onto my bicycle and cycled towards Hiroshima.
Nauseating spurts of adrenaline coursed through my veins. The marine sky had turned atramentous as I approached the city. Suddenly, an aberrant creature appeared out of nowhere. Naturally, I dropped my bicycle and approached it. It staggered and trudged towards my direction. From top to bottom, it was charcoal. What on earth is that thing? I thought to myself. At I got closer; I began to see his features – there was something round like a head and it had shoulders.
There was a loud thud. It tried to stand but the limbs procrastinated and soon, it found itself sprawled on the ground again. I mustered my courage and loomed up. It had no facial features. It was pitched black. There were two hollow holes which seemed to be where the eyes were. The area under the holes had swollen up. There was no nose and the bottom part of the face was just a big gap, probably the mouth.
Chills ran down my spine as I swallowed a lump and spoke.
“Sir, are you alright? Sir?”
As a doctor, I reached for its hand and wanted to take its pulse. But when I took its hand, I reeled in horror and fell backwards. There was no skin! There was nowhere I could hold.
“Please pull yourself together! Please!”
“Water…”
That was its only reply before it gave a small shudder and stopped moving. It died.
I bolted to my bicycle and started cycling once more. When I arrived at the city, my eyes transfixed with horror as I recoiled in fear. It was a terrifying and gruesome sight, as though apocalypse had arrived on the city. The morning sunshine was gone. The whole city was dark and shrouded with smoke. Houses were burning. The street was filled with black, burned corpses. People were seen walking lifelessly in every direction with skin hanging from them, probably thinking, “If I go to this side of the city, it will be better for me.” It was a scene from hell.
Suddenly, ear-shattering claps of the thunders were heard, but there was no sight of lightning tearing across the sky. Soon, the inclement weather started to unleash torrents of ink-liked rain. It was raining black fluid. People began opening their mouth, drinking the rain despite the abnormal colour. Even with the rain, the intense fieriness was still able to overwhelm my entire body, as though I was in an oven, ready to be baked. Tears started to steam down my cheeks, joining a flow of my mucus as my face twisted in anguish. What on Earth happened…?
Light which was supposed to represent justice, hope and goodness, instead brought devastation and destruction. Light which was supposed to bring happiness and joy, instead brought sadness, desperation and grief.
Light, that bright searing light, was the harbinger of doom.
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An A for A.math = Vegeterian for a week.