This is a work of fiction.
I’m from the future. My name is David.
The world isn’t what it used to be. I have read several history books. It isn’t as beautiful. There is no hope left. I could see a glimmer of hope in the past.
There were several debates about having nuclear weapons. How using these weapons can cause mass destruction. Ironically it wasn’t the weapons that caused the destruction of our planet. It was simply the thought of using them that caused wars. Countries with or without nuclear weapons fought to horde them. War engulfed the entire world. Millions of lives were lost.
Eventually, rebels from each country formed an alliance to stop the war. The rebels became so strong that they acquired a rocket and shipped off at least two-thirds of the world’s nuclear weapons to space. The rest of the nukes were used in cities. These cities were wiped out within seconds. Radiation spread and so did cancer.
The generations after got immune to this. This war took place in 2030. It is currently 3020. I was born in the year 3000. That year was declared completely radiation free.
Not much could be rebuilt after the war a thousand years ago. The government at that time decided to keep everything simple and destroy anything of value to curb uprisings. The world has become an art-less prison, to put it mildly.
Travelling is prohibited too. So I use the best way possible to see the world for what it was. Interactive virtual reality.
It’s basically a room where you can set any place you want. The entire visual of the place changes to the city. There are also people you can interact with — similar to artificial intelligence.
I step inside the empty room and change the setting to Luxembourg. Out of all the places I have seen in virtual reality — it’s the most beautiful.
I have seen current pictures of the place. Everything is different. The iconic Adolph bridge has been destroyed.
It’s the first thing I see when the virtual reality activates. I changed the settings to snowfall to appreciate the beauty even more. A thin layer of snow coats the pathway of the bridge. I taste the snow. So real. So fresh.
I head over to the Bock Castle. The castles in those times were completely made out of bricks. We have castles now, but they are made out of impregnatable steel. I enter the Bock castle and walk around, bumping into people on the way. I walk to the dungeon and imagine people being tortured here. Medieval instruments are nothing compared to the ones we have these days.
My final stop is the Notre Dame Cathedral. God doesn’t exist in our world anymore. Neither does religion. People don’t believe in it after the war. But I still do. I still have faith that maybe God will make everything okay again. Maybe everything will become beautiful again.
Soft hymns echo inside the church. I sit down and pray at the front. A virtual priest offers me holy water and I drink it.
Soon after, I switch off the virtual reality and go back to the real world.
Back to the sad reality within steel castle walls.
I will come back soon, to the beautiful city of Luxembourg.
Source of Keychain: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
Menaka Writes 