The World Is Ending?

When he woke up the next day, the room was back to its original state.

It was disappointing.

The state the room was in yesterday was something he had never seen before. It was as if the room belonged to a newly built house that had yet to be stained by human breath. It was not that spotless even when his mother was around.

He had spent the remainder of his waking hours in that room. The thought that this would revert to how it was did not even cross his mind.

The time was around 2 pm. 24 hours had gone by. The miracle was undone. The book’s power was proven once again.

“It is real, after all.”

For some reason, he felt like palming his face - and so he did.

With this power, he should have been ecstatic. Happy that he can invoke miracles, like a God. But the fact that it lasted for such a short time left him unfulfilled. If it was going to regress to its original state, what even was the point of it?

He could not think of any good ideas.

He heaved a heavy sigh. With his face still on his palm, he peeked at the sea of plastic surrounding him.

He had never thought he would clean this mess until some unforeseen circumstances forced him into it. However, having experienced the freshness that came with a clean environment, a sudden desire to tidy his room grew on him.

He got off the bed and stood in the middle of the heap of garbage, like a king standing in front of his poor subjects.

The subjects that he had neglected for so long had become rotten and evil. Now they were spreading it to other people of his kingdom. He did not want his beloved kingdom to degrade any longer. While it was evil and harsh, he would need to oust those who had been touched by the rot.

He changed into a worn-out t-shirt and shorts that he did not mind getting dirty. He readied his weapons. Then, he swiftly began eradicating the cause of all the dark energy spreading in his kingdom.

It took him about three hours to restore the room to a semblance of what it should have been. He got rid of all of the garbage - the spear demon had been defeated, and the waterfall took its dying breath in a tomb of polythene.

The dishes had been washed and arranged in their rightful place. Although he had fought a fierce battle with the crusted stains, he was not able to fully defeat them. Some black spots were left in its wake, speaking of the sheer strength it possessed.

The room now looked breathable. Although not as much as it was in those 24 hours, it looked much more livable.

Having worked for three hours straight worked up an appetite. He got hungry.

While there was some instant food in the fridge, he was not in the mood to be satisfied with that. He had done some real work, and that meant he needed some real food to fill his stomach.

He took his laptop out and looked at the nearby restaurants. He found one. It was a ten-minute walk away from the bookstore, into the shopping district, a slight way away from the metro station.

He thought of changing into proper clothes. He was looking for his white t-shirt and blue jeans. He swore that he had kept them somewhere around, but he couldn’t find them.

I didn’t throw them out with that pile of garbage, did I?

That thought panicked him for a moment. However, when he moved his head around in that moment of panic, he spotted the t-shirt and jeans peeking from the upper cabinet of the closet.

Relieved, he changed quickly and made way leisurely to the sushi restaurant.

The place he went into was a small one, dimly lit, with multiple sitting tables spread in a rectangular arrangement. The theme was red and dark brown, with everything from the table and the carpet to the bowls and spoons sporting the same color. When he went inside, the old owner and the young girl who looked like the waitress gave a discerning but surprised look. Curious, almost suspicious look.

He sat down. Alone. A glass of water was brought to him along with the menu. He ordered based on the picture that decorated the menu.

While he waited for his order to arrive, he looked around. There were not many people. It was weird. From what he had seen on the internet, it was a popular place to eat. Especially, the time he had come was supposed to be their peak.

It looked bizarrely empty.

It was taking some time for his order to come up. This gave him more time to think about stuff. So, he continued thinking.

Now that he thought about it, it was weirdly empty outside, too. He had not seen any kids on the playground. There were no moms and their children out for a little evening stroll. Office workers who looked dead as if their corporates had sucked their soul out were not terrorizing the metro lines.

Something was going on.

Was today some kind of festival where all the townsfolk had gone to? He looked at the owner at the reception table in front of him. She had not moved a single inch from that chair and was just staring at him all this time.

His order came right away, which moved his thoughts away from the old lady. The smell of a proper meal caused his stomach to growl. He hoped the waitress had not heard, but the way she smiled right at that time was answer enough.

He enjoyed his meal. He had not realized how hungry he was until he sat down and started eating. He ordered seconds.

He was done with his meal in an hour, his stomach close to bursting.

The waitress came in with a check in hand.

“Hope you found everything to your liking.”

“Yes, I did. Thank you very much.”

“You are welcome.”

While she was taking the trays away, he sat there thinking, hesitating whether or not he should ask what was on his mind.

He wanted to ask whether or not something was going on. Like a festival or something? An event? A curfew? That was why everyone was absent from the regular streets.

The last tray was the only thing remaining. While he was hesitating, the waitress had nimbly managed to get everything else away. This was his chance. But he knew he would not be able to ask. His anxiety would not let him.

He was about to get up, thinking he would look it up online once he got back home, when the waitress called out to him.

“Hey, how can you be so carefree?”

“Huh?” That question was unexpected. “What … do you mean?”

“What with the announcement that the world is ending, people are depressed, hopeless. You barely see anyone out and about. But here you are. Dressed up, with a carefree attitude, to eat in a sushi restaurant, like it’s just another day. How can you do that?”

“What the hell are you saying? The world is ending?”

He took a moment to respond. He needed time to process what the woman in front of him had just said. The first thought that came to mind was that she was joking. But she had a serious look on her face.

The woman looked at him for a good minute. Then, with an expression as if she were utterly baffled, she loudly asked, with her mouth forming an O.

“Wait, you don’t know?! Did you not see all the outrage on the internet?!”

He shook his head in all sincerity. “I … don’t.” 

She rushed inside. From behind the reception, she pulled out her phone. She hastily looked something up. Once she was done, she shoved the screen right to his face.

The screen displayed an article. From a known government newspaper. It was written two days ago. The headline read:

“Giant Crack Mars the Sky — The World Is Ending in 365 Days?!”

He read the entirety of the article. He could not believe it.

As soon as he was done reading it, he rushed outside. The woman followed suit.

Once out, he looked up at the sky.

Although it was dark, he could still see it. 

A fissure ran along the ridges of the sky. A crack like the ones you see on land after earthquakes. It looked like someone was forcing open the sky from the other side. There was something black inside that hole. Something sinister. Something that felt like it was moving.

He thought back to the article.

“The eye…”

That was what the article said.

The eye appeared two days ago, as written in the ancient text of the Gurks in the Himalayas of South Asia. The article cited materials from that text that mentioned that the world would end in exactly 365 days after the eyes first peek.

It was unreal.

It was simply unbelievable.

Kaito did not want to believe.

- Much like with the notebook.

But the proof was right in front of him.

 - Much like with the notebook.

He was too absorbed into the absurdity and suddenness of this that his brain never made the connection that the day the eye appeared and the day he wrote his first wish on that drunken night were the same.