Two

Ah, how far the wind carries the petals of the flowers from the mountain tops. How the chill of the night and the light of the moon make people feel alone and desolate. How seeing the fields and fields of grass and dirt and hardworking cattle walking on it makes me desire the world in the past. The natural beauty of the world takes my breath away.

But why does it all have to end?

The news spread around the world. A powerful being sent a message.

I will destroy this world. And only one can save it. As to who, it is up to you to decide.

This simple message brought chaos and unease among the people. There were those that thought the message was fake. There are those that believed it wholeheartedly, and thought that the death of the world is nearing. And then, there's me.

I looked up at the sky from the roof of my house. I can hear people from below, my neighbours, talking about the message that came out of nowhere. They suspected and gossiped and theorized. Did it come from outer space? Aliens? Or is it a hoax started by the government to scare their citizens?

Whatever they thought, it all didn't faze me. Because I know the truth.

Indeed, the world is going to end.

In five hours, this world is going to get bombarded by a major earthquake. The major land masses will move all of a sudden, at the same time. The volcanoes near the edge of the largest ocean will all erupt. Every living wild animal will start to attack and kill everything they see, and a percentage of the human population will lose the senses that are the most important to them.

In five hours, the so-called hero would have to decide.

In five hours, the end of the world would start.

A cold breeze washed over me and blew my hair over my face. I stood up and nimbly jumped off the roof of the house. The neighbours gossiping below gasped in surprise, but when they saw me, they just looked at me in a weird way before going back to their own world.

“It’s that guy again. He sure does act weird, doesn’t he?”

I smiled and ignored them.

I looked at the watch on my wrist and saw that the countdown for the remaining five hours of the world started.

I looked around. The village was filled with huts made out of bamboo and some other wood I couldn’t recognize. I looked behind the house whose roof I was lying on earlier and saw the series of mountain ranges from the distance, and couldn’t help but notice how the mountain’s tip was almost touching the sun.

I see...so they want to do it just after sunset.

“I should hurry…” I whispered to myself while looking at the setting sun behind the mountain and started to jog towards it.

“Ah...I have a time constraint, really! Why did they even give me a deadline,” I sighed. I looked around and saw that I arrived on a road and saw a bright blue car at the side.

Oh!

An idea came over my head.

Since the world is ending in a few hours anyway...

I looked around and saw no one. My wristwatch let out a ding, and when I looked at it, it showed that an hour has passed already.

I ruffled my head. "Ahh! Need to hurry!"

Seeing how there was no one around, I slipped my hand in my jeans pocket and pulled out a key. I opened the car with the key, and started to head over to the mountain with tiptop speed.I looked at the watch on my wrist with my hands on the steering wheel. 3 hours and 57 minutes. I know that the mountain wouldn't be that hard to go to, since people have been creating roads after roads after roads to make travelling smoother. The only thing I need to worry about now...is the climbing.

The car drove to the foot of the mountain smoothly. I drove for almost 40 minutes. When I saw how the trees at the side of the road started to get denser, I knew that I was almost at my destination.

I walked out of the car, making sure to leave the key inside. It wasn't mine in the first place. Preserving my dignity 'til the end of the world doesn't sound worth it, but that's what they ordered me to do.

I looked at my wristwatch.

The seconds hand on the watch was slowly ticking. 3 hours and 4 minutes.

The wrist watch only showed how much time there is left, so I don't know what the actual time is. But looking at the sun's position gave me the impression that it's probably almost 6pm right now.

I took a deep breath. There's only 3 hours left. I have no time to dawdle.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

I went in the backseat of the car and grabbed the dark purple backpack on the seat. The dark purple backpack was filled with mountain climbing gear that I can use to make my climbing experience safer and easier.

I silently thanked them in my head and smiled to myself. I signed myself up for this. There was no turning back now.

I wore the climbing gear and started to walk to the tip of the mountain, sometimes using a hook to grab a large rock and jump upwards.

This was my first time mountain climbing, so I didn't know what to do at first. But a distant memory crashed itself in my brain, and I slowly but surely learned how to effectively climb the mountain in a short time.

In the midst of climbing, my wristwatch let out another ding.

1 hour and 59 minutes.

Seeing the time, I wasn't fazed. I have been climbing this mountain efficiently. I know that I'm near the peak. At this pace, I might get to the peak in an hour. And I'd still have more than 30 minutes to finish what I started.

My progress pushed me to do better, and pushed me to climb faster. I’m almost there. Finally, this will all end, and the end and suffering would start.