The Day I Despised Earth

“I remember my last memory on Earth. One that finally made me realize no one in this world truly wants to help others.”

This is Olga Korsakova. She is currently attending university as a software engineer. She isn’t the most studious girl, despite how much she spends her time alone on her computer.

She feels studying is pointless if her “hyperdrive-learning mode” rewards her with barely passing grades in her classes. That’s why when she studies, her mind drifts off into wanting to do something more enjoyable.

“Why waste time doing the impossible of being a straight-A student, when I could be out doing nightlife activities?” Olga would think.

Olga goes out to parties, but usually regrets it in the end. Multiple times pickpocketed. Harassed by men. Either at the parties or just randomly on the street. Or she sustains some bodily injury, such as tripping over and scraping her knees… followed by faceplanting the hard concrete.

Other times, she is beaten up by random guys and girls. However, this is usually the result of her telling them off. Her patience has small limits, so she frequently gets into unnecessary confrontations with people.

“I’m literally two inches away from your face! Can you shut up, or are you so used to yelling like an idiot?”

“You have pockets. You seriously can’t carry it? No one is looking at your ugly pants anyway!”

“Too many idiots around me! Why are they telling me to stop being a nagging mom? People seriously like having their full glasses of drinks spilled all over their shirts? I’ll give your shirt some nice dye then.”

Olga has a hard time keeping to herself. She feels the need to put others in their place when no one else does. Apparently, not a lot of people don’t like to hear this from her. And they show this with aggressive violence.

Afterward, she goes home, yelling at herself in frustration. She feels that everywhere she goes, she becomes the victim of every inconvenience. She just wishes there were a way to easily escape from a situation when things annoy her the slightest.

Despite all of this, she constantly flips from “I need to get a job so I can have money” to “I should go out to do something new”.

On one particular day, it was her “I should go out to do something new” mood. And this day was going to be her final day living on Earth.

It started with a peaceful morning. The sun’s rays shone down in a small, quiet town.

Rows of buildings with sheer white walls cast shadows down on the roads. Olga was the pretty girl walking alone under the shade.

Her white shirt, which was tucked into her dark shorts, meant she wanted to look presentable for someone.

Her gift bag was swinging from the handles in her hand. All of this visually screamed “Olga is going to be on a date.”

Olga spotted her destination: the café. Outside on the walkway was a table covered with a large, blue umbrella.

She took a seat, placed the gift bag on her lap, and waited patiently for her date. She scuffled the gift bag she had prepared for the occasion. The bag crinkled as she peered inside it.

“My date seemed like a good man from our talks online. Though, what if he’s actually just some terminally online person, and he sucks as a person in real life? If that’s the case, it’s a free breakfast for me!” Olga chuckled to herself.

THUMP!

The table suddenly rattled. Olga looked up with a smile, but as she analyzed the sight, her dimples slowly faded.

A brown, paper bag was on the table. Right behind it was a large, grinning man who nabbed the seat. His dark, drab clothes were pretty much printed with “I’m ready to deal in shady business”.

It was not the man Olga was expecting to meet for her special occasion.

“Are you Nikolai?” asked Olga. Her eyes became bewildered. She started to clench her fists. Something was not right. She began to instantly regret this decision.

Olga was supposed to meet up with a man she got in contact with on a dating site. She knew the man she video-called the night before had black hair and a slim build. This one is bald and overly muscular.

“I’m going to tell you this right now”, said the man, as he patted the paper bag on the table.

CREAK!

Olga cautiously slid her chair back from the table.

“I’m sorry, I’m leaving right now.”

CRUNCH!

The man gripped and jiggled the paper bag.

“There’s a gun right inside here. Now sit!” Demanded the man.

Olga looked at the bag nervously. Her head felt rattled. She couldn’t believe what she heard. The man continued to give her a threatening speech.

“You’re going to give me everything you have. Your phone, your wallet... You weren’t planning on letting your date pay for everything, right?”

Olga started fidgeting with her pocket. She began gritting her teeth.

“Stupid idiot! Why did you go on this stupid date?!” Olga thought.

Olga lowered her hand and saw her gift bag on her lap. She dug her hand inside.

“T-There’s a g-gun inside here too!” said Olga in a faux brave voice.

The man locked eyes on Olga. He did not move his pupils even the slightest.

“This is so stupid! Why is no one here helping? Where’s anybody? Is this café also a setup?” thought Olga.

It should be the start of the café’s morning shift. She saw some waiters standing inside without notice.

SNAP!

“Look at me. Give me your stuff now.” The man bared his teeth, showing no mercy.

The snap of his fingers made Olga breathe harder. Her heart began to race. However, having that sound echo in her mind, she put her other hand on her gift bag’s handle.

SNAP SNA-

WHACK!

Olga looked up as she flung the white gift bag right at the man’s face. The man winced like he had been shot. One of his hands was mid-snapping in her face. The other had lost grip of his paper bag. It was hovering over it. Olga strikes!

CRUNCH!

“Ah! AAAAAAAAH!”

A sharp pain pierced through her hand. Her hand was bleeding on top of the now-crushed paper bag. She retracted her arm to see what she had torn into.

Sharp needles pointing upward were the cause of her agony. They were coated with her blood and slowly dripped down. Olga looked at her hands, and lines of blood seeped out of the fresh holes in her right palm.

The man casually got up from his chair and pulled the crushed bag toward himself.

“You didn’t want to make this easy, so we’re going with this approach instead. You’re going to get very sleepy. It’s probably happening already, seeing that your hand had just been injected by a special concoction I bought online.”

Olga felt very weak. The man’s hand gripped her right arm and pulled her up. He grabs the bag and pulls her out of her chair.

“You want to cry for help? I can see it in your eyes. You’re not going to be awake by the time you’re in my car.”

The man jerked his body and saw someone across the street.

“She’s not feeling well. I’m just taking good care of her,” he hollered.

Olga did not hear any response from that person across the street. She knew this was this bastard’s way of saying, “You’re completely helpless now.”

“Stupid. Stupid… Why does this have to happen to me? Why am I supposed to blame myself for this? It's this stupid world where people can ruin your life in an instant, and no one gives a damn." Olga thought to herself.

“You’ll be a fascinating phenomenon.”

Olga was weak, but if she had the energy, she’d jump up in fear. The voice just now was not the crooked man’s voice. It sounded raspy and old. She does not see anyone around that had the kind of face to talk with that tone.

CRASH!

Olga had never felt a sudden rush of energy in her body before. It was like a lightning bolt that just woke her up from sleep paralysis.

Olga was motionless. She could only see white. Things began to unblur. She saw the blue and sunny sky.

Once she had come through, her body jolted up. She looked all around her. What she saw was like a giant stage of an opera, except everything was real.

In the distance stood great, tall white towers. Olga believed that it must be a palace for a king, or a cathedral for a pope. Or even both.

Each tower has a twisted, bulbous rooftop with various colors of the rainbow. The walls were draped with bright red stripes, making them appear like peppermint.

Behind her was a tall white wall, with white buildings decorated with beautifully colored, rounded, tiled rooftops and windows.

The area where she stood was a large, marble-paved square that had several wooden shacks. People were selling various goods, from food to clothing. A dazzling fountain in the center. One that had multiple fountains spraying that overflowed into several bowls.

She heard people and horses chattering and running around. People were dressed in old, peasant-like clothing. Most were wearing long, loose, and drab outfits, as if they were working on a farm. On the other hand, there are people dressed in armor. As in, metal plates on their body, or decorative robes like they’re some wizard. Olga had no idea where she was.

Olga suddenly felt a chill. She felt her body was breezy. She finally looked down. She was completely naked in the middle of the city.

“AAAAAAH! AM I DREAMING? NO! I JUST WOKE UP! WAS THAT WHOLE CAFÉ DATE A NIGHTMARE? AM I IN A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM?!” She exclaimed, as she desperately tried to cover herself.

Things turned silent. People and animals suddenly turned to her. Olga looked back. Things were weird. Everyone was dressed like they were cosplaying for a cliché fantasy game she had played. However, without any clothes, she’s probably the weirdest one in sight.

“Oh crap! Why did I scream that? They’re all going to think I’m a pervert!” thought Olga.

All she could do was stare and shiver in place. However, people slowly started looking away from her. She could tell people were asking questions amongst themselves.

“What? Why didn’t they say anything about- AH!“

Olga looked down again. She had no body. She patted herself down, but saw nothing. She was beginning to shake again, but ran from the spot.

She spotted a window that gave a dim reflection of her surroundings. However, she could see nothing but everything behind her. There was no reflection of herself at all. She tapped the window with her non-existent hand. She could feel the surface, and heard the sound of tapping, but couldn’t see her actual hand.

“What is going on!” She yelled, as she slammed her hands against a stone wall.

Suddenly, the wall appeared to be melting. Olga pulls her hand away and saw there was nothing. Part of the wall had completely vanished.

Olga was even more puzzled. She gently lay her hand on the missing part of the wall and pressed it firmly. There was definitely a wall there, as it felt completely solid. However, she could see right through it. She could see everything inside the building. The wooden floors, the tables, the chairs. The part of the wall was actually invisible.

As she peered more closely, she saw something happening near her hand. It was like she was filling up the hole with liquid stone. The wall was becoming visible again.

She had a curious idea. She put her hands together and pressed firmly. Suddenly, her hands began to grow in the air. It was like a slow magic trick. Her arms came next, and the rest of her body.

Olga was stunned. She realized she had special powers. However, as the rest of her body became visible, her excitement turned to despair. She turned around to see that a crowd of people was looking at her nude body.

“AAAAAAH” shrieked Olga, as she made her escape into a brand new world.