By Rohan Jain
So, a strange thing happened one night. It was not a new occurrence, but I felt an earthquake around 3:30 am. I didn’t pay much attention to it, as I lived in a seismic zone, and the earthquake was not powerful enough to even shake a table. What was strange about it was that the earthquake lasted for at least 2 hours. However, as I mentioned, I didn’t think much of it. I informed my mom, and her reaction was similar to mine. My dad had already left for the office, so I couldn’t talk to him.
I decided to switch on the TV, which had been covered in dust because no one in my house watched it anymore. In today’s world, phones and tablets have taken its place. I wanted to check if my perception of the earthquake was accurate. I started listening to the news while browsing the internet for information. I was curious to find out what had happened the night before, so I kept changing channels. Suddenly, I came across a headline that read, “5.2 magnitude earthquake near Seattle last night.” My senses were right; there was indeed an earthquake. Now I wanted to know if the earthquake had truly lasted for two hours. I kept changing channels to gather more information, but I was disappointed to find nothing substantial. I decided to stop searching and continued with my day.
Days passed, and I gradually forgot about the incident of the “two-hour earthquake” as I got caught up in the fun of the summer holidays. Suddenly, the earth trembled again, but this time it was much more severe.
Even my innermost being felt it, and I wanted to run, but my father stopped me. We all rushed out of our house into the backyard and then onto the street. All our neighbours were there, some were crying, and others were deeply shaken. My father began discussing the situation with some other elders, while the earth continued to shake. Suddenly, it started raining heavily. People began saying that humanity was on the brink. The earthquake eventually stopped, so most people returned home.
I quickly turned on the television and started searching online. My father was also watching the news and browsing through Twitter (now known as X). My mom decided to pack supplies and an emergency bag, as earthquakes and natural disasters were becoming more frequent. I was amazed when I saw that there were 320 earthquakes recorded in the last four hours. Scientists concluded that the Earth was expanding due to some abnormal reason, causing the oceans to wash away as the Earth grew. All I knew was that it seemed like the end of the world.
Ten years later
Now we all live on a different planet, which is located about 6.2 light years away from Earth and the Sun. Scientists were able to create powerful spaceships that could travel at 97.5% the speed of light. Almost all people decided to relocate to this new planet, while some chose to stay on Earth. Scientists have been able to analyse what happened to Earth and why. With the James Webb Telescope, we can see that Earth is now ten times its original size. It will slowly move closer to the sun and eventually be reduced to ashes.
