1 Minute to Midnight

I sat there in the cold.

10 minutes.

Why does it feel so long?

A nuclear device will be detonated in your area within the next 10 minutes. Please seek shelter immediately.

"What even is the point? The radioactive fallout would be deadly post detonation anyway. I would rather perish than live in a civilisation left in ruins," I thought.

If you were given 10 minutes to live, what would you do? How would you spend every moment you have left, knowing every minute leaves you one inch closer to total Armageddon?

Why has humanity dedicated so much effort to destruction? I wondered why humans have devoted so much time to developing tools of annihilation when they almost certainly hope not to use them, when they choose to keep them in secret.

I looked at my phone – 7 minutes left.

I took a promenade along the river bank next to the streets. I could hear the distant cries of despair. I could feel the cacophony of panic fuelled by the natural instinct to live. I could see the cruel reality that humans are no more than egocentric creatures that fail to appreciate harmony in times of crises. I could sense dissonance, discord and dismay.

4 minutes.

I was sitting by the river and I looked to the sky. I saw tiny sparkles of light, millions of light years away, serving as a reminder that humans are nothing more than minute grains lying within the colossal planes of the galaxy. But a planet like Earth is a four-leaf clover. We're so fortunate for having our green planet gifted with immense amounts of pure water.

"Why can't we just appreciate what nature has given us for once? Why are we still destroying each other?" I thought.

As I looked to the stars, I thought of home. I thought of my childhood and all the sweet moments in life. And I reminisced about the evening beaches, the sights of wildlife and the sceneries of majestic mountains. And I picked up a pebble and threw it into the river. And I laughed.

1 minute.

Why does it feel so long?

1 minute to midnight.

I don't want to count.

I don't want to.

I close my eyes.

And I wait.

The clocks struck midnight.

But I hear nothing.

Did it stop?

And I hear a "ding".

This test of the Emergency Alert System has been sponsored by Oppenheimer, in theatres July 21st.