The Crossed Paths

chapter 10

After 10 minutes of ride I could finally see buildings appearing they were nothing like I had seen before which was kinda obvious as I was in 22nd century. As I progressed towards the city I was able to see a clear picture, little did I know that what was ahead of me was going to change my life forever.

There were a few things that one could notice without knowing science but I was a kind of scientist so this city was a dream for me . Surprisingly it was not like what we had predicted in 21st century . Unlike 21st century there were small buildings all of them were symmetrical and identical no skyscrapers were present anyway nearby. Well one thing that we were correct about was the lack of oxygen one could smell carbon with each breadth and the sunlight was harsh which means that the ozone layer must have been depleted to crazy amounts. 

As I entered the city everything looked normal and so did  people . The market  was packed with people of different sorts and children running without purpose . Clothing was definitely different it was in order to protect their skins from UV rays and people wore masks to protect their faces . Honestly they looked like bunch of robots moving around. I was curious about what happened here in 21st century so I started looking for library to get answers to questions.

well library was not what I expected it to be it was it was more like a creepy and dusty place maybe civilians forgot how important library is and how it becomes a landmark of the city. Well who am I even blaming as 22nd century is a glorified and advanced version of 21st century only . Here people must be fully controlled by electronic devices . An old lady with half broken bag received me , "What brought you here inside a library on a beautiful day, love" she asked me with a tone of surprise and with a bit of suspicion . It made me sad how this old granny was left here all alone and even a thought of person coming here made her suspicious . 

"I am here to study a little bit history can you tell me on which shelf may I check?" I asked her with all the good energy I could so that she could feel a little bit comfortable. 

"well which part of it do you want to read love there are ten shelves full of it?" she was enlightened to help me .

" I am specifically looking for details of 21st century " I hesitated for a second maybe because a part of me still belonged there and also a part of me was settling here in my dream city.

"Sure follow me " she started walking towards a small hallway stacked with books on either side in a very unordered way  I doubt anybody had visited it in a long time because dust had settled deep inside books . 

At the other end of the hallway was a ball room converted into a library with tables and chairs in between . She was walking awfully fast for a person of her age . She took me to the farthest corner of he room there was small reading corner a little bit separate from the rest of the room it had a long mirror with gold borders on the sides .It was a different atleast that's what I was feeling the lady stopped infront of the mirror for a moment and quoted which I assumed she told every visitor .

"I call it magic mirror it belonged to a king in 15th century it has been passed on from generations to generations"

"It truly is spectacular" I complemented didn't know what else to do

" They say it shows you your deepest desire and also gospel truth" she passed the mirror after saying it maybe for me to try.

I passed the mirror without looking maybe I was too afraid to face reality. She handed me over a couple of books and went on looking for more. I started  flipping through the pages finding years and their history but after 2020 year pages went missing I flipped through pages but I couldn't find it . The last sentence written was about my Dad's death .I started looking for the librarian. she was sleeping in front of one of the shelves . I taped gently on her shoulder.

"Hmmm Is there any problem love?"

"Kind of yes some pages are missing in this book? Do you have any other copy of it?"

"History is not to be copied, its the only book perhaps we Shall not talk about forbidden history" after throwing this bomb on me she moved her way back to her table I walked with her trying to talk to her or the least try to apologize to her for walking up from her mid day sleep. She stopped and turned to her right and that's when I realized what had happened.