James had no idea what was happening to him. He saw some bright lights piercing his eyes that were making him uncomfortable. He tried to move his face away from the light, the effort was futile. He could not feel his body and have no control over anything. James tried to make sense of his surrounding but it all went dark and quiet.
The sound was loud but unintelligible. James opened his eyes only to find himself lying on the hospital bed. The nurse was standing by the bed and informing the doctor about something that James could not understand.
“Where am I and what happened to me?”, He asked the nurse. She stood there and looked at him in confusion. She doesn’t seem to understand him either. James repeated his question but didn’t get any proper response. The nurse said something but he was unable to make any sense of it. Before he could ask anything else, his head started feeling heavy and despite his best efforts, he lost control of his body and once again he was surrounded by darkness and silence.
James felt something hitting his leg, he woke up. There was nothing in the room, the light was dim. There was no light coming from the window. He stood up, walked towards the windows and saw the street below. The room he was in was higher than the street light and that is why there was no light coming through the window. The street wasn’t familiar, James tried to remember how did he end up there, but could not.
He decided to check out the place he was at. Something was not quite right about it, James can feel it. He went out of his room, it was silent, probably most of the staff was off duty at that hour. While strolling through the hallway he came across a notice board of some sort. The language which was written there was so strange that James was sure he was in some other country.
Without thinking much about any consequences, he made up his mind to get out of that place. He found the fire exit at the end of the hallway and used it to escape. Once on the street, he started running away from the hospital building and after running for 15 minutes, James found himself in the middle of a forested area. He spends two hours walking around to find any clue where he was but it was futile.
The street signs are in the same language that he had encountered at the hospital. The sun started rising and it was then when James notice it, and it shook him to the core. The sun didn’t look normal. It seems like something big is orbiting the sun and casting a shadow but unlike any other. The structure orbiting the sun was eclipsing it and dimming the sunlight to a great extent.
James was convinced that it was a Dyson sphere that is orbiting the sun but he couldn’t say for sure. He tried to find someone who could understand him and at the same time he was trying to figure out, how had he ended up there?
He was on the outskirt of the city and now after walking for so long he emerged from the woods and saw something spectacular. The skyline was something he had not imagined to witness. Large glass structures were lining the view and the city was not a concrete jungle, instead, people and nature were living in harmony. The glass structures were surrounded by plants and the atmosphere around them was so clear and fresh which one cannot imagine in the world where James had come from.
He kept on going towards them and he saw some people roaming about. The people there were not in any way similar to people that James had known. They were wearing very different kinds of clothes and have something strange about them which he can’t seem to figure out.
By this point, James was starting to feel hungry and tried to communicate with the people there. His efforts were in vain because of his distinct mannerism of speaking, he became the center of attraction. People were curious and tried to communicate with him. James was able to convey that he was hungry to them and one of them, a child who was not more than 16 years of age, gave him something to eat. James was not able to determine what it was but he needed something to eat so badly that he bit the thing. It was nothing that he had ever tasted before.
A man walking by the street saw the people gathered around a place. He inquired about the gathering and someone told him that there was a person who is speaking some foreign language and trying to get some food. This gentleman who was known by the name of Nukcht seems intrigued by what he heard, started walking towards the crowd. He said something to James, which James obviously did not understand.
Nukcht tried to make some sort of conversation, but James was busy eating whatever that kid gave him. Once finishing the food, James takes note of the man who was desperately trying to communicate with him. There was something familiar with this person, James can feel it. He said “I don’t know if you understand me or not. All I want is to go home. I don’t know how I ended up here. Can you help me?”
Nukcht replied, “The language you speak is not one which is common to hear nowadays. Where have you come from? And what is your name, stranger?”
James had felt something he had never felt before. It was a feeling of relief and confusion at the same time. He quickly put himself back together and replied, “my name is James, I am from New Jersey” the stranger looked puzzled but engaged James all the same.
“So you are from New Jersey, and you have no idea how you came here?” said Nukcht. “Yes.” James was finding it hard to process what was happening. Nukcht told James to come with him.
James had no choice but to follow this stranger. They reached a place that looked like a house. Nukcht opened the door and invited James in. Once inside James notice that the furniture in the house was nothing like he had seen before, there were some familiar things, like a couch and a table, but that was it. Nukcht offered James a seat. James reluctantly sat down and asked the stranger “Who are you? And how are you the only person who understands what I am saying?”
“I have known by many names over many years. Now they call me Nukcht.” He looked James directly in the eyes, “which year is it, James?”
James knew what is about to come next, but how could that be possible. “2020” James replied. “I was close. Your clothes certainly belong to the early 21st century.” Nukcht seemed concerned, “there might have been some unnatural element involved in your arrival here.” James was still overwhelmed and did not have anything to say. “It is the year 2845.”
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