Surav Sikder

Published: 6/1/2025

When I opened my eyes, disoriented and unsure of my surroundings, I found myself sitting on a train, my head spinning, as a voice announced, “Welcome to the Andromeda galaxy. It’s been a pleasure to be with you guys for three hours. I hope everyone had a wonderful journey.”

As the voice hit my ear, I slowly regained my consciousness. In the meantime, someone hit my back and said, “Weren’t you supposed to land here?”

I answered timidly, “What is this? Where are we?” He smiled and told me, “You are an ancient 2023 war survivor, aren’t you?”

Then I was shocked and didn’t say a single word. After realizing my situation, he took me to a space nuclear station, sat beside me, and asked, “Do you know what year it is?”

“It is supposed to be 2023, isn’t it?” I replied. He smiled again and said something that gave me goosebumps. Then I asked him again to be sure. But he said the same thing, it’s the year ‘47023’. Hearing the year I was in, I tried to understand my surroundings but failed to absorb anything. He understood my situation and told me not to worry and he would explain everything that had happened throughout this time.

Seeking answers about my past, I gathered the courage to ask, “Where is my home? What happened to me? Tell me everything you know until now.” Then he started to explain everything. He started from our home Earth. He told me that “Earth is now a living hell. The temperature has risen because of Earth’s orbit getting smaller. The Moon has gotten bigger, and that’s why tidal force became stronger. No one is living there. Our home planet has now become an ancient artifact for others.”

“For others? Who are these others?” I asked. Then he said, “We found aliens in 2055. It turns out they were as friendly as we were. We worked together to be a greater civilization than others. We found out that there were more civilizations in our cluster, but everyone is not as friendly as we thought. War broke out. We joined a league of civilizations to fight others. Luckily, we won and took their resources and knowledge. For that reason, you are able to travel from galaxy to galaxy in a short period of time. They had a device called a wormhole generator. That’s the main reason we can travel so much faster.”

I was stunned hearing that and looked at him like a newborn baby. He coughed a little and said, “You know, diseases have now become a myth. Now, doctors study your genes and give you all the medicine you need at your birth, so you can’t have any diseases. Oh! I also forgot to tell you an interesting thing. Some planets, like Miser-3425, know our languages and cultures. I wondered how that was possible and learned that there was a golden DVD that was sent into space in 1977. It contained our languages and cultures. Thank God it landed on a civilized planet, or it would have been a waste. You know, we are still trying to find the edge of the universe. But the universe itself is expanding faster than the speed of light. Tell me, do you want to know anything?”

I replied with an astonished voice, “What about me? What happened to me?”

He thought of something and said, “In the year 2023, Russia dropped a nuclear weapon on third-world countries because hunger was rising, and carbon emission was getting out of hand. So they wanted to destroy half of the third-world countries. But some of the survivors were taken to the USA to recover them. As time goes you will be reborn and will know many things. Now I have to go. Do you need other things to know?”

“Wait! Wait!”, I stopped him. “What are they doing with my real mind?”

“OH! They are showing it to today’s generation like how your culture was.”

I got mesmerized and said, “I should go outside and enjoy the world before my mind goes out. I have passed 45,000 years just in a blink of an eye. It felt like a moment. Really, time flies faster than you think. I will be waiting for a rebirth where I will be able to be with my real mind forever. Until then, goodbye my friend”.

Without asking his name I set my temporary journey to knowing the unknown.

He also said goodbye to me and lastly added, “Yeah buddy time does fly faster than you think”.

Author details:

Name: Surav Sikder

Grade: BSMRSTU

Department: BSC(Engg.)