Shatters in Space: Stories about Scientific Horrors and Cosmic Threats

7. Nothing's The Same

If I tell you this, then you'd think I'm crazy. It's a fear that's been in my mind since that morning. As far as I know, you'll try to get me admitted to some mental hospital. And if I tell you, then the strange events that have plagued me since that fateful morning will come to light. However, it's a risk that I'll be happy to take. You see, I can't keep on doing this for very much longer. The mental strain that's been put on me has been exhausting, chipping away at my sanity for several years now. I can't sleep at night anymore, the thought of having to do this for the rest of my life brings me to my knees. I'm at my breaking point is what I'm trying to say. Hopefully, you'll just listen to me.

Like I said, it was the morning when this all started. I had woken up to what seemed like a normal world. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was my normal everyday bedroom, a computer on the far right desk, sunlight filtering through the drapes that hung over my window. Birds were chirping in the background. I knew it was going to be a great day when I saw my beautiful wife cooking breakfast down in the kitchen, with my daughter watching a children's cartoon. It all seemed normal. Like every other morning, like any other day, like my everyday life. I kissed my wife on the cheek when she noticed me and my daughter ran up to me and hugged me so tight.

Everything seemed usual until I noticed some things that were different. When I got into my car and drove off for work, I moved my hand to turn on the radio to listen to some music. There was no radio in the car, only another airbag. At first, I didn't know what to think, I had no reason to suspect that anything was off that morning. However, the other differences brought me to my senses.

When I got to work, there were no elevators, no stairs, just this device that looked sort of like a circular pad with symbols carved into it. I now know that the device is a teleportation pad. There are no other races except whites, no Asians, no Africans, nothing but white people with blue eyes and blond hair. The countries and nations of Asia, South America, Europe, are all nonexistent. People use cars as antiques, not the standard mode of transportation. They use these spheres that roll and glow and speed for transportation. When I looked up African Americans, I was directly linked to an article on a history website.

It turns out that there was Africa, and Japan, and those other non-American countries back during the Cold War. The United States got hold of some advanced technology from a crashed extraterrestrial craft in the arctic and reengineered it. The United States created weapons far more advanced than the alien technology and blasted the other countries till they were nonexistent. The United States is the only country left now, thriving, controlling, inhabiting what's left of the world. Due to the technology, they have devices and machines that can manipulate reality and time, people can uplink into the Internet with their minds, scientists already cloned and biologically engineered new species.

I was confused, mostly due to the fact that the world is so different than before. I had a million questions. Why is the world so different? Why and how am I the only human here who's the normal one? What else is so different? It's been several years since that morning and i do have an explanation for this difference. I don't know how but I had slipped through some glitch in reality, a man sized hole that connected my world and this world. This world isn't the same as mine, mine being the one where no actual violence was used during the Cold War. It's some alternate timeline, another dimension, where everything's different yet the same. I didn't want to draw suspicion to my mental state by acting like an alien to this world, so I decided to fake it. I faked knowing how to use the teleportation pads, how to act when asked about history, how to think. It's been really exhausting for me to play this though, I don't want to stay here any longer.

I want to go home.