The new Earth is a motionless planet that is nearly incapable of sustaining life, devastated by disease, nuclear warfare, geological and electromagnetic alteration or obstruction, and a major subtraction of natural resources, and as a result, the hu...
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I recline in my beach chair, my closed eyes protected from the ultraviolet radiation by my sunglasses, enjoying the indescribably beautiful weather and letting the sun alter the color of my bare skin. To think that more than a week of my idyllic getaway remains is amazing; this is undoubtedly the best sunbath of my life. I cannot wait to look at myself in the mirror and see my fresh tan. Drifting in and out of a light doze, I am practically oblivious to the intense heat, but not to the wonderful sensation of the sun shining down on my body. I plan to surf the enormous breaking waves sometime this afternoon, when the tide is still decently lofty.
All of a sudden, a megatsunami of excruciating anguish rips through my eardrums, as if they've shattered into millions upon millions of tiny pieces, and that is almost instantaneously accompanied by a sandpapery buzzing sound that can only mean something immensely bad; simultaneously, a wave of increasingly unprecedented heat swallows me up. It's as if I've suddenly been placed in an oven set to broil. When I scream, I can only hear the buzzing in my ears, signifying that I have likely been deafened.
Daring to open my eyes, I struggle to a sitting position despite the overpowering heat and agony and take in my surroundings. Everyone on the beach has stopped whatever activities they have previously been doing and are cowering on the ground. I turn around and feel my stomach twist itself into a knot as I see the mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke and flames ballooning into the blue Hawaiian sky. Reinforced buildings crumble like sandcastles as the shockwave slams into them with unbelievable force, sentencing them to obliteration as they're vaporized. It surges toward me at an incredible speed, and I know that I am undoubtedly condemned. My mind is devoid of all emotions, and my eyes are eternally focused on the mushroom cloud and approaching shockwave that will atomize me instantaneously. I cannot react, cannot even let out a quiet whimper of terror.
Scant seconds later, the roaring wave that carries an unprecedentedly colossal amount of energy and heat smashes into my body, sending through it a wave of nauseating pain, the severity of which is so enormous that although it only lasts for a second, it feels like every billionth of that second is equivalent to the duration of millions upon millions of millennia. The loathsome sensation of my bodily structure and substances being transformed from solids or liquids to gases is so agonizing, it's practically my new consistency. Then, it's as if the universe has switched off the lights, blackening itself until its imminent destruction.
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My eyelids spring open so quickly, it seems humanly impossible, and I simultaneously suck in a massive breath of air, bolting upright in my bed at speeds numerous times quicker than I can possibly recall. Panic spins like a malfunctioning ferris wheel inside me, causing my heart to pound like a sledgehammer against my ribs and transforming my breath into terrified, shuddering gasps. My forehead is slick with a sheen of perspiration.
It takes me a few seconds to realize that what just happened seconds prior to my abrupt awakening was little more than a nightmare mustered by the trauma encircling my brain. I lower my forehead forward, placing it against my open palms. I grit my teeth from the stress that I am currently experiencing.
