There are so many things we take for granted, from the cup of coffee you drink every morning to the sandwiches you eat later in the day. Even the glasses of water we drink we take for granted. But what if you woke up one morning to find that it was all stolen away from you?
Working long hours was absolutely not what I signed up for, working a job in fast food. I expected a few hours a day and heading home with a livable paycheck. But here I was, surviving off of instant noodles and bottles of water from the store. Sure my eating habits weren't the best, but it was all I could afford to do.
I shrugged off the memories of a hard day's work and turned off my car. I grabbed my bottle of water I'd refilled at work and unlocked my door and turned on the lights to my living room. I felt my stomach grumble as I shut the door behind me. I should've grabbed something to eat while I was there.
I sat my keys and my drink on the kitchen counter and looked through my fridge. I was surprised by how empty it was. I was used to seeing it crammed full with as many cans of soda and leftovers as I could fit in there. Had I really gone through everything?
I shut the door and went over to my cabnets, and to my luck I found a couple cups of instant noodles. I'm not going to pretend I don't enjoy them, I love them. I took one from the counter and tore the lid off, putting it under the sink and filling it slowly, so that it didn't go over the line inside. I put it in the microwave and shut the door. I set the timer for five minutes and turned around to sit down and watch television.
At least that was my intent, for when I turned around, instead of being presented with my usual home, I was greeted with a pile of rubble that was completely unrecognizable. I was in awe and drowned in confusion. What had become of my home? And why was it daytime, a few moments ago it was a dark, moonless night sky. Now I was greeted with a slight cool breeze, the sun sitting bright overhead.
I was about to turn back to my microwave when I was interrupted by a voice.
"Hey you!" The voice exclaimed. I turned toward the voice to find it was coming from a man dressed in a green military uniform. "What are you doing out here?"
"I don't know how I got here," I tried to explain. I went on to tell him about my situation, how I just appeared here.
"Sir, I don't know if you take me for a fool or what. A tornado swept through here and destroyed everything in its path," he pointed to the long row of houses on my street that used to be there, now reduced to rubble. "It's a miracle you're even here right now."
He put his arm around me and walked me over to another man in the same uniform. "This is Lenny," the officer said. "He'll show you where you'll be staying for the next few months while we work to get this place cleaned up."
I went with the guy he introduced me to and he lead me into a jeep. Was it normal for people in this kind of situation to be given a place to stay? As he drove away I looked back to my microwave. It read 4:59.
Eventually, we arrived at a motel. It looked cheap with brick walls painted white, though it was hard to tell because so much painted had been chipped away with the years. I was given a key and shown to my room. After getting aquatinted with the room, the man left me here to collect my thoughts.
What had even happened? I asked myself. How could I have just suddenly appeared in the middle of a destroyed house? How could my microwave still be there? And how was it counting down? I had no answer to any of these questions. I became curious if there were any other survivors.
That was when I got a knock on the door. I answered it and came face to face with a man about my age with a dark beard starting to grow in with dark, shaggy hair on top of his head. He looked both sad and terrified.
"Can I help you?" I asked, a little freaked out by the guy.
"Are you the survivor they brought in today?" he asked, brushing some of the hair back that had fallen over his eyes. "I'm the guy they rescued yesterday."
"Yeah, they got me today." I replied. "Do you know what happened? One minute I was in my house making food, the next I was here."
The guy stared at me in disbelief for a few moments. I was about to laugh it off and say it was a joke to ease the tension between us when he told me he had experienced the same thing.
"I think I know exactly what happened," he replied. "The same thing happened to me. I was making some hot chocolate, because for me it was the middle of winter and freezing outside. I put my water in the microwave for like a minute. I tried going back to it to see if the microwave was still there. I saw it just in time to see it hit zero and disappear."
I was shocked by the story he told me. "Does that mean if I make it back to the microwave I might be able to make it out?" I asked, a little bit of excitement filling me.
"You might," he said. "I have no idea where it disappeared to. It could be even further into the future for all I know."
He leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear. "All I can tell you is good luck making it in. After I tried sneaking in there to get to my microwave yesterday, they put up huge barbed wired fences all over the place. The only way in is through all of the military guys."
After he said that he looked outside and darted for his motel room. How was I going to get in if they put those massive fences up? Then something hit me. I knew exactly how I was going to pull this off.
Night had fallen over the sky. It seemed like it had been a full day since I had been out here last, but if everything I thought about the microwave counting down was right, it was counting down seconds like they were minutes. And according to the clock back at the motel, it was five minutes until it would hit zero.
I ran to where I knew my house was at. It was a good thing this was the town I grew up in. I knew every road like the back of my hand. And I knew the hotel wasn't far from my house.
Finally, I reached the fencing that surrounded the houses. I took the bolt cutters I had out of my back pocket and began cutting away at the tall chain link fence. It was a difficult feat, using a ton of strength to break through. Finally, I made a wide enough gap in the fencing for me to squeeze through.
I made a run for where my house had been located. That's when I heard a man's voice hollering to me from the distance. "Stop right there!"
I looked in that direction and saw the man from earlier. I darted toward the middle of the street, between where the houses were. If any way to find my microwave, this was it. I looked all around me as quickly as I could. Then I spotted it. The microwave was just behind me. It was at 0:01.
I charged for the microwave and held on the handle for dear life. Or at least I tried before being tackled to the ground. I was pulled up by both arms and pulled away from the microwave. I fought desperately to get back to the microwave but it was no use. I was defeated. The clock hit zero and the microwave disappeared.
Working long hours was absolutely not what I signed up for, working a job in fast food. I expected a few hours a day and heading home with a livable paycheck. But here I was, surviving off of instant noodles and bottles of water from the store. Sure my eating habits weren't the best, but it was all I could afford to do.
I shrugged off the memories of a hard day's work and turned off my car. I grabbed my bottle of water I'd refilled at work and unlocked my door and turned on the lights to my living room. I felt my stomach grumble as I shut the door behind me. I should've grabbed something to eat while I was there.
I sat my keys and my drink on the kitchen counter and looked through my fridge. I was surprised by how empty it was. I was used to seeing it crammed full with as many cans of soda and leftovers as I could fit in there. Had I really gone through everything?
I shut the door and went over to my cabnets, and to my luck I found a couple cups of instant noodles. I'm not going to pretend I don't enjoy them, I love them. I took one from the counter and tore the lid off, putting it under the sink and filling it slowly, so that it didn't go over the line inside. I put it in the microwave and shut the door. I set the timer for five minutes and turned around to sit down and watch television.
At least that was my intent, for when I turned around, instead of being presented with my usual home, I was greeted with a pile of rubble that was completely unrecognizable. I was in awe and drowned in confusion. What had become of my home? And why was it daytime, a few moments ago it was a dark, moonless night sky. Now I was greeted with a slight cool breeze, the sun sitting bright overhead.
I was about to turn back to my microwave when I was interrupted by a voice.
"Hey you!" The voice exclaimed. I turned toward the voice to find it was coming from a man dressed in a green military uniform. "What are you doing out here?"
"I don't know how I got here," I tried to explain. I went on to tell him about my situation, how I just appeared here.
"Sir, I don't know if you take me for a fool or what. A tornado swept through here and destroyed everything in its path," he pointed to the long row of houses on my street that used to be there, now reduced to rubble. "It's a miracle you're even here right now."
He put his arm around me and walked me over to another man in the same uniform. "This is Lenny," the officer said. "He'll show you where you'll be staying for the next few months while we work to get this place cleaned up."
I went with the guy he introduced me to and he lead me into a jeep. Was it normal for people in this kind of situation to be given a place to stay? As he drove away I looked back to my microwave. It read 4:59.
Eventually, we arrived at a motel. It looked cheap with brick walls painted white, though it was hard to tell because so much painted had been chipped away with the years. I was given a key and shown to my room. After getting aquatinted with the room, the man left me here to collect my thoughts.
What had even happened? I asked myself. How could I have just suddenly appeared in the middle of a destroyed house? How could my microwave still be there? And how was it counting down? I had no answer to any of these questions. I became curious if there were any other survivors.
That was when I got a knock on the door. I answered it and came face to face with a man about my age with a dark beard starting to grow in with dark, shaggy hair on top of his head. He looked both sad and terrified.
"Can I help you?" I asked, a little freaked out by the guy.
"Are you the survivor they brought in today?" he asked, brushing some of the hair back that had fallen over his eyes. "I'm the guy they rescued yesterday."
"Yeah, they got me today." I replied. "Do you know what happened? One minute I was in my house making food, the next I was here."
The guy stared at me in disbelief for a few moments. I was about to laugh it off and say it was a joke to ease the tension between us when he told me he had experienced the same thing.
"I think I know exactly what happened," he replied. "The same thing happened to me. I was making some hot chocolate, because for me it was the middle of winter and freezing outside. I put my water in the microwave for like a minute. I tried going back to it to see if the microwave was still there. I saw it just in time to see it hit zero and disappear."
I was shocked by the story he told me. "Does that mean if I make it back to the microwave I might be able to make it out?" I asked, a little bit of excitement filling me.
"You might," he said. "I have no idea where it disappeared to. It could be even further into the future for all I know."
He leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear. "All I can tell you is good luck making it in. After I tried sneaking in there to get to my microwave yesterday, they put up huge barbed wired fences all over the place. The only way in is through all of the military guys."
After he said that he looked outside and darted for his motel room. How was I going to get in if they put those massive fences up? Then something hit me. I knew exactly how I was going to pull this off.
Night had fallen over the sky. It seemed like it had been a full day since I had been out here last, but if everything I thought about the microwave counting down was right, it was counting down seconds like they were minutes. And according to the clock back at the motel, it was five minutes until it would hit zero.
I ran to where I knew my house was at. It was a good thing this was the town I grew up in. I knew every road like the back of my hand. And I knew the hotel wasn't far from my house.
Finally, I reached the fencing that surrounded the houses. I took the bolt cutters I had out of my back pocket and began cutting away at the tall chain link fence. It was a difficult feat, using a ton of strength to break through. Finally, I made a wide enough gap in the fencing for me to squeeze through.
I made a run for where my house had been located. That's when I heard a man's voice hollering to me from the distance. "Stop right there!"
I looked in that direction and saw the man from earlier. I darted toward the middle of the street, between where the houses were. If any way to find my microwave, this was it. I looked all around me as quickly as I could. Then I spotted it. The microwave was just behind me. It was at 0:01.
I charged for the microwave and held on the handle for dear life. Or at least I tried before being tackled to the ground. I was pulled up by both arms and pulled away from the microwave. I fought desperately to get back to the microwave but it was no use. I was defeated. The clock hit zero and the microwave disappeared.
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