1st January 2000

1st January 2000

"Honk!!" *Shriek!!* I was awakened by the muffled sounds of chaos. When I looked out the window, everything was as calm as could be. I could see no movement at all in my neighbourhood - as usual. 'I guess it must have been a part of my dream' I thought to myself. After all the partying I did last night at my friend's New Year's Eve bash, who wouldn't have such dreams? After all, today was the turn of the century.

I then hobbled groggily downstairs to fix myself a cup of coffee. I called out for my parents but they weren't in. So, I assumed they had gone out to get something to eat. I then went back to my room to have a shower. After that, I wandered about aimlessly wondering where my parents had gone. 'They don't usually take such a long time' I thought to myself. As I was pacing about the room, my eyes caught hold of the computer. A sudden urge coursed through me and impulsively, my fingers reached for the power switch. I started checking my e-mail and suddenly, there was a soft beeping sound coming from my computer. 'Nothing can be wrong with this computer, it is after all Year 2000 compliant' I thought to myself. So, I paid no heed to it and tried moving my cursor about but nothing seemed to happen. After a while, a strange face appeared to me and started babbling nonsense. Then it said the few words I understood. "Surrender or earth shall be ours." I thought this "thing" had been sent through the e-mail by one of my friends, obviously meant as a practical joke. As I was trying to restart the computer, my power supply got cut off.

I tried checking the fuse box like my father always did when there was a black out but I didn't know what to do with it. So, I just closed it. Suddenly, I heard some noises coming from outside. I could not identify what these sounds were. So, as curious as I was, I decided to go check it out for myself. My curiosity was so great that I was willing to climb over my electric operated gate which was, unfortunately for me, 7 feet high. My parents had taken with them the key which could unlock the gate and make my life easier. As I am not much of an athletic person, it took me quite some time to climb over the gate. There were no longer beads of sweat on me, for now, they were flowing in streams down my body. All scratched and bruised, I walked about the neighbourhood trying to find out what the sounds were and where they were from.

As I was reaching the junction at my road, I saw some colourful lights blinking from some sort of vehicle. A type of vehicle I had never seen before. It was rather circular in shape and was balanced on two poles that were obviously very strong to be able to hold such a big vehicle. I had finally found the source of the sounds but there was a person who was standing beside it and he was smiling at me. He looked rather familiar. I think he resembled one of my uncles. When I looked closer, I was pretty sure it was my uncle. I was happy to see somebody around especially one whom I knew. He asked me to get into the vehicle and said that my parents had asked him to bring me to a certain special place for New Year's Day.

I happily got into the vehicle of his for I thought my parents had planned a surprise for me. When I was inside, I saw my whole family inside including my parents. They were all tied up and were screaming for me to get out as fast as I could. Too late! My "uncle" had already shut the door and bolted it. He then said that I would be the first to go. I didn't know what he meant by "go" until he took off his mask. His head was glowing a luminous green. This made me scream but this was not the worst part yet. I turned towards my family for help but then suddenly, their heads had turned to the same colour as his. I screamed even louder and shouted for help at the top of my voice. I banged at the sides of the vehicle and searched for a way out. By this time, my no-longer- smiling "uncle" had taken out a dagger and was coming straight for me. He was chanting some words that I no longer understood. I started pounding my fists harder and harder as he started walking nearer and nearer towards me and suddenly... *THUMP* I blinked a few times and to my own relief, I was on the floor of my bedroom.

I heard my mother calling out to me. I then went downstairs. "Happy New Year, honey! It's a new century already." Thank goodness 1st of January is nothing compared to what I had dreamt or... maybe not... after all, today isn't over yet - AIKS!