1 A.D.

This short story won the third prize in the Story Writing Competition of the MNREC College Magazine - SRIJAN 1997

“Tomorrow is 1 A.D.” – The message flashed on the computer screen of the unidentified celestial object named ‘CONBHAJAN’ in the unknown space approaching the earth at an enormous speed. Three robotic spirits working on a mission called ‘OPERATION PARTIAL DEATH’ were in search of a unique life, yet to be born – at a specific time 00:00:00 between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. Were they looking for me?

I lay unborn on the bank of the river of life, looking at the starless sky. From somewhere beyond the horizon, came a bright flying object emitting electromagnetic rays which in no time trapped me in a translucent Web with total vacuum all around. My power to move was gone. I could only feel them; perhaps, they were spirits, I was instantly blinded. 

They approached with the speed of light. I screamed. A voice reciprocated, “We’ve come for you; we need you for our mission – PARTIAL DEATH.” Unable to understand what was happening around me, I argued, “Who are you? How could you make me partially dead even when I was not born? And what on earth is partial death!!” 

Anon came the reply, “We come from outer space; We’re the unknown. ‘Partial death’ – man’s most mysterious, relentless and inevitable adversary. So far as you humans are concerned, you have been partially dead throughout and will continue to remain so” I pleaded, “Humans have always wanted to live. No one wants to die. Most of us would like to live forever. We, on earth know only two states – either a zero or a one. How can anything exist in between?”

“Being partially dead is nothing new to you all on earth. You have always been indulged in violence and never raised your voice against injustice or corruption. Throughout, you remain uncivilized and ignorant of whatever happened around you misused the power of thinking and continued to remain as animals. For a human, there is neither birth nor death at anytime. He has not come into being. Now isn’t that sufficient to convince you, you will never attain that state of one”, the spirits said.

I questioned, “ But then, the concept of ‘Science’ that our ancestors in the B.C. conceived of; was all that never to happen? Perhaps, we would be able to reach that state once we learnt ‘Science’. They said. “Of course, man would be gifted with Science only to uncover the mysteries of nature. Even then, he wouldn’t be able to clean up his heart and mind. Only if he could ever cut himself and see with his own eyes that he was the dirtiest creation in the whole universe. Even after thousands of inventions, human minds would be corrupt and human rights violated. Man would never practically implement science in his life, because his mind wouldn’t be clean to do so”.

Everything seemed so confusing that I finally gave up realizing that they were telling me the naked truth of life on earth, but I was optimistic that someday we would prove them wrong- the day we lived peacefully killing that unending desire to establish our superiority over the other, corruption would end and the urge to obtain power and master the universe suppressed. The time had come. I was made to wear a special death suit which would isolate me from human touch and then put into an orbital sort of arrangement that was rotating continuously. It was like the punishment of having to roll a massive stone up a hill, but each time the stone reached the summit, it rolled down again.

I asked them one last question, “When will I completely die?” “You will never die. But the day man learns to live for others and not for himself or his selected few, you will be born,” saying this, their voice grew fainter and fainter. I felt as if I was being driven into a deep hole with light of high intensity.

Suddenly, I opened my eyes only to find that everything had disappeared. A card hung on the wall wishing me “Happy New Year 1997.” I lay on my bed saying to myself, “Today is 1997 A.D.”. I wondered whether I had been sleeping for two thousand years. Only Jesus knows; don’t you, Jesus?”