The Land of Distortion

Mr Simto was with me since the beginning of my birth. His grumpy voice, his cold demeanour and his bushy tail. He always had his boots on. A perfect Siamese Cat. But he was quite different. As far as I know, he was different from all the cats that I had seen in the books.Yes, he was the last cat of his type. He was gifted to me by my Uncle, in the 3rd year of Distortion. My uncle once told me that Simto is a celestial cat. He found him at the great crater of Magnus. The place where 25 years ago, Humans and Ximans fought the final interplanetary battle. Ximans are the most advanced species of the Milky Way. They are a level 5 species, and whatever information I have gathered from the local outposts, they are already using their Sun to its fullest. Last month, they have consumed the remaining fuel of their sun. So they may shift their Energy harvester towards the Earth’s. Humans went to war with them at least 20 times, and every time we have lost our planetary soldiers. We lost, not because we had obsolete weapons or we lacked the required techniques. Instead, we had the most sophisticated machines and an external threat prevention program. We lacked compassion, the most primal human quality. And now, there is a severe crunch of nutritious food. Global exports are now minimal. Every country is saving for itself. Radioactive diseases are prevalent. The only saviour is owning an R- suit. R-Suits are like blood and sweat. Large placards, hoarders are placed in every corner of cities, “Please carry R-suit:Your lifesaver”. “The air kills you. Suit and save yourself”.They say that going outside in the open air without an R-suit, is like receiving more than 5 roentgen per second of radioactive dose. Meanwhile, these suits are extremely expensive, a luxury that only a rich can afford. Poverty has forced the majority of people around the world to cover up themselves with handmade suits. A cheaper but dangerous option. It has led to the reduction of life expectancy but at least it has enabled some children to dream of growing up. Either Rich or poor, during all these years, various civil wars have fractured the morale of the common public.The winters are nearly gone. In the books, I had seen the picture of snowfall. Now it’s only, burning Sun in the day and a putrid smell of carcasses in the evening. On the top of the bookshelf, I had kept the Automated season changer unit, another gift from my uncle. Whenever, I feel like, with a click of the switch, I can simulate seasons inside my room. I can even mix two or more seasons. Currently, am in Spring. I can enjoy Cherry Blossoms and sweet sunshine, whenever I want. But outside, things are disastrous.

In these detrimental conditions, the attack of Ximans made our life a catastrophe. All the money was poured in to resist the attack.This saw people shifting allegiance with small rebel groups that supported the attack of Ximans. In reality, the earth was fighting a two-front battle, a battle with the inner cracks and a battle with the outside hurricane. My parents and uncle were posted in the ‘Crater of Magnus’ as Instrument engineers.They and their team were helping our planetary soldiers with necessary inputs and with State of art lasers to fight the aliens. As per my Uncle’s account, that final war wiped out the majority of humans. And in that war only, I lost my parents. My uncle always points out that, he would have been dead on that day, but Mr Simto saved him. Mr Simto resurrected my Uncle, through his whiskers. His whiskers are energy tentacles, and from that, he can revive lost life. My uncle believes Simto is not even a Cat. He is a ‘Moupo’, the celestial alien. As far as I know, he is just a Cat. His meows are extremely shaky like someone is gargling and laughing at the same time. I have taught him two-three English words. He can now form broken sentences. In common parlance, the beginning of the colony of Ximans is known as the Year of Distortion. I was born in the 3rd year of Distortion. While living alone with Mr Simto, I never desired any foreign company. Even if he turns extremely weird and protective of his food, I have always seen a friend inside him. Occasionally he uses his powered tentacles to ease my headache, as sometimes I wonder how mysterious and mystical his powers might be. Nevertheless, we have developed a strong bond, and we can even communicate through mental cues. Maybe he did transfer some of his powers to me.

Today is my 23rd birthday. I always wanted to visit the Magnus Cemetery.The wreath of my parents lies there along with my Uncle’s. My uncle lost his life in mysterious circumstances. According to Ximans, he had kidnapped a group of Ximan citizens. He demanded to see to the departure of Ximans from the earth. In retaliation, Ximans killed him to save the public. I don’t believe the theory. My uncle was not a coward who will use citizens as bait. He was the strongest person I have ever known. During the first Interplanetary war, he fought with Ximans and saved thousands of humans trapped inside a bunker. His stories are an inspiration for many of us. The books mentioning his deeds are banned in this land, but we humans secretly smuggle the books around. It gives us hope and power. A hope that the rule of Ximans will crumble soon.

I dressed up in brightly lit clothes and wore that precious R-suit. I prepared my backpack, filled with a bunch of Tulips, a can of Cat food, pair of headphones, a caged water bottle and a book by Paulo Coelho. I also prepared a glass cubicle. It can be attached to the backpack.Whenever I go out Mr Simto always sits inside the cubicle. Two wires, leading out of the cubicle is attached to my headphone. It enables my cat to talk with me, free of noise. With this heavy suiting, I came out of the bunker. Scorching sun, dry air and an eerie silence had covered the streets.The streets were mostly empty, as Ximans used to remain in their highly fortified castles at the centre of the town.Whatever Humans left were either underground or jailed in Distortion prisons. No one knew how Ximans used to keep an eye on Humans and their movements. At night Ximan soldiers followed a strict curfew to disregard any rebellious bubbles out of the underground bunkers. No one knew, how Ximans look. Because whatever operations they conducted on earth, was always under a shell of black mist.They knew theology and determinism.They somehow always knew how every war would end, and it led them to victory every single time. Some say that they were expert in manipulation and future psychology. Their mental abilities surpassed the human mental abilities by more than a mile. But, one thing that always stands out in Ximans was their unity. I still remember the words of my Uncle: “Ants and Ximans are equivalent. If you want to know how Ximans work, watch out for the colony of red ants in your backyard. They work in unison, just to make sure the Queen survives”. Those words still reverberate in my mind. And I wonder, if they work like ants, do they have an all-powerful queen? And if she does exist, where might be she located? Is it possible if we destroy the queen, Ximans will fall back? As I was walking and pondering these thoughts, I saw the entrance of the Magnus cemetery. It was in a dilapidated condition. The wooden pillars were rotten. There was no sign of any life. The roads leading to the cemetery was pitch black, with decomposed bodies of animals, humans were lying on either side. The scene was a perfect capture for a horror movie. Nevertheless, I moved inch by inch, making sure I don’t crush the perished bodies. Suddenly my earphones, filled with a familiar voice. Mr Simto was trying to converse with me. I quickly adjusted the volume of my suit system, lowered down the music and increased the volume coming out of the glass cubicle. My cat again spoke calmly. “ You. Same. Path. Die. Buried. Here.” I was not surprised by my cat’s nonchalant way of talking. He speaks truth and truths are spiky. When we hug, these spikes, we injure ourselves. But, in that process, our body adapts to the spikes, and further these spiky truths only benefit us in the long run. I love spikes. I love truth. “Yes, I know.The cemetery is the only one in the town. But I don’t want to be cremated in this decaying place.A place under the clear sky beside a huge ocean looks fine for me.” As I finished my sentence, Mr Simto started laughing. His voice sounded like an old lady. He replied. “Ocean has gone.Water gone. Sky was gone. You come. Cat world.” I sighed. I didn’t speak a word after that. Even if his words seem hard, he was correct. The oceans had dried up 50 years ago much before the war between planets.Water is now the most expensive commodity.That is why the water bottle inside my bag was chained firmly to avoid any Human attacking me in search of this nectar.Whatever water supply we get from the local stores, is chemically made. We have abundant Hydrogen. Courtesy of the changed atmospheric composition. Hydrogen and methane occupy a greater percentage than nitrogen and oxygen. In reality, the presence of oxygen is negligible.For water needs, every year Ximans transfer oxygen-carrying spaceships, from their planet to ours. And for respiration, thanks to the gas filters over the R-suit. The quality of the oxygen filtered is worst, but at least we are breathing.The skies are dark and gloomy. Thick clouds of methane cover the upper atmosphere. Sometimes, we get to see acetic acid rain. Peculiar phenomena, but overall the skies are extremely infectious. I was also delighted. My cat invited me to his Cat world. Indeed, I want to escape this cruel reality, and dissolve myself into the world of magic. A world where, I can sleep on greens, a world where I can drink the streams, a world where I can eat the juicy apples and feel that sweet spring sunlight kissing my cheeks. I will walk down the flowery road of Chamomile with Mr Simto.There he will be able to catch fishes and play with rats.There he will be able to make friendships with other Siamese cats.And I will sit beside the riverbank, listening to the eternal sounds of waves crashing over rocks. A sharp piercing voice broke my rosy daydreams. It was Mr Simto. He was meowing at his highest pitch. I got terrified as this is the first time his meows are excruciatingly painful. I realised he was getting anxious about something. I quickly removed my backpack from my shoulders and opened the door of the glass cubicle. Suddenly he jumped outside without caring for the ambient radiations. He ran in one particular direction. As if he had got something. I shouted aloud and ran after him. I was not caring whatever things I was crushing below my feet, as I was worried that the radiations will soon kill my cat. As I race towards him, I saw him, in front of a shining silver pillar. He was digging the soil vigorously. I was shocked. First my cat’s behaviour and second that alien-looking silvery pillar. By the time I might have deduced what’s happening, a loud clinking sound echoed in the cemetery. As if some machines are approaching in my direction. I got fearful and I ran towards my cat to lift him.

Again, the same clinking sound came, but now it was coming from my side. Mr Simto had activated something.The results of which were not faithful.The ground opened wide as if the earth’s crust was crumbling down.The silver pillar got detached from the ground and it moved towards the sky. Soon a flash of intense light pierced out from the bottom of the pillar and a set of levers started moving.The light was bright enough to dazzle the whole cemetery. In a matter of seconds, I experienced the ground was going away from me. All the dead bodies, decayed matters lost their gravitational force. I was up in the air. A dust storm accompanied the chaos. I was struck mid-air gasping for breath as numerous silver pillars emerged out of the gap in the ground.They started encircling me.This was the moment when I realised that Ximans were creating a network. They are communicating with the Queen. My intuition came true. From each of the pillars, black mists oozed outside. And there I saw the extreme transformation. Just like a caterpillar discard its worm stage to become that winged butterfly, similarly, Mr Simto metamorphosed into the darkest and the blackest of all mist. My uncle was right. Mr Simto was not an ordinary cat. He was an alien. He was the Queen. The Queen of Ximans. Long tentacles emerged out of his indistinguishable body, and other black mists connected to him like a network of a maze.The storm was miraculously gone.The light coming out of the main pillar vanished. There was an eerie silence. The queen was looking through me, and I was looking through her. The queen released some mists towards my face. It hovered around near my eye. As I gathered the courage to speak, suddenly the mists entered my mouth and choked me to deep sleep.

I woke up to the sound of the ticking of a huge clock. Tick tock. Tick tock. I quickly analysed my state. In the deepest portals of ground, I found myself perfectly ham shackled on an electronic podium. I was inside a glass cubicle. And surprisingly it looked similar to the glass cubicle that I had made for Mr Simto. On the other side, I saw the Queen. The blackest mist. She was inside another cubicle. My heart was beating at a rapid pace. I was just trying to ascertain what would happen next. The queen finally spoke. The voice was similar to that of Mr Simto but now it was polished and refined. “We have come from the centre of this galaxy. Initially, we also had the same dreams as you. We also believed in utopia. We used to plant trees and eat whatever food those plants fed us.We used to take the energy from our Sun and we lived peacefully until we were attacked by nearby planets. They looted us, devastated our resources, killed our people and made us realise that Utopia is something which you can easily sell.You can sell utopia and earn millions. People love false dreams. Since lies are like a soft cushion, no one prefers spiky truth. So, we decided to embrace the spiky truth. The truth that just being a level 1 species in this whole cosmos, will eventually wipe out our existence. We worked for hundreds of years. We failed, we suffered major civil wars, but eventually, we reached the pinnacle of advancement. Now we can directly harness the energy of the whole Sun. We came to earth, in search of new habitation. Our idea was of coexistence. But, humans never believed us. Indeed humans never believed themselves. Amusing species. One of the major disadvantages of our life is the need for soul transmission. I am the earliest queen of Ximans and am simply changing bodies.A queen needs that to sustain her whole colony.These all mists you see, derive energy from my soul. Coming to your planet, I took a temporary shelter in the Siamese cat’s body. I was weak. But when your uncle found me and took me to you, I realised I found my host. But I was weak and I need the silver pillar in the Magnus Cemetery to activate myself. I was curious as to how you will treat me. Indeed you showed compassion and mercy.You made me your friend and you realised we have developed a deep bond.You named me, fed me, clothed me and taught me. But, human emotions are the blockade in the stream of development. My whole colony sustenance depends on my soul transference.You might think, as to why I am hijacking your soul since you have kept me safe. If we haven’t reached the pinnacle of development and if Humans had received such powers, they would have eliminated us in a matter of seconds. Even before we reached you, you were fighting amongst yourself. You were killing each other at the expense of growth. Humans didn’t spare their kind, how could they have spared us? We needed to survive and we competed with your kind and we won. I think I am ready for the soul transmission process. I will give you a moment to gather your emotions.You will not die, but you will become the core of my soul.” As she stopped talking, I fixed my gaze towards the corner of the cubicle. It was a screen showing a live feed of a separate cubicle where Ximans were analysing my backpack. My tulips were crumbled, the cat food was spread on the floor. They carefully handed the water bottle.They were curiously turning the pages of the book. With each turn, the content of the book was displayed on the other side of the screen with its Unintelligible translation. As pages by pages they explore, my gaze got fixed on a particular sentence.A sentence by Paulo Coelho.

“Does a leaf, when it falls from the tree in winter, feel defeated by the cold?

The tree says to the leaf:

“That’s the cycle of life.You may think you’re going to die, but you live on in me. It’s thanks to you that I’m alive because I can breathe. It’s also thanks to you that I have felt loved because I was able to give shade to the weary traveller.Your sap is in my sap; we are one thing.”

As I finish reading the lines, I hear the approaching glass vessel.The queen was inside waiting for the transfer process. I closed my eyes. Warm fluids were pushed through my veins. And as it happened, I felt drowsy. I slowly got submerged into the ocean of ecstasy. There it is my dreamland. The sparkling clean water from the streams, the green pastures and Mr Simto sleeping on my lap. Mr Simto looked onto me and with his cutest voice, he said, “ Welcome Home.Welcome to the Land of Distortion”.

AS WE BREATHE 

Yesterday I released my pet rat into the woods. I looked at his tiny pink feet, mutilated by his own urine and shit. He slowly moved out from the cage. He was lethargic. In a broken coconut shell I offered him water. His tongue kissed the surface of the water; first time looking himself in the ripples. I was observing him carefully. I thought that he will now run into the jungle but I was wrong. Instead he look upon me. His eyes was watery. I felt as if something is piercing my heart. He was looking me in astonishment, his gaze was fixed on me. Perhaps he was in a state of shock or may be he was too excited to touch the soil with his bare feet, that day I realize my heart. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. Those were the tears of guilt and shame. My pet rat finally bid his farewell. All these years i had captured the breath of my rat. He was with me but his soul was not. But yesterday my rat again started breathing. The breath on which I was holding an authority. I don't know if he cursed me or has given me blessing, I am sure he become complete. He become complete when he received his freedom. Freedom on which all of us are living. And today you want to capture us. You want to take our breath. This morning my mother kissed my forehead. She said only one thing to me- "We will be together forever." 

And yes you invade us, you kill us but we will sustain. The sunlight that reach planet earth nourishes each and every individual. There is no wall, there is no restriction to use that sunlight. The moon that glows at night,is same for the rich and same for the poor. The rivers that flows on the chest of earth, quench our thirst. This is the freedom of my planet. Don't steal that freedom from us. Don't take our souls with you.  You can't invade our desires, you can't invade our emotions, for us its the bond we share which makes us human. Freedom is the breath of our soul, as we breathe we breathe freedom. The moment you invade us, you will invade our breath. This planet will breath either freedom or sleep its death. Let us breathe. This is the independence day of our planet because first time humanity has spoken there heart out. In unison our voice will bleed and in unison our emotions will bleed  to save our life ,our breath and our freedom. Give us our freedom.Its all we wanted. Its ours birthright.