I am Jake, I am a 14 year old who is always curious about the past and the future. Although I am living in the 22nd century where we are highly developed in science and technology and have the means to see the past and the future through the time machines I am unaware of the REAL PAST. Because, our elders prevent us from using the time machines and when asked why we cannot use them, they tell us the gory and barbaric stories of the past which if we kids get to know, they can disrupt our present as well as future. As scary as it may sound, I really wanted to see the past specially to verify the events mentioned in our history books.

The era which made me the most curious was the year around 2020 in the 21st century. My teachers had told me horrific stories of thousands and lakhs of people dying each day due to some pandemic. They would narrate the events like a horror story till we got goosebumps and some kids peed in their pants. I had my old grandma, who was 112 years old and had a weak memory, although at times her memory could be sharper than the computers. I knew she had witnessed the phase of THE PANDEMIC but whenever I asked her about it, she would first smile and then fall back into her world of dreams.

Therefore, one night when our time machine lay still in the backyard garage, I gathered strength and sped off to see the past. I started the engines afraid that the sound might wake up my parents but the luck was with me and I just had to choose the year I wanted to visit. After giving it a second thought, I turned the time to the 2020s. With a few lights striking and my mind boggling, I landed with a thump in the middle of a building which looked like an old-fashioned hospital and there lay the ghostly sight of hundreds of dead bodies being rushed out of the hospital. This was exactly how I had been told, the scene sent shivers down my spine and prevented me from moving. Before I could know, I had already made a move and rushed out of the building. Just a little far stood a group of journalists who claimed to report about the recent 100 deaths from the country's one of the most reputed hospitals.

Without a second's delay, I made way towards the streets that were nearly empty with just a few policemen and some ambulances driving past. Slowly and unknowingly I entered a street that looked somewhat familiar yet ancient. There were houses stacked next to each other with one house through which I could smell a familiar fragrance of rainbow cake, the one that my grandma used to make a few years ago. Unknowingly, I entered the house, which was richly decorated with antique showpieces and in the hallway there hung a loving picture of a young girl probably in her late teenage years. I saw the lovely maiden running around the house in white shorts and t-shirt with abstract designs. The house was bustling with the daily work of cooking and cleaning. Life was a complete turn in the house from what it was outside. The members of the house then sat together for their meal and the girl exclaimed, “One thing for which I am grateful to this lockdown is that we are getting the family time that we had missed for so long.”

I myself didn't realise when I had started smiling, but my happiness didn't last long, suddenly the man of the house lost breath and felt uneasy. What happened later was a complete chaos and he was left alone in a room by himself. This was very strange to me as I knew that ill people were to be taken care off. He was served like an untouchable and could only be seen from at a distance. 

Within a few days, the man's health detoriated and suddenly on a rainy morning he took his last breaths. The family mourned his death but what struck me was that young maiden who held her mother's hand and said, “I will take all responsibilities.” I quickly fast forwarded to a few months where ai saw the same girl doing as many as 4 jobs to run her family. Running ahead in time, I again saw her achieving progressively in her work. This taught me how the pandemic was not a dark phase alone, there was always someone lighting the lamp on the other end to brighten the future.

I went back to the girl's house where I saw her scratching a small sentence, just before I could read the sentence I heard a beep from my time machine which indicated that I had to return or else I would be left in the past forever. I quickly rushed back and left the time machine in the garage and went looking for my grandma to share my experiences with her.

After I had narrated the events, she smiled and took me to the back of the house and pointed to a broken piece of plaster. It has a few words scratched on them…

It read, “You need to believe in yourself to make others believe in you.”