HE WOKE up in the morning,
stood up and dressed,
went to the market for shopping.
The market was closed.
He looked at the other market across the street.
Surprisingly, it was closed too!
He checked his memory.
It wasn’t holiday.
He looked around.
All shops were closed.
There was nobody except himself.
He tried to look at his watch but it wasn’t in his arm.
The silence was so disturbing.
Was there a coup or something?
He walked to the main road.
No sound at all.
Suddenly he was scared of a big snake passing by hissing.
A snake wandering on the main road of the city!
What was that?
He suddenly thought of his family.
He needed to call them.
Then he turned his way back to home.
He froze when he saw a huge lizard coming out from the building.
There was an invasion of wild animals in the city.
He shyly ascended the stairs,
entered to his home right ahead.
He looked at the phone.
It wasn’t working.
He started to worry.
What was happening?
There had to be an explanation for this nonsense.
He pushed the button of the TV.
It wasn’t working too.
He checked with the lights
There was no electricity.
Now he was in panic.
He went to the balcony,
back in with fear.
There was a huge scorpion on balcony.
He checked with the phone again.
No sound.
It was so stressing.
Then he looked through the window.
His eyes were looking for somebody.. for some ‘human being’.
His father, his mother, his brother.. what were they doing?
He had to go to them at all costs,
got in the car and rode,
hit a big dog on the road.
He was like crazy.
There was nobody in a city of millions.
Except himself..
Where were all those people?
What was happening?
At last, he came to the district he was born.
Everything was in their proper place but people were not there.
He stopped in front of the building,
just opened the door but he had to close it again.
There was a huge spider on the windshield.
He entered the building,
ran up the stairs,
tried to ring the bell.
I wasn’t working.
He broke in.
Nobody was there.
Except ants..
His father, his mother, his brother.. They were not there..
Where did they go?
He started to cry.
Was there a nuclear catastrophe?
Ok.. but why only people are absent?
All other organisms were there.
He even saw animals he only saw in encyclopaedias before,
in most unexpected places..
For a moment, he thought that he has gone crazy.
In a moment of the blink of the eye, they vanished.
How could that be?
Was that a dream?
Then he saw thousands of ants under his feet
and left the house.
He saw the snake hissing on the street again,
got in the car in fear.
He couldn’t understand all of this.
They should have left the city for some reason..
But no..
Everything was standing as they are.
He couldn’t think logically anymore.
Were they dead?
He entered the graveyard he noticed while passing by with his car.
He got the feeling that he should do so
and walked looking at the gravestones.
All his friends and family members were dead.
He didn’t want to believe it
but they were dead.
Then he saw his brother’s grave.
Next to him there were his mother’s and father’s.
How could this be?
He talked to them yesterday on phone.
How could they die all together?
He didn’t want to believe it,
then he looked at the graves once more.
It was true.
All dead.
He was alone
and was surrounded with a horrible suffering.
He saw the word ‘individual imprisonment’ carved on his mother’s gravestone.
While looking at the grave with wet eyes, he noticed that he could see through the soil.
His sight became keen.
All the animals he happened right before were within the grave.
He feared.
He walked to the next grave.
This was his father’s.
‘Eternal Happiness’ was written on his gravestone.
When he looked at his grave, he noticed a door-way opening towards inside.
It was like a window of a marvellous palace.
There was an indescribably beautiful scene
which looked like the paradise.
He paced to the next grave.
This one was his brother’s.
The word ‘Eternal Separation’ was written in his gravestone.
Nothing could be seen within that grave,
nothing but complete darkness.
It was like a bottomless pit devouring everything, even his gaze.
He was terrified.
If he would look in that pit a bit longer he felt that he could fall in there too.
He walked to the next grave.
What was that?
He looked himself than to the gravestone again.
Yes, yes, he was standing next to his own grave.
So he was dead.
He saw the writing ‘individual imprisonment’ carved on the gravestone.
All the animals he happened right before were within the grave.
This was the last day which doesn’t have its night. A difficult consequence was awaiting him.
Everything was so exact and keen.
Now, he knew.
He wished all this to be a dream.
Then he woke up.
He was soaking wet in his own sweat.
It was late in the night.
It was such a wake up..
Translated by Ömer Özyaşlı
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