The Future

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I write to you, my brother, to describe the most strange and peculiar site I have encountered within the reaches of my earthly life. I have no explanation for what I have seen. I have kept this all to myself for the past few months, but from the day which I first laid eyes on it, I have had dreams, or rather, nightmares. I keep thinking about it… it seeps into my daily life. It haunts me.

I can no longer stay silent. Even if you do not believe a word of my story, I must share it with you:

I was walking down a street in Chicago. Though I cannot for the life of me remember which one, I am certain it was one that I had never travelled before. I was going on my usual sightseeing trips, of course. But on this particular street… something was wrong. The air had gone thin, thinner than usual. A small storm had begun to set in, and the sky above me turned gray and misty. I could hear the howling of the wind in the distance.

I began to turn the other direction, however, as I did, I was met by yet another street I did not know— which was impossible, as I had to have just crossed it. As my bearings were thrown to the winds, I started to panic. I ran down this unfamiliar street, and then down another alleyway… before I was transported to the other world.

You have asked me what future I want for the world.
Across the street, all is empty.
The cars are gone.
On the ground, things are much worse.

To start off with, I could liken it to the city which I reside in… but dreadfully off kilter in a way that I cannot yet fully describe. The usual city skyscrapers seemed to have… grown somehow. They shot past the clouds and seemed to shoot even further into the sky than seemingly possible. Furthermore, they were missing the majority of their windows… Some buildings didn’t even seem to have doors.

The street I stood on was wrapped in a dense smog of some sort which impaired my vision greatly. With each step I took, I coughed harder and harder, struggling to find any breathable air. Confused, I stumbled into the next street, which was much the same. More buildings— if you can call them that— sprouted into the heavens above with no regard for earthly law. Some didn't even seem to be real buildings, just concrete slabs in the façade of an actual structure. It was as though they were cruel imitations of what we would call skyscrapers, astray to the very nature of their own existence.

I continued down the street until I eventually made it to a highway, which was raised high enough to the point where I could escape the dense fog and get a good look at the “city” I was in. I was horrified.

I have given it some thought.
The buildings are missing their windows.
The drivers have abandoned their machines.
All is covered in a thick mist.

There were no cars. No people. The advertisements and signs that hung over every building, billboard, and street sign were barren. The colors were washed out, all in differing shades of black and white. It was as though Chicago had entered Limbo, or Hell.

For a while, I sat next to the railing on the highway and waited for something to happen. But all was still; not even the clouds in the sky moved. The wind that had engulfed me at the start of my journey was completely still now.

As I recuperated from my shock, I noticed a sign of movement on the streets below. Something— or someone— had entered one of the more normal buildings. By the time I had registered it, the front door was still flapping shut.

My heart raced as I sprinted towards the structure down below. Surely, I would get answers to all of my questions, yes?

And I finally have an answer.
The skyscrapers have been replaced by pillars of stone, which touch the clouds.
The highway is empty.
White blobs crawl against the pavement, looking for food.

But as I entered the unlabeled and empty building, I realized that whatever it was… it was not human. I cannot describe it to you, brother. Its appearance was so shocking to me— so otherworldly and hellish— that I ran out of the building before it had even noticed I was there. To this day, there is not an animal on this earth that resembles the demon I had seen— and trust me, I have looked for one.

I sank against the sidewalk not far from the horror I had just encountered. I was tired. I was afraid. I was alone.

By this point, the only way I could rationalize what I was encountering was by assuming it to be a dream, which it still may have been. I began to close my eyes, pinch myself— anything to wake me up from the nightmare I had entered. But for some time, none of it worked…

…Until I spotted a door. Not unlike the others, but with a glowing, bright light shining at its sills. It was the entrance to yet another unmarked building, but something about it intrigued me. I slowly approached it, and opened the handle…

And I was home.

I think about what I have seen constantly. It invades my life and my dreams… I no longer know what to do.

I urge you to write back to me as soon as you possibly can. I need your advice.

-James.

This is what I see for the future:
And the sky is gray.
And all the billboards say: Save us.
They were once human.

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