The following is written by 11 year old Andrew Martinez of Phoenix, Arizona. It is untouched and in its original formatting. Most amazing to me is that while most adults sequester themselves away inside, complain about the current situation of world events, and come up with even MORE excuses as to why they aren’t accomplishing the things they say they want to accomplish, this young man accesses creativity in the face of change. If only we could all use this amortization phase of our lives to create and innovate rather than focus on what is already behind us… If we are unable to, we may all be faced with the same existential regrets that Steve, Andrew’s main character, inevitably does. Well done, Andrew. Keep creating.
The Death Cure
By: Andrew Martinez
January 7, 2021: 1 year after the start of the virus
It was a normal day, Steve woke up, brushed his teeth, and went down to do his laundry. He’s done it a million times, the same repetitive process. This time though, he knew something was different, even if something was simply misplaced or moved, he knew something wasn’t right. He was slightly afraid when he heard a tiny voice, it seemed to be calling to him in the distance.
He thought it was his parents, but he knew it was impossible because they just left for work. Just in case, he checked the garage to see if their cars were here. He saw nothing, but when he turned around he saw a black-looking mist flowing from behind the washer. He slid the washer forward and climbed on top of it to see where that mist was coming from. He looked over the washer hanging on to the lid, but he forgot that the lid wasn’t very stable and while he was looking over, it opened.
Steve fell into the swirl of colors inside of that black mist. He tried gripping on to the floor but he couldn’t because of the pre-existing leak behind the washer. For a second, the voice was louder, as if it was right next to him. He fell from a solid three feet in the air onto a field of dead grass. He was knocked out, and after he finally woke up, his vision was blurry but saw what looked to be a fairly small figure hovering over him. He regained his vision and saw his dog, but that wasn’t the only thing he saw, he looked around and everything was destroyed and buildings were being consumed by plant life. The skies were brown and his dog started talking,
His dog’s name was Obi. “Where am I?” Steve asked. “You’re in 2026, April 3 to be exact.” He responded. “Why is everything like this?” Steve asked. “Because the cure you made, you didn’t produce it in time. Now, 98.5 percent of the population is wiped out.” “So this is all my fault?” Steve asked. “I’m afraid so.” Obi responded. “This watch, when the alarm goes off at 4 P.M. on April 4, if the cure isn’t produced, this will happen.” Obi said as he handed Steve the watch. “If things don’t go as planned, you need to set the date to right now, remember April 3, 2026.” Obi told him. Before Steve could talk he was teleported back to the laundry room and was flung against the wall. He pushed the washer back in place and got to work.
Before anything, Steve ate breakfast. He already had started on it before by putting some stuff together that scientists had figured out. All day he sat on his slightly worn out chair with his laptop and a notepad. It started off slow, then he dug deeper and tried harder. He was only able to approach such a big task because he always wanted to be a scientist and help people. No matter how impossible it seemed he kept trying. All night he stayed up, trying his best.
April 4, 2021
11:00 A.M.
¾ of the way done, not having moved much from his chair all night just staring at his mildly-bright laptop screen. This time was different than the rest of the night, he was confused, he hit a roadblock. With bags under his eyes and even without thinking he closed his laptop and passed out.
2:00 P.M.
In what felt like not even a second he woke up and suddenly checked his phone that was laying beside him. He was scared, slightly shivering, that billions of people could die, all because of him. Still extremely tired, Steve opened his laptop back up trying to speed through his work. Though he was still stuck he tried to work around it.
3:00 P.M.
He’d barely gotten anywhere since 11:00 and he was truly trying his hardest. Then it struck him, he figured it out, he got past the roadblock. Not even realizing the time, he got back to work.
3:50 P.M.
He was close to done, but not close enough. Steve checked the time, he was shocked. He knew he probably wouldn’t make it, but he still tried.
3:59 P.M.
Steve was so close he felt it. But then, then he heard it. The alarm had gone off. He spun the dial of the watch. He set it to April 3, 2026. The black mist appeared again but this time, it was surrounding him.
April 3rd, 2026
To Obi, Steve was only gone for a second. When Steve re-appeared, he sat down on the dead brown grass and closed his eyes, knowing it was all his fault.