Sunday, 8 March 2020
Melbourne University, Australia
The volleyball game began when Keneric slapped the ball, sending it crashing to the other side. He felt amazing now that exams had ended. Still, a part of him was dying to visit home and his family after such a long semester. Sadly, there was one more month left before official autumn vacations started. So, with nothing good to do, he and a few friends decided to play volleyball inside the spacious gymnasium right after breakfast.
And so it began…
"Mine!" Keneric yelled, diving for a receive. But the ball bounced off his forearm at an unnatural angle before drifting towards a random side. Miko, his teammate, however, did not agree with this outcome. So she dashed away with maximum speed, catching up to the ball before firing it back to the court.
Keneric was not sitting ideally either. He quickly got back into position right by the net before he jumped and, with another slap, won their first point.
"Too sweaty," Taha grumbled from the other side of the net, unable to block the shot.
This made Keneric smile like a shark. "Hey, if I am playing, I might as well win, right?"—a comment that made Taha more frustrated.
In the background, the two girls, Isse and Miko, just shook their heads in turn. They had known "the boys" for the last three years, and jumping in the conversation now was shooting yourself in the foot. They might as well let Taha do the talking, which was shouting at this point, and save their energy for the endgame.
Soon, the game began again, and both teams scored left and right. Even Keneric found it difficult to bully Taha now, as Isse became serious with each round. Towards the end, the game became more about tactics than absolute dominance because both teams knew each other's weaknesses and advantages after playing together for the last three years.
By the time the sun reached its zenith, they had played five sets of twenty-one points in each round before they were too exhausted to continue. Isse was the first to collapse.
"I'm so done," she said with ragged breaths, lying on the ground, becoming part of the scenery rather than the conversation happening in the middle of the court.
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"So next Sunday? Ken? Miko?" Taha asked with a towel in hand, wiping away his accumulated sweat, but only received a nod in response. Clearly, they were too tired to talk.
So after resting up, he, Taha, and Miko quickly returned the volleyballs to the equipment room, and when they were just about to walk out, Keneric informed them, "You guys go on ahead. I'll help myself with the showers first."
"But you hate public showers," Miko was quick to turn around with raised eyebrows. "What happened to the one in your room?"
Keneric had a deadpan look. "Let's just say someone here in their drunken wisdom did Lightsaber battles with the shower head."
At this point, Taha was sweating profusely. He quickly added, "Guys, I just remembered. I have… classes. This afternoon." before dashing out the front door.
"Today is Sunday, you walnut!" Miko screamed after him, but Taha was nowhere to be seen. Unsatisfied, she quickly packed up and chased after him, dragging Isse (who was still one with the floor) perhaps to find out the complete Lightsaber story—who knows?
Watching this, Keneric could not help but laugh. Next, he packed up his things too, but instead of moving out, he went back to the locker rooms. Attached to one corner were shower pods that Keneric disliked so much. Making up his mind and seeing no better options, he quickly got into his birthday suit and jumped in.
Soon, steam rolled in lazy spirals as warm water drummed on his bare body. Outside the showers, though, it was not so calm. Keneric's phone, which was lying on top of a heap of dirty clothes, constantly rang with many missed calls and messages showing up on its screen but easily got suppressed by the running water.
After ten minutes, when Keneric finally walked out of the shower area, the phone had already gone silent, as if nothing had happened. Not suspecting anything, Keneric quickly got dressed and walked out of the locker rooms, carrying his duffle bag and previous clothes packed inside.
When he finally walked a few steps outside the gymnasium, out of habit, Keneric checked his phone and froze. There were more than 100 missed calls and messages combined, but that's not what caught his attention but the big notification on his screen that read:
[Earthquake Alert: Please find shelter. Heavy tremors expected.]
Even before Keneric could process this information, the first tremor hit. For a second, it felt like low rumbling caused by trucks on an empty night but instantly increased in intensity. Keneric, out of his stupor, quickly rushed back to the gymnasium but never went inside. He decided to take shelter under the big arch of the door.
His decision turned out to be a lifesaving one as the whole gymnasium started shaking and grinding under the intense earthquake. Keneric just huddled into one corner and watched many large trees fall from the corner of his eye. But that was not the part that horrified him.
Soon, the land cracked up every few meters, and green, bubbly water gushed out from its crevices, falling on everything and anything like a fountain. A mist also oozed out from inside that murky water, slowly covering the whole sky like a translucent blanket over the sun. Also, whenever the green bubbly water touched something, it mutated. For example, when the water touched the grass, its color changed to red. When the water touched the land, it instantly got absorbed and made the soil aerated, with some rare puddles forming everywhere. Some water even touched Keneric, but nothing seemed to happen to him.
Just like that, the earthquake continued for the next twenty minutes, but somehow, the big gymnasium didn't collapse, and Keneric was safe for now. But the world had completely changed; it felt much colder, eerie, and dark, with the sky turning from a virgin blue color to a muddy green. Even the sun looked hazy with a pinkish or magenta hue. The biggest change was the ground that had become like a swamp with green puddles, yellowish patches of bald land, or red grass everywhere—dancing to the wind.
This was the day the world had become a swamp.