A canoe trip on the famous Po River was the most romantic thing that occurred to me. We were able to go to an observatory, but apparently a fire occurred inside, preventing passage until November 14, that is, tomorrow.
We had planned this trip since last spring, since we found out that Cleoi was three weeks pregnant, we thought about going around Norway, her native country, but the tickets were sold out, the only tickets available were to go to Italy on the 10th. November.
It was 02:20 in the afternoon, the sun gave a warm atmosphere that transformed into a cool hug thanks to the breeze and the coolness of the water. We were in a canoe in the middle of the river, the daily conversations of couples sitting at tables around the river were in tune with the imminent noise of the tides of the Po River.
"What do you think of this walk along the river?" I said, looking into her walnut-colored eyes, which had a greenish tone thanks to the reflection of the tide in her irises.
"Beautiful, he likes it." Cleoi touched her belly, laughing. "And you, gentleman, what do you think of this beautiful canoe ride in the winter sun?" she returned the question.
"I would have preferred the observatory" I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"You and your love for the stars," she said in a mocking tone, then took a sip from her water bottle. "Mr. Bernard, how long is the trip left?" she asked.
Our romantic atmosphere was disturbed by the shouts and stomping of some Protestants on the bridge next to us. They carried flags of the Netherlands, England, Italy, France, and Spain, along with posters with anti-war messages.
"Our future is being condemned!"
"The world they will give to your children will be full of ashes and bones!"
"Your brothers, fathers and sons die in Monaco, Granada and Genoa for nothing!"
Were some of the messages they shouted, to my annoyance
"Things must be very bad in the war," I said as I picked up a newspaper placed on a table in front of me. "Bombering devastates Granada, 15,000 affected" I dictated what it said on the front page of the newspaper. "Thank God he gave me that fever, that saved me from the service"
"Do you think a world war will happen, like the one in '39?" Cloei questioned me.
"The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised," I said, reading the other articles in the newspaper, some talked about fashionable clothes, others about the candidates for president of the United States, nothing very interesting. "Don't worry too much darling, if they accept our visa before Christmas, we can go to Canada and get rid of any risk for O'bryan."
Cleoi seemed to calm down. ''Yes... although your father said that the procedures are very late at this time of year.'' She saw the water as she spoke. ''By the way, really? O'bryan?'' she said laughing.
''It was the best thing I could think of, that's a very American name'' I also said laughing.
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''we'll go to Canada idiot, something like Theo, or Oliver, normal things would be better!''
Cleoi continued talking, thinking of better names for the baby, but for some reason I felt dizzy, strange and anxious, as if something bad was going to happen. I looked around me, everything was the same calm and fun as before, but my anxiety did not decrease, in fact, it intensified even more, I felt like I was in a volcano about to explode, like a rabbit in the dark forest at midnight surrounded by yellow, red and white eyes around him.
Cleoi touched my shoulder. ''Abraham, is everything okay?'' she said in a motherly voice, she had a worried face when she saw my pale face full of sweat.
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''...huh?'' I took a pause, organizing my thoughts and calming my heartbeat. ''Yes Cleoi, everything... is fine'' I said with confusion, seeing how the water turned black like octopus ink.
Ever with her engines in reverse, the ocean liner was pulled further and further into the canal.
''What is that!?'' said Bernard, the one driving the canoe, who lost his paddle because it was sucked in by the river water, which had already turned completely black. ''Sir, madam, we must get out of the boat now!'' he said with panic in his voice, but his warning was too late, as we were pushed forward by a strong tide, falling into the river.
''Cleoi!'' I shouted, jumping towards my wife and hugging her as we sank into the water.
Confusion is the best word to describe what happened, at the bottom of the river nothing could be seen, not even if a bright sun fell on the waters would it be able to clarify the area. Luckily, we got out of there, we reached the surface, but nothing was better, the panic and confusion were described based on the desperate screams of the people who were still in the river.
Thanks to a miracle, I could see a ladder that led to the mainland, I swam to the right, and thanks to the tide, I managed to grab the ladder.
''Bring her up, she's pregnant!'' I shouted at the top of my lungs, drawing the attention of a group of people watching the chaos, who quickly approached and took the hands of a confused Cleoi.
Cleoi opened her eyes and saw her husband holding on to the ladder as much as he could. When she was going to give him his hand to help him get out of the river, she saw how a canoe approached uncontrollably in the direction of Abraham. "Abraham!" She screamed in despair, seeing Abraham being beaten and dragged away by a canoe.
She was going to run, despite her pregnancy, to save her husband, but everything that happened in Venice was interrupted by a great shadow that covered the entire city.
When she looked up to see what was happening in the sky, Cleoi was cut off by a strong red light that hit her face, as well as that of everyone present.
SOME TIME AFTER
A jet of green water wet my entire face, waking me up from my unconsciousness, only God knows how long I was asleep, but it must have been a lot, because the only source of light, an emergency staircase in the sewer where I was, did not. It overlooked some type of lighting.
I tried to stand up, but I stumbled, I had to hold on to the wet wall to avoid falling on the floor full of feces, I looked around and with the slight lighting that was in the place, I could see that I was inside the security system. sewers of Venice, and then seeing the escape ladder, fortunately for me.
Little by little, with tired legs, I reached the stairs, and with effort I managed to reach the surface. To my surprise, everything was dark, as if the sun had disappeared, there was no trace of the moon either, but for some reason beyond my knowledge, I could see minimally, like when you see it at night.
Some footsteps were heard in the distance, to my horror. I quickly became alert, scanning my dark surroundings for any sign of an attacker. To my surprise, I saw a white silhouette, as if it were an angelic light, it illuminated the entire moor, like a living lantern, and it was approaching me.
I was going to run, or maybe attack, I'm not sure, it was like the blink of an eye, and the man was already in front of me, he had a business suit, like an elegant executive, the suit, his hair and skin were completely white, his eyes and tie were red, being the most striking parts of his entire being, he had a cheerful smile, as if he ignored the darkness that was plaguing the world at the moment.
"Good morning, Gentleman!" he said with a cheerful tone. "Why has that long face, been having a bad day?" He extended his hand for me to give it to him.
''...'' I couldn't utter words, I was silent for a while, contemplating the being in front of me. ''Who are you?'' was the only thing I could say.
''Oh my God, I missed it!'' He slapped his forehead. "I'm Mr. White, delighted Mr...?"
''I am...CLEOI!'' I was startled and looked everywhere in search of my wife.
"Cleoi? It's a weird name for a man"
''You!'' I took Mr. White by the shoulders and started shaking him. '' Where is my wife!? Tell me!!''
''I'll tell you if you stop shaking me!'' Mr. White said with a trembling voice.
I let go of Mr. White and he began to dust off his suit and compose himself. "Well, now that you're calmed down, maybe your wife is in Fire Wasteland" he said as he fixed his tie.
''Fire Wasteland?'' I asked confused. ''I've never heard of anything like this in Venice.''
''Venice?... Yes, Venice!'' Mr. White laughed as I looked at him confused. "Sorry, I'm not good at remembering countries, so follow me to the Fire Wasteland!" He starts walking.
''Hey!'' I said as I ran towards him.
The two of us walked through the dark city, there was no sign of life anywhere, only clothes left on the ground, as if everyone had simply disappeared from the face of the earth.
We were going over a bridge, it was full of cracks and holes, but what caught my attention was something in the distance.
It was a huge tower, as big as the Eiffel Tower I would dare say, it was apparently made of white rock, it had threads of dust that waved in the breeze of the wind, the windows that appeared around the tower were in complete darkness, looking like spots in instead of windows, as if an infinite darkness lay within.
''The tower of ash'' Mr. White said with a serious tone. ''It's fascinating how those threads of ash run with the noon wind.''
''wait...'' I turned to see Mr. White. ''...noon? what time is it!?''
"Hmm" Mr. White checked a pocket watch he was wearing as a necklace. "It's 12:23 pm."
''12 pm!? I was unconscious for a whole day!'' I said with surprise, but my surprise only increased when I saw some gargoyle-like creatures flying over the ash tower. ''What the hell is that?''
"Ash scavengers, feed on those strands of ash that you see there," Mr. White explained. "I advise you to start walking, they don't get along with humans, and we're close to the Wasteland." After saying that, Mr. White started walking again.
The further I went, the more suffocating the atmosphere and the fog increased even more, making it impossible for me to see my feet or Mr. White's, if it weren't for the bright atmosphere around him, I would have already been lost. However, a source of light greater than Mr White was seen in the sky.
Something similar to a gigantic eye was located in the sky, the iris was like seeing a bottomless pit, it was a dark hole, as dark as the sky, however, the sclera was dark red, like the residue of the fire of a recently extinguished bonfire. The direction of the gaze of the great eye was uncertain, it looked like the eye of a corpse, dead and empty.
''What is that?'' I said with a mixture of terror and interest.
Mr. White's gaze was pointed skyward with curiosity, but he immediately turned a pallid frown on his face, and with a dry tone, uttered the next name. ''The Scarlet Eye''.
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''The scarlet eye? May I know what it is?"
''Give me a second, sir, let's get to our destination'' he calmed me down with a notoriously fake smile, while he followed the step for a few more minutes, until he stopped at the top of a mountain with a strong breeze pushing his hair and clothes in front of him; raising his right arm and the index finger of that same hand, he pointed me to a red, yellow and orange light in the distance, with the same dry tone of a moment ago, he told me: ''here is the Fire Wasteland''.
With a hurried pace, I reached the top of the hill next to Mr. White, looking up at the distant light and... Oh my goodness.
It was a city in the distance, I was unable to say what it was, maybe Cannaregio, maybe San Marco, it could even be the distant island of Murano, I don't know, the state of the city made it impossible to identify it, I could only see and hear... Chaos...Pure and mere chaos, fire surrounded the city and the interior of the big buildings, I understood the name 'Fire Wasteland'. There were people on the edge of the buildings, some jumped and others threw people, I could not see what was happening on the ground, but if this was the sky, the earth must be hell itself.
I had to kneel before the masterpiece of human decadence that his eyes beheld, I began to shed tears on the dead ground, only to turn to Mr. White and confront him.
''Where... the hell is my wife!?'' I shouted, coming face to face with Mr. White.
Mr white looked at me with regret. "I'm sorry, but it's not there".
What? So where is she?'' I grabbed him by the sides of his suit.
Mr. White looked up at the sky, specifically, at the scarlet eye, and then back at me. '' I'll tell you a story, don't worry, it will tell you perfectly''.
''A few years ago, in 1965, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands declared war on the Barcelona Alliance, you know, France, Spain and England, obviously the Netherlands was on the verge of defeat, however, The Prime Minister ordered the start of a war project, an experiment that would push human beings to the limit, the Amsterdam project. This project consisted of inducing traces of mercury, lead and thorium intravenously in war criminals, to find out if radiation could increase human capabilities. As many expected, the results were cancerous diseases, but the guy went on and on, until he reached a Spanish boy, probably in his twenties, who seemed normal, despite having kilos and kilos of radioactive material in his body, but he was a bomb, you couldn't get close to it without your face melting, but one day recently, the worst thing happened: there was an explosion in the laboratory, or rather, a meltdown." Mr. White had a dead look on his face. "In the middle of all of Amsterdam, a dark amalgam could be seen with a red sphere in the center, which emitted a blinding light that reached the eyes of everyone there, which generated the absorption of all of Amsterdam."
''Wait, did it absorb?'' I said with bewilderment.
''That's right, when you see the light radiating from the scarlet eye, your flesh, bone and, well, basically your entire being joins the amalgam, I think they called it 'rock cover', every time someone joins the rock cover, the cover increases its size, that's how everyone rode around''
''Then...'' I grabbed my hair with my trembling hands and my eyes opened as wide as possible. "...Then everyone...Cleoi...oh my Cleoi'' I cried inconsolably while Mr White looked at me with pity.
Mr White looked at me and gave me a smile. '' Listen, Abraham, the scarlet eye has been asleep since it covered the whole world, however...'' Mr White showed his hand in a clicking position. ''... "With a single click I can activate it, and just like that, you can see it again."
''Really!?'' I smiled hopefully, but it immediately turned into a grimace along with a frown. ''But, what about the people over there?'' I pointed to the Fire Wasteland.
''Do you want to see Cleon again, or are you going to worry about lunatics killing each other?'' Mr White asked me a question to which I did not have a simple answer, but then I thought about my future son, about the life he had. I could have had, but it was taken from me, despite my anger, here I had nothing in this dry and chaotic world.
''I...'' I took a pause. ''...I have a question...'' I stared at Mr. White.''...who are you, Mr. White?''
Mr. White looked at me with confusion, quickly turning to sadness. "I'm just a messenger from something bigger, like a flock of birds before the hurricane." He gave me a smile.
''okay...do it'' I lower my head.''just...let me see her again, please''
CLICK
With the sound of a snap, everything lit up, the city in flames, the deserted Venice, the ash tower, and the hill it was on, everything was illuminated with a resplendent red light similar to fuxia, I felt an overwhelming heat surround my body.
''It was a pleasure, Mr. Abraham.'' Mr. White fixed his tie and began a walk away from the hill.
Firmly, despite my terror, I raised my head, being covered by this imposing light, and with some last words to my beloved, and as a last message to this world, I said:
''I'm coming with you, Cleoi''