First year creative writing contest : First place entry

I wanted to check out the insides of the clock tower. When I walked out, I was in a different year, I realized, as I set my eyes on a digital newspaper lying on the roadside. Astonished, scared and at most anxious,  I walked towards one of the tall skyscrapers across the road. At one of its glistening mirrors I saw the older me stare back into my eyes. I felt a surge of excitement course through my veins and a sense of pride which I could not understand. However, these emotions were soon replaced by that of fear and adrenaline rushing through my body. I knew I had to find a way back but I had to know where I was first.

As I tottered down the plastic streets, I tried desperately to catch a glimpse of something familiar in the strange world. This aimless trot came to a sudden stop as something humongous whizzed past inches from my head. Its speed crushed me to the floor. When I tried to look up, I was blinded by bright spotlights. Before I realized, my hands were bound, my mouth gagged and I slipped to darkness.

When I regained consciousness, I found ten extra-large pair of eyes staring down at me. Their form was vaguely similar to a human and more to a robot. The intensity of their gaze told me that I would soon be tortured or killed as I was clearly a misfit in their gang. After a quick scan of what looked like a huge hall my brain ascertained that I had no means of escape. I prepared myself to greet death like an old friend. For the first time since I was thrown into this strange world the thought of my parents and kin crossed my mind. I wondered if they would be searching or worse if they had become one of these bizarre robomans.

My train of thought came to a standstill and my heart almost skipped a beat when one among them suddenly started conversing in English. “Cases like these keep popping. It is high time we get that clock tower blocked. We cannot compromise our secret world on these imbecile kids. Erase her memory and send her back, ” he said, in a belligerent tone. I wanted to protest but some enormous force pushed me and I was standing outside the clock tower baffled.

-Akshaya K S

First year, Computer science engineering