Marco was a boy of 16, a very normal boy of 16 indeed. He was born to a family which had enough money for their daily meat and bread and occasional luxury but not rich enough to buy a Lamborghini, “Middle class” as some might term. In the 21st century, “Middle class” was a decent category to fit in, considering there were billions who hadn’t had food on the plate for weeks. “Poverty”; a term used by economists in those times for the condition of such people; was a complex issue, but Marco had seen it every day right in front of his eyes and he often thought if there was a way out of it, if people could at least have a fill every day. Just like most middle-class teenagers think. Marco’s house was a decent one, with a busy busy road on one side: with honking cars and crazy traffic, maybe the busiest of all roads in Rio de Janeiro; and a small, worn out hill on the other. Marco would often go to that hill to relax. From there he could see the traffic and industrial smoke of the entire block. Then, he would want to be a scientist and design pollution-free gadgets. He would want to save the world and lead mankind towards a bright and happy future. And of course, even these thoughts of Marco, were normal for a boy his age in that era.
Marco always came to one spot everyday, and would sit and lean onto a big stone. From here he could see very far away into the town. Along with the pleasure of that range of vision of that spot, it was also where wild animals would not come up, although there were hardly any dangerous ones on that hill. That day was nothing special. Like he always did, Marco came to his spot to sit. At first he sat straight on his own backbone, then, as always, started leaning onto the stone. For an unnaturally long time, he didn’t feel the support behind him. He kept leaning back, expecting the stone to be there.
That was his mistake. He should have looked back to check if the stone was there, but after three years of immobility, he didn’t expect the stone to run off suddenly. Nor did he expect someone to have removed the huge stone. He kept on leaning but the hard surface did not arrive. Till at one time, he just lost balance and started falling. And what a fall it was!
Marco was in such a great shock that he could not even shout for help. Before he realized it, he fell into a deep cave-like darkness. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, all the muscles in his body just felt weightless, peaceful; like he was about to die. He saw the light slowly fading away, further and further he fell as gravity pulled him. Vaguely, he remembered a story he was taught in one of his English lessons about a girl who fell into a pit. Alice, he recalled; Alice in Wonderland. He thought he would end up in a similar place like that girl did.
Optimistic as he was, he didn't realize that he could end up dead inside a deep pit and never be found ever again.
The sun felt warm on his face as he woke up, leaning on the same stone which had disappeared. Maybe it was all a dream. He arose to make his way back home.
"Funny", he thought, "the jungle seems to have grown greener. There were some extra trees there. Marco couldn't recognize the varieties the trees were of. Just then, there was a rustling in the bushes nearby. Suddenly, a wild boar came out of nowhere and plunged at him. "Wild boar in this part of the hill". It was not normal. Following his survival instincts, Marco started to run.
Five seconds later, he heard a shot. Looking behind, he saw another creature. It was white and blue, like aliens in one of those futuristic science fiction movies. It came closer, as if to inspect him. Then, he realized that it was nothing but a man dressed in white and blue.
"The boar will regain consciousness in a few minutes. Let’s run before he does." the man said.
"Why didn't you just kill him?" Marco asked.
"What? Where have you been in the last decade? It is illegal, that's why."
"Illegal to kill wild boars?"
"Well, since you don't seem to know about it, it is illegal to kill animals on the surface of the earth as they have fundamental rights of life on the planet where they are more in number than humans."
"More than humans? Where did all the people go?”
The man seemed irritated now. "What are you, in the 21st century? Majority of humans have settled on Marsland. Don't you go to school, don't you read the newspaper?"
"This is not the 21st century?" Marco was getting scared now.
"What kind of a question is that? Of course not. It is the 31st century. Today is the 19th day of December of 3013. What do you look so shocked, kid?"
Marco tried to comprehend the situation.
"Wait it is obvious, it is a dream." He slapped himself, twice. He didn't seem to wake up.
It was for real then.
He tried to comprehend it again. And failed.
"Alright, let me tell you my story, maybe you can make sense out of it. I was in the 21st century and I came here to relax, like I do everyday. I leaned onto the rock that I lean onto everyday. But it wasn't there. Instead there was a pit which I fell into and then I woke up on that very stone which had disappeared but it was not the 21st century. I reached the 31st century."
Marco didn't expect it but the man seemed to have understood. He talked into a walkie talkie and in minutes there were people dressed in lab coats asking him to show the location where he had "travelled time". Marco showed them the stone.
"Worm hole confirmed", they said to the man in white and blue.
Marco looked up to him in hopes of understanding the situation. "Kid you have fallen through a worm hole and travelled through 1000 years of time. That is the simplest way to put it".
"And a worm hole is?.....”
“Our scientists have been conducting experiments of time travelling for the last few centuries. 300 years ago, a revolutionary technique was found that made travel faster. In that method, Plutonium is bombarded with alpha-particles at very low temperatures and a time warp is created. When this time warp is created in two different regions in space they get connected and people on both sides can travel though that warp in seconds, no matter how large the distance. That is how 90 percent of the human population went off to Mars for settlement. The aim was to make the earth greener so that later it can be used as a backup planet. Mars's atmosphere was found to be stronger than Earth's. Hence, we humans, the more demanding ones, went away to Mars and left the animals here. So, through time warps, we have connected the two planets to form a huge but balanced life cycle."
"But these time warps have one dangerous limitation attached. When experiments go wrong, heavy Plutonium tends to spread to random regions in space. If they land up in Earth or on Mars, they react with the oxygen in the atmosphere and form a worm hole. Worm holes suck up time and get connected to different generations of the past. And you, my boy, have fallen into a worm hole. Don't worry, you are not the first person to have fallen prey to heavy Plutonium and we do have a way back in time. But you will have to wait for a few hours."
"So what do I do till then?"
"Relax, that is what you came here for didn't you? Let me show you around."
"Hey, will you guys erase my memory after I get back?"
"Well, we don't have a gadget for that. However, if you tell these things to people in the 21st century, they wouldn't believe you anyway."
Marco realized that it was true. The man asked him to hurry up. Marco still couldn't make head or tail of his situation, but he came along.
The man took out a small red blob out of his pocket, placed it at a distance and shot a laser-like light at it. Immediately, a black, hole like structure was formed. He talked into his walkie talkie and held Marco by his arm and jumped into the hole. Within seconds, they were in a white hall like room, with walls of steel.
"Look out of the window." the man said. Marco looked out to see the earth, the entire round planet. It was like a painted ball, painted in only green and blue. The man turned a knob near the window and the picture was magnified.
The earth was beautiful, like 21st century environment lovers had dreamt of. Like Marco wanted it to be. On further magnification, he realized that there were no roads at all. Nor were there too many houses. Just lush green forests surrounded by the bluest of waters.
"You recognize that one; let us look at the other planet. Turn to the other side for Mars."
Marco turned around to see through another window, a reddish planet with grayish spots on it. On magnifying, he saw what was like a scene of a science fiction. The most beautiful of buildings and houses he had ever seen, mostly made of glass. There were forests there, not as much as there were on Earth, but they were there. There were people, many many people. Even they were dressed like the man with him, the colors were varied of course. But there were no roads or vehicles, just houses organized into blocks.
“Also, you might be happy to know that the 21st century term called ‘Poverty’ has officially been eradicated from the dictionary. It had arisen due to lack of resources on Earth but on shifting to Mars, this situation has been deported forever. Also, population policies make sure that unless a new habitable planet is found, the growth rates remain in proportion to the resources available.”
Just then, the man got a call on his walkie talkie. Marco was looking out at Mars, fascinated as he should be. "Its time to go, kid, let's get you back to where you came from. Two hours have passed so soon, haven't they?"
Marco was not very happy at this, like any teenager in situation would be. How could he leave this dreamland, where everything was just like he wanted it to be to the same old, dull, single-planet generation he came from?
"What!? So soon? Can I just stay here instead of going back?” he asked childishly.
"Of course not, that would destroy the balance of the universe, you see if you disappear from your time, your children wouldn't be born, then you grandchildren and so on. You would destroy an entire section of the population by staying here."
"Whoa! I expected something like my parents would be worried. If it is that complicated, let me just go back."
The man made another time warp, just like he did the last time, and pushed Marco into it.
"Goodbye, kid!" he screamed.
"My name is Marco, by the way!"
Marco didn't expect the man to hear him. He regretted not asking for his name either. Lost in his thoughts of the futuristic adventure he just had, he reached back to the same area he begun with.
He looked towards the streets to see the main road. It crowded with cars, as usual.
"They won't be here for long. They wouldn't be here in the future."
Marco stood up and shouted at the street. "I will lead the Earthlings towards heavy Plutonium and time travel. I will lead you to the future."
The aspirational dream of the future...