Day Three hundred and two - Cynthia

Last night I dreamt I died. And that, in and of itself, is not something new - I've had plenty of dreams of the sort. But I rarely remember them, I just wake up with a fleeting memory, one that ebbs away like so much sand slipping through my fingers. But last night's dream was different. This was in the quite near future, something that we may even see during our lifetimes. Shops and stores and most businesses no longer had people working for them, you just accessed a database of their products, it would show you in real time what their stock was, and then you picked whatever you wanted, pay for it, and then you'd be transported - like Star Trek teleported kind of thing - down to an underground mall, massive, where people would go about their day, not really shopping, but rather just picking up their orders, and even if they wanted to have a meal at the mall, it would be fully automated. But even though this was completely underground, there were huge windows to the outside, and it was like the structure was actually on some island because outside you could see a bright shining sun, and a placid sea as far as the eye could see. But somewhere just at the edge of perception, something was amiss. People looked sheepishly at each other, feeling that something was wrong. No one could actually pinpoint just what, but everyone felt on edge. And then the screaming starts.

It begins as a pillar of light, far in the distance, and moving towards us. We can see it leaving a trail of destruction as it moves towards us. It distorts reality in its wake and even from afar it destroys the windows - which were not windows but screens - and we see that even though we are underground, there is a massive wave rushing in our direction. It's an enormous tsunami inching closer to us by the second, and we have nowhere to go, the teleporters are either malfunctioning or we were herded together to be killed. Everyone panics, people are trampled underfoot. Some choose to live out their remaining moments in peace and hold out their arms as the wave crashes in on us. I take a great big gulp of air just before I'm swept away. Soon, far too soon, I feel my lungs starting burn as oxygen becomes non-existent. I'll die the next time my mouth opens. Amidst the roiling waters, my tears swim. But they are not just tears of sadness; as I die I think of all the people who really, truly loved me, family, ex-girlfriends and friends, my son, my grandmother, Silvia, and Sofia, and Hugo and Sérgio, and I am so happy I got to be loved by these people - the most important people in my life when it comes to so positively impacting it. It's a good way to die, and I let the water flood my lungs. 

And then I woke up.