The first thing I remember is that I didn’t wake up in my warm room. The scent of spring flowers and a forest creek certainly weren’t my home. The strange thing was that I didn’t even remember my home, my parents, my friends, my surname. The only thing I was sure about was my name – Aya. There were no people or animals around me.

Silence was so deafening that I had to start singing. While singing I started turning around and checking the environment. It was rather peaceful until I heard a sound, similar to a bomb. It scared me so much that I started running in the opposite direction.

Prvo čega se sjećam je da se nisam probudila u svojoj toploj sobi. Mirisno proljetno cvijeće i šumski potočić zasigurno nisu bili moj dom. Ali čudno je bilo što se nisam ni sjećala svoga doma, roditelja, prijatelja, prezimena. Jedino što sam sa sigurnošću znala o sebi je da se zovem Aya. Nigdje na vidiku nije bilo životinja, ali ni ljudi.

Tišina je bila toliko zaglušujuća da sam morala početi pjevati. Tako pjevušeći stala sam se okretati oko sebe razgledavajući okoliš. Bilo je prilično mirno, sve dok nisam začula zvuk sličan bombi.

Zvuk me toliko prepao da sam istoga trena stala trčati u smjeru suprotnu zvuku.

Suddenly, I heard a human voice: “Wait, you’re a human being?! You aren’t safe here! Stop!“ However, I didn’t stop running, it wasn’t a familiar voice, I didn’t even know where I was. I kept running for hours, afraid for my own life, without intention of stopping,  although my legs hurt, they were like cut off and my lungs could barely breathe.

I wasn’t aware of the time, I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t dark already and the sun stood still in one place. It was strange but I kept running, and running and running…

Finally I noticed a cabin, and kept running towards it. I was praying to find someone in the tiny house, someone who could help me. I even slipped a few times and fell, but I was determined to get to the cabin.

U jednome trenutku sam začula ljudski glas koji je rekao:

-Čekaj, ti si čovjek!? Za tebe tu nije sigurno, stani!- ali na taj glas nisam se obazirala jer nisam znala gdje se nalazim i tko bi mogao biti potencijalni neprijatelj.

Satima sam trčala bojeći se za vlastiti život i ne misleći posustati, iako su mi noge bile kao odsječene, a pluća me nisu htjela pustiti da normalno dišem.

Nisam znala koliko je sati ni zašto se mrak već nije spustio, te zašto se ni Sunce nije micalo sa svoga mjesta. To mi je bilo jako čudno ali sam nastavljala trčati, i trčati, i trčati…

Napokon sam u daljini vidjela neku improviziranu drvenu kućicu, do koje sam nastavila trčati cijelim putem otkako sam je ugledala. Praktički sam se molila da u njoj živi netko tko bi mi mogao pomoći. Putem sam čak nekoliko puta posrnula i pala, ali bila sam odlučna.

I fell on the treshold and knocked. I heard upset voices.

“They’ve found us!“, screamed a voice.

“Quickly! You run and I’ll give in“ , said another voice.

“It’s over!“

I didn’t know what they were afraid of nor why they were talking about me in plural. I was sad and confused because nobody opened the door. I thought this was not fair and was meaningless, somebody had to explain what was going on?!

I sat on the floor, thirsty and sweaty, ready to drink anything. Fortunately, the door opened and I heard a familiar woman’s voice.

“Take me!“ said the old lady and I jumped on my feet to take a closer look at her and to thank her. “Impossible!“

Putem sam čak nekoliko puta posrnula i pala, ali bila sam odlučna. Srušila sam se na prag drvene kućice i kucala. U kući se čulo čak nekoliko uznemirenih ljudi koji su vikali:

-Našli su nas!- viknu prvi.

-Brzo, vi pobjegnite, ja ću im se predati.- reče drugi.

-Gotovo je!-

-Zbogom!-svi su se činili jako uplašeni. Nisam znala zbog čega su me se bojali, ili zašto su pričali o meni u množini. Bila sam zbunjena i tužna što nitko nije otvarao vrata. Mislila sam kako moj život nije fer i da sve ovo stvarno više nema smisla. Zašto mi netko jednostavno ne bi objasnio što se događa?!

Sjela sam i leđima naslonila na vrata, sva uznojena i toliko žedna da bih popila bilošto. Nasreću, nakon nekoliko minuta osjetila sam kako se vrata otvaraju i čula odnekud mi poznati ženski glas kako govori:

-Uzmite mene.- reka je neka starica dok sam ja munjevito ustajala kako bih ju bolje promotrila i zahvalila. Ona je tad promucala:

-Nemoguće.-

I was staring at the old lady. I just couldn’t remember why she was so familiar to me. She pulled herself together, smiled and said:“Oh my dear, you are a human! Forgive us for that horrible reaction, come in, you must be very tired.“

I was surprised by the sudden change of tone but I went in anyway. I desperately needed an explanation.

Everyone in the house was very kind to me, they offered me food, water and a bed to take a nap. Honestly, it wasn’t easy for me to accept the food or the bed. I wasn’t sure that they were my friends who sincerely wanted to help me. What if they tried to hurt me? (Yes, I could be paranoid sometimes.)

I had so many questions for all of them, seven, to say it precisely. So, I politely refused the food and water and started with the questions. They were willing to answer.

Everyone in the house was very kind to me, they offered me food, water and a bed to take a nap. Honestly, it wasn’t easy for me to accept the food or the bed. I wasn’t sure that they were my friends who sincerely wanted to help me. What if they tried to hurt me? (Yes, I could be paranoid sometimes.)

I had so many questions for all of them, seven, to say it precisely. So, I politely refused the food and water and started with the questions. They were willing to answer

“To begin with, I want to know how I got here, why, where am I…? Who am I? Who did you think I was? Is there any danger? I noticed you are very afraid of something.“

The old lady began answering my questions.

“I’ll begin with the easier answers. You’re in a game. You must try not to be eliminated by a robot. When they eliminate you, you dissappear. Their goal is to get rid of all the people, and our goal is to survive.

 Sometimes, newcomers come to us, they hide either with us or with our neighbours, or they build their own house. We move a lot, because if a robot spot you, you cannot run away. The game is constructed to make people vanish.

I was sure this was not the whole truth but I had no choice but to listen to the complicated story.

“And now the hardest part. Aya, you’ll never be able to go back! You arrived from the past.“

“What?!“ I was so confused I couldn’t pronounce a word.

“You’re probably wondering how I know that…Well, my dear, don’t freak out, you are actually me from the youth.“

Gledala sam s čuđenjem staricu kako bulji u mene. Nikako se nisam mogla sjetiti otkud mi je tako poznata. Izgleda kako se brzo sabrala jer se nasmiješila i rekla:

-Oh, draga, pa ti si čovjek. Oprosti što smo onako reagirali, uđi, sigurno si jako umorna.- bilo mi je jako čudno što je tako brzo promijenila stav prema meni ali svejedno sam odlučila ući. Naime, očajnički sam žudila za objašnjenjem o svemu.

U kući su svi prema meni bili jako ljubazni, ponudili mi hranu,vodu, i krevet za slučaj da želim spavati. Moram priznati da mi baš i nije bilo svejedno kad sam uzimala tu hranu ili htjela poći na počinak. Još nisam bila sasvim sigurna da se oni samo ne pretvaraju da su prijatelji i da me neće otrovati ili ugušiti u snu. (O, da,ponekad sam pomalo paranoična.)

Imala sam puno pitanja za sve njih, preciznije 7 koliko ih je bilo u kući. Što sam pristojnije mogla sam odbila hranu i piće te sam im se predstavila i pitala ih smijem im li postaviti nekoliko pitanja. Pristali su na to i ja sam počela:

-Za početak bih htjela znati kako sam se ja točno našla ovdje, zašto, gdje sam uopće,…?  Zatim bih voljela znati tko sam, tko ste vi mislili da sam ja i kakva tu točno opasnost prijeti? Primijetila sam da se jako bojite nečega.- na moja brojna pitanja počela je odgovarati ista ona starica koja mi je otvorila vrata.

-Početi ću s lakše shvatljivijeg dijela. Ovo je sve samo igra, i ne smiješ biti eliminiran od strane robota. Kad te eliminiraju, ti nestaneš. Njima je cilj da se riješe svih ljudi koji postoje, a nama je cilj preživjeti. Ponekad nam dođu pridošlice, koje pobjegnu ili kod nas ili naših susjeda, a neki sagrade sami svoju kuću. Često se selimo jer kad te jednom robot pronađe ne možeš pobjeći.To je sve namješteno da svi ljudi u potpunosti nestanu.-

Bila sam u potpunosti sigurna da to nije bilo tako prije nego li sam se probudila tamo, ali nije mi bilo druge nego li nastaviti slušati tu zapetljanu priču.

-Sad ćemo preći na onaj teži dio. Aya, za tebe nema povratka nazad. Nekako si ovdje došla iz prošlosti.- što!? Bila sam toliko zbunjena da nisam mogla ništa ni reći.- Sigurno se pitaš kako to znam… Pa, draga moja, nemoj skroz pošiziti, ali to je zato što si ti zapravo ja iz mladosti.-

I knew she was telling the truth and I didn’t like it. 

I finally realized why she was familiar to me. She was I.

 I felt dizziness and pain when I hit the floor,

 I felt tingling in my legs going up through my body. 

I was unconscious.

 It was too much, even for me.

                                        THE END

Smračilo mi se pred očima jer sam znala da govori istinu. Napokon sam znala na koga me ona podsjećala, naravno na mene. Osjetila sam blagu vrtoglavicu i osjetila bol kad sam udarila na tvrd pod koja se u žmarcima penjala od mojih nogu na gore. Bila sam u nesvijesti. Sve je to bilo previše, čak i za mene.

KRAJ