Aurora 2026

Anonymous

Rot

It might’ve been just yesterday that I realized I was the only person on this planet. The Earth, full of inhabitants, only contains one human, and I am sure it is me. This is the theory called Solipsism, a theory of which I only recently learned about. “ Solus ”, meaning alone, and “ ipse ”, meaning self, both derived from Latin terms, mean a position that only one’s mind is sure to exist. This is the case for me in my realization as of last night and into early morning. I am truly the only human on Earth. Bristly and cold was my awakening this certain day, a day I couldn’t pin if I tried, as it was all days and no days at all, and every day this week, and every day last month. It was hard enough waking up, let alone getting up, but every day for the past 20 years had been all but identical in difficulty (factoring in growth). After last night, I wasn’t positive getting up anymore would have much of a point. I was the only person on Earth after all. Before, I would get up, dress, eat, hydrate, clean myself, all the things that your average person would do. It was all very mundane and grey, the process. Far into the past, I would ask my mom what it was all for, as she was older than me, and would surely know the answer. But, would she really? Was she older than me? Is she real? I will be older than her. I am older than her, always was, always have been. If I have felt she was real my entire life, but really, she wasn’t. What does that make her? If I am alone here, don’t I make the rules of this game? I don’t know if I make the rules of this game. Anyway, my mom also did not know what it was all for, which I understand. How can any of us really know what it is all about? On that past day, she said, “Well baby, I guess that is for you to figure out as you grow up. You’ll learn new things and meet new people, and suddenly you’ll know right where you are and right

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