Year - 5 billion CE
After having consumed most of its fuel, the sun was no longer a yellow ball of fire somewhere afar. It had bulged into a huge shining red nebula of gas and dust with a white dwarf core. This giant red sun had completely devoured Mercury and Venus, the planets nearest to it. Was Earth going to be the next victim?
Earth
Most of the species had vanished except the humans, which were almost on the verge of extinction. The food chains had been severely affected. Food and water were scarce. The average temperatures had risen by 20 degrees. Snowy mountains had melted away. All islands were gone. The world population had shrunk to 30 thousand. The average distance between 2 humans was around 4000 km. Families no longer existed. Hardly one person was alive from a family. There were no societies, no states, and no nations. Humankind was scattered across the earth randomly. The mesmerizing crimson giant, the sun, was visible 20 hrs a day!
Fearfulness or fearlessness?
There was nothing to lose. No acquaintances of anyone were alive. The world was on the cusp of collapse. Temperature was rising to hell. The sun was on the verge of swallowing our planet. The animals had died. There was hardly any water. All artificial objects of luxury had disappeared. The giant was gazing, in the form of shining death, growing bigger by the day !
Time on Earth had slowed down under the influence of sun's gravity. Although the sun had lost weight due to burning of its fuel, it was still weighty enough as compared to Earth. Time seemed to be playing a role in this grand devastation. Slower its passage, more painful the lives of the leftovers!
A loner somewhere
A person, whose identity was unknown, was lying on the ground having nothing left to call home. He was just waiting for that final moment. Who could have known what was going on in his mind? Under such circumstances, the mind defies sanity.
Suddenly he heard a movement behind. Then something hot struck his head.
It was a small dust particle from the outer portion of the giant sun. The Earth's atmosphere had become too thin to prevent spatial objects from reaching our surface. He was shaken up by the impact but somehow regained his calm. Such events had become routine since last few days.
He had some water for the next 2 hours max. What after that? Where would he find water? After the last pond dried up yesterday, there was no source remaining. Forget about food. Only sand was left to eat.
So perhaps today would be his last encounter with the sun as a human being. May be in a week, he would get vaporized as the sun swelled further. He took a glancing view at the giant red ball - the giant seemed to smile back cunningly!
The enigma of time
He started moving towards the horizon in the hopeless hope of finding water. Walking on land was difficult since it was hot and there was no grass left for respite. He had already started hallucinating, with imageries of his long lost family and sweet old days of life. Moreover, the mirage of water was a soothing pain that kept the aspirations alive. Even the doomsday had its share of hopes!
While he was battling his pain, somewhere up in the cosmos, a mighty old star exploded and collapsed under its own weight - forming a blackhole. The sun, fortunately or unfortunately, became the first victim of the blackhole, leaving the Earth lurking outside the event horizon - the blackhole's boundary!
With the sun rays now not being able to reach the Earth, the temperatures dipped to -100 degrees!
But where was the loner? What happened to him?
A space control room in the deep underworlds of the Andromeda galaxy had just received the picture of the loner, frozen in time, 141 years later!