That day was quite ordinary.
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It was a fairly plain, uneventful day.
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From the radio I was listening to idly.
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Until that story started flowing from it.
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"It's very unfortunate, but,"
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"today the Earth ends,"
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"a president of some country"
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"speaks through tears, until then."
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Outside, a traffic jam swallows the sky as huge birds fill it.
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Swallowing the crescent moon, it heads somewhere.
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The game I was playing has no save.
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Reference books sit mostly untouched on the desk.
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I quickly put on the headphones, as if to quiet my trembling body.
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An entry for an unknown artist
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The number with an unknown title
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Suddenly flows into my ear
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"You want to survive, don't you?"
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The writhing world arena
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Skyscrapers swaying like waves
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This voice, undeniable, no matter how you listen
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Is the voice of my own that I've grown tired of hearing.
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"If you cross that hill, in twenty seconds
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You'll inevitably know what it means."
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"Don't doubt it. If you listen closely, twenty seconds ahead."
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The intersection is, of course, gridlocked
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Age and gender no longer matter.
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It fills with shouting and the cries of babies
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People rampage, a girl begins to cry
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I pass the praying priest
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The only one I aim for is the opposite direction
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The voice still comes from the headphones
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"There are twelve minutes left," it says
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If everything were to disappear like this, there would be no more recourse.
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The rising chorus of screams
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For ten seconds, with tear-filled eyes, I skim past
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I want to doubt it, but no matter who or how
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The endless anthem of humanity
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"Run through it, there's only one minute left."
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To the point that you can no longer hear that phrase.
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Beyond the hill I had been aiming for
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Is right there in front of me
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I reached it, breathless
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In front of a wall that reflects the sky
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There, in white coats, the scientists
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"Wonderful," they clapped
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From there, the cityscape looked
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Just like a laboratory.
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"It's no longer necessary."
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The scientist casually threw a bomb.
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In the small world inside the box
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I realize we've lived like this all along.
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The things that had been a city burning away
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I simply watch, dumbfounded, at my ear.
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From beyond the headphones
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