“1890” By: Henry Tang

I

In Carl Watt’s past memories of diction, spring in Versailles was a time of birth, renewal and awakening. Blooming gardenia dominated the whole front yard of his villa and various colored butterflies, wandering with the movement of gardenias with the breeze. He liked to sway in the swing that tangled with wildly growing vine beside cluster of gardenias, breathing the intoxicating scent and listen those fizzy science stories told by his father. He used to be the greatest scientist in France. “Father…”, eyes minimized to a line on his fatigued and gaunted face. He was staring at the flabby gardenias tree in the showcase with a rusty metal plate written:

                Gardenias Tree

Gardenia jasminoides，subspecies Rubiaceae

[Extinct]

Gardenia is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar and Pacific Islands. Extinction cause by the excess of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere in 1894.

II

Carl walked out of the nature museum despondingly. A pungent smell of nitric acid had shattered his imagination while a coal-drive carriage passed aside him. Those fragmentary memories, gradually lost direction. Carl raised his head in perplexity and gazed at the two Eiffel towers in the muddy fog not far from him. It was too hard for him to memorize and figure out his father’s appearance after nine years of separation. For nine years, he tried to gather any information about his father, but to no avail. Like many famous scientists in other countries, his father disappeared overnight without omen like vanishing on the Earth. Then the police came and searched his father’s lab and sealed it up. They sent helpless Carl to the nearest orphanage.

Carl was too young at that time, but he can still clearly remember the latest daily news were on the about the continuous vanish of famous scientists. Faraday, Edison, Curie, Darwin, Mendeleev. All the polices and agents of France took part in the investigation, but they found nothing. Science and technology stopped develop without those dedicated scientists. At the same time, without new energy technologies, deforestation for fuel took part in the whole country. Global warming is becoming more and more serious as the amount of carbon monoxide and methane in the atmosphere increased. Carl squatting on the roof with a thick layer of ash stared at the starry sky at every night. His thoughts come to his father, when Carl has gone like the afterglow of sunset at the margin of starry silence. For thousands of years, we have looked up at the starry night sky and wondered if there were worlds like ours somewhere out there until the sky had becoming nebulous and less stars can be seen.

III

Carl could not help but pull out a notebook form his tattered pocket. It was a delicate cowhide notebook with fine wiped glittering golden foil attached on the surrounding of the notebook. His father had given him the notebook the day before his vanished and instructing Carl to keep it safe. The notebook was made of pure wood pulp rather than synthetic chemicals, which were rare at that time. Carl may have been standing on the side of the road for too long, and the notebooks were covered with a thick layer of ash, the unburned carbon particles in the murky air. Carl carefully wiped off the dust, the real cowhide texture emerged, delicate and shiny although in the years of wear. On the front cover of the notebook is a neat hand-written title in French: Basic Theoretical Research and Experimental Demonstration of Quantum Entanglement in Nonlinear Space. His father’s name signed under the heading: Carl. Watt. Carl opened his notebook deftly. Pages had turn yellow and unfirm. The first few pages were his father’s notes on quantum mechanics which Carl thought they are a piece of cake. In the middle of the notebook were a few pieces of drawings and blueprints of the particle accelerator. Carl made sure they were still there. Then he turned directly to the last page of his notebook. It read, in messy letters: don’t worry, son. I’m always under you. ‘always under me? Carl was lost again.

IV

Hot, dusty harmattan winds blows across the pedestrian bringing up the trivial dirt, groaning in the bistre brown atmosphere. The prelude of sandstorm which is a valgaris attachment of the spring. Carl Watt, his chin nuzzled into his breast in order to escape the vicious wind. Slipped quickly into the fair that covered with colorful canvas swayed in the harmattan. Slightly different form the tranquility with a little shiver of turmoil before the sandstorm. Those who liberated pedestrians, were drawn into a current of the market. Carl squeezed through them, he bounced and bounded behind them in resigned obedience. In this chaotic and noisy environment. The idea of stealing parts arises spontaneously, His particle accerlerator still needs few rare components to complete. He moved quickly through the sea of busy vendors. His hands were in the pockets while wandering around the blacksmith’s shop. Looking for a chance to strike. That piece of fine polished brass axle was reflecting those splendors into Carl’s dilating pupil. He could not help anymore. Greed and temptation drove him, and his hand, like a beam of light, reached out of his pocket and dashed at the axle at great speed. Through not quickly enough that a powerful bunch hit his chest. Carl felt a burning sensation, dizziness，and falling towards the ground. His vision became blurring and soon he lay unconscious on the ground.  

      V

Carl was lying on something that looks like a wheelchair. Except that it was made of metal and with black wire entangled around it. His body was fixed on the chair in some way that he could not move. Even after his eyes were able to see, he can only obtain a vague image. By looking around Carl was completely perplexed. He was surrounded by steel walls with rivets. The walls and hills are neatly lined with the same black wire as those on wheelchairs. What had surprised him was a transparent sphere on the ceiling that illuminated the cell. There were several wires connected to it. It seems that this room is out of this world, like somewhere in the middle of the Earth. He did not know how long he had been down there. Since the moment when they arrested him, he had not seen darkness or daylight. Carl felt an extreme heat wave in his surrounding and thought, “It’s not hell, is it?”

           VI

Carl heard a pair of boots were approaching. Two men in black with metal masks entered through the vault. They held transparent spontoons that sparked pale blue light erratically. A badge of Imperial police is attached on their right arm. They whispered a few words. Then one with the high military rank approached Carl.

“I finally got you! Welcome to Noah’s Ark Project” he cheered in triumph.

“Who are you？What is this place?” Carl asked Imperturbably.  

The man in black laughed trembly “You will soon know who I am. You are now 5000 meters below the ground. Tell me where you hid your delicate and lovely notebook, so that we can launch our spaceship to create glory of human in space.”

“It’s impossible, you will receive moral condemnation and sanctions of the law.”

“Don’t be stupid, humans are going to pay for their crimes. It looks like you have been infected by them. The man put his hand on a button on the chair. He hesitated but pressed it anyway.

A wave of pain flooded into Carl’s body and he felt that his body had been cut in to half by a strong current.  In great pain, Carl saw the man took off his mask andante. It was a familiar and affectionate face…

WORKS CITED

Saint Lanzare Station. Oscar-Claude Monet. May 27, 2019.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet,_1877,_Saint_Lazare,_Mus%C3%A9e_Marmottan_Monet.jpg dunhid