Creative Writing

The Last Man

Ranjan Wickramanayake

The last man heard a thundering sound. He got so scared that he took to his heels.

All of a sudden the noise abated. He thought for some time. Realized that was nothing but the noise of 'Mechanical Army' that invaded the world billion years ago. Again he heard the same noise. "The Mechanical Army is chasing after me. I have no escape. I must run using my maximum strength," the last man thought, himself.

He thought, the only way to escape was to run towards sanctuary of reality. 'I am the only man in this world, I am the last member of human species. So called the, most intelligent fauna. The Homo Sapiens who invaded the whole world using his technological and scientific and went against nature.

Though he was tired, he has not yet given up his craving for living on this world. Therefore he started to run again. His lustful ideas gave him more strength to run faster.

Despite his thoughts that he will be throttled by 'The Mechanical Army' at any moment, the last man was never discouraged. He was still running.

"Properly thinking I must live on this earth until the last moment I could. Because I'm the last man in this world," the last man thought.

The many potentials the human being had several epochs ago now have faded away. The only power he has now is his walking stick which is hundreds and hundreds of years old.

The last man found that he has entered an artificial forest. That forest was full of trees planted by the 'Mechanical Army' centuries back. Alas! There were no birds singing on trees. No animals to be seen. Not even the noise of a cricket. No sign of water. The natural surrounding had vanished.

The last man was thirsty. But there wasn't a drop of water on 'gem-fruit' or silver ivies.

The last man was reminded of people were fond of gold, silver, pearls and gems and their avariciousness centuries ago.

Now the last man wants nothing other than water. He didn't even look at those gems and gold. His aim was to reach the sanctuary of reality. That will be the only haven for him to live even for a short period in solace. According to his memory that haven was beyond the artificial forest.

The last man walked with the help of his walking stick. His strength and courage had faded away. Had it not been for his walking stick he would have fallen on the ground. The last man's eyesight became weak. He saw a waterfall among artificial rocks.

He was very happy. He went towards it. But he found that, that was a 'Waterfall of money'. That was a deluge of Dollar, Euro and Pounds of currency notes. Last man was reminded how people made money resorting to fraudulent deeds. But what is the earthly use of that money if there was no water to drink.

Last man felt that he was stronger. That was because he got to know by instinct that he was about to die. He hastened his walk.

He came to a riverbank. But there was no water in the river. Instead of water there were luxurious items flowing down. He was helpless. No water.

The last man become furious of his ancestors. He was reminded how the ancestors thought only of their comforts. If they had a clear vision of the future, a crisis situation like this wouldn't have arisen before him.

The last man who crossed the river of luxury items, next reached a range of mountains of coins.

Ancient people used these coins for their day-to-day needs.

He felt then an unbearable heat. "It must be the sun glowing on doomsday?", the last man murmured to himself. Though it was the morning the scorching sun looked at him as if to devour him.

To escape from that 'devil sun' he should go to the haven of reality as soon as possible. But he has to pass a difficult terrain. Wearily in the hot climate.

Had, it not been for the 'doomsday sun' appeared in the sky since long ago even a drop of water would have remained somewhere on earth. You can't even imagine about rain. Not even a sign of rain.

By this time all seven seas have been too dried up. You can see the sea bed clearly. 'I saw the Nayagara Falls at a distance. But there was no water. Instead cars, vehicles that were used by people who lived many eras ago were flowing like a fall.

If people were able to see the sea bed two or three decades ago they would have surely put up ten star hotel complexes, football or cricket grounds on it. Arctic sea will be a golf Park or super space station.

He was groaning in pain. He was almost staggering. His feet knocked against the coins of Euro and French Franc. He found it difficult to climb the hill made of coins collected by men for a long time.

The rays focusing on his eyes, reflecting from coins due to scorching sun almost blinded him. But he can't stop his journey. Because the shadow of death was chasing after him.

According to the memory of the last man the haven of reality is in close proximity. He looked around keeping his right hand on his forehead. Then he saw some artificial trees and a city with plastic and polythene.

The natural trees which were in the world had disappeared. The 'Mechanical Army' has invaded the planets. That army destroys the life on the planet. The Pyramids that were protected by people with great care were destroyed and flattened by Mechanical Army as if egg shells were crushed. The Great Wall of China was razed to the ground by the Mechanical Army.

All the universities of the world had been reduced to dust by the time the last man reached there.

All lives and materials were destroyed by now except one group. They are the politicians of 22nd century-politicians who duped the masses, who betrayed the people. But not in live form. Their skeletons are scattered everywhere.

The last man on the planet saw a reservoir at a distance. He saw some animals playing there. Tigers were playing with deer. Mice were rolling on the backs of cats. Lions are among hares and deer.

The last man was about to step on to the Field of Reality.

Alas! the last man felt a heavy hand on one of his shoulders. At the same time he got a new strength, new spirit. He tried to keep his foot on the "limit of reality". Unfortunately he was prevented from advancing forward, by that mechanical hand.

Gradually that slid towards the last man's neck. The mechanical hand throttled the neck of the last man.

A donkey and a dog came running to save the last man. They tried in vain to take the last man to the Limits of Reality. By then the last man had fallen. He was sinking. The last man had to die among the cruel hands of Mechanical Army which was an invention of the man himself.

Profile:

A world of quietly looming menace

Margalit Fox

Playwright and novelist Ira Levin was a master of the ingredients essential to make a readable thriller

Ira Levin, a mild-mannered playwright and novelist who liked nothing better than to give people the creeps and who did so repeatedly, with best-selling novels like Romesary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil - died on November 12 at his home in Manhattan. He was 78.

Several elements

Nearly all of his books were made into Hollywood movies, some more than once. Levin also wrote the long-running Broadway play, "Deathtrap", a comic thriller.

Combining elements of several genres - mystery, Gothic horror, science fiction and the techno-thriller - Levin's novels conjured up a world full of quietly looming menace, in which anything could happen to anyone at any time. In short, the Ira Levin universe was a great deal like the real one, only more so: more starkly terrifying, more exquisitely mundane.

Few critics singled out Levin as a stylist. But most praised him as a master of the ingredients essential to the construction of a readable thriller: pace, plotting and suspense.

Levin's other novels are A Kiss Before Dying (Simon and Schuster, 1953); This Perfect Day (Random House, 1970); Silver (Bantam, 1991); and Son of Rosemary (Dutton, 1997), a sequel in which Mama's little boy is all grown up. the film versions of his books include "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes; "The Stepford Wives"' (1975), starring Katharine Ross and Paula Prentiss; and "The Boys From Brazil" (1978), starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason.

There was also a spate of made-for-TV sequels: "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby" (1979), "Revenge of the stepford Wives" (1980) and "The Stepford Children" (1987). A big-screen remake of "The Stepford Wives", starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick, was released in 2004.

As a college senior, Levin had entered a television screenwriting contest sponsored by CBS. Though he was only a runner-up, he later sold his screenplay to NBC, where it became "Leda's Portrait", an episode int he network's an theology suspense series "Lights Out", in 1951.

While continuing to write for television, Levin published his first novel. A Kiss Before Dying, when he was in still his early 20s. Widely praised by critics for its taut construction and shifting points of view, the novel tells the story of a cold-blooded, ambitious young man who murders his wealthy girlfriend, gets away with it, and becomes involved with her sister.

Awards

A Kiss Before Dying won the 1954 Edgar Award for best first novel from the Mystery Writers of America. It was filmed twice, in 1956 with Robert Wagner; and in 1991 with Matt Dillon. Levin, who won a second Edgar in 1980 for deathtrap, was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2003.

Before returning to fiction with Rosemary's Baby, Levin focused on writing for the stage. His comedy "No Time for Sergeants" (1955), which he adapted from the novel by Mac Hyman, was a hit on Broadway. Levin's later Broadway outings, among them "Drat! The Cat!", a musical that ran for eight performances in 1965, were less successful.

Then came "Deathtrap". The tale of an aging dramatist who plots to kill a young rival and steal his new play, "Deathtrap", ran on Broadway for 1,793 performances, from 1978 to 1982. It became a Hollywood film in 1982, starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.

Question of fame

If Levin never achieved renown as a literary novelist; that, judging from many interviews over the years, was perfectly fine with him. It tickled him that the phrase "Stepford wife", and even "Stepford" as an adjective (denoting anything robotic or acquiescent), had entered the English lexicon.

Levin was less pleased, however, at the tide of popular Satanism his work appeared to unleash.

"I feel guilty that Rosemary's Baby led to "The Exorcist', 'The Omen'," he told The Los Angeles Times in 2002. "A whole generation has been exposed, has more belief in Satan. I don't believe in Satan. And I feel that the strong fundamentalism we have would not be as strong if there hand't been so many of these books."

"Of course," Levin added, I didn't send back any of the royalty checks."

New York Times News Service