A Strong Dragon Seizes Humanity

I stepped outside of my apartment and looked at the bright and colorful sky. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming or seeing things. It wasn't just me. Everyone in my neighborhood was staring at the stunning and beautiful night sky. It was a little past midnight, yet the sky was nearly as bright as day, filled with streams of various light that seemed to simply flow across the night sky. It was both a beautiful and frightening scene...a scene that I never imagined I would see in Hawaii. "I can't believe this is actually happening," said one of my neighbors.

"Me too," I said. This is definitely going to be worse than the pandemic.

*One week earlier*

I stare at the dark brown rectangular leather suitcase in front of me. "This is mine?" I asked.

"Yes, Scott," the lawyer said. "Your uncle's will specifically states that you are to receive this briefcase and the contents within it."

"What's inside of this briefcase? And why didn't he use something like a modern rolling bag?" I asked.

"As you are aware, your uncle was a very old fashion and eccentric person. Nobody has opened this briefcase as requested in his will, so nobody really knows what's inside of it." The lawyer pulled out a small brass key from her pocket. "You can open the briefcase with this key," she said.

I thanked her as she handed me the briefcase along with the key. I left the law firm and drove back to my apartment, thinking about what could possibly inside the leather briefcase. I really hope that there aren't any drugs inside. My landlord would evict me in a heartbeat if I brought home any drugs. I placed the briefcase onto my dining room table and put the key inside of it.

As I opened the briefcase, my jaw instantly dropped. Inside of the briefcase were two stacks of one-hundred-dollar bills and a small black notebook. I quickly counted the money, and it totaled up to $20,000. "Man, today sure is my lucky day. I sure received a massive treat this Halloween weekend," I said to myself. I placed the wads of money in my cabinet drawer, pondering what I should splurge this on. As I walked back to my dining room table, I glanced at the small black notebook with curiosity and opened it to see what was inside.

Dear Scott,

If you're reading this, it means that I am no longer alive. As I'm writing this, I just found out that my cancer has recently progressed…but I'm not writing to tell you about my life story or of my regrets. I'm writing this to warn you of what will likely occur in the near future. You're one of the most open-minded people that I know, Scott…but even you might not believe what I'm going to tell you.

As I write this, we are currently in the end stages of the global pandemic, with about half of the world already vaccinated. However, I believe that the pandemic we have gone through was only a minor issue to what the world is about to face. I firmly believe that the Earth will be hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection, or a CME for short.

A Coronal Mass Ejection is when our sun ejects a massive amount of plasma and electromagnetic radiation into space. This actually happens pretty frequently, but the Earth rarely gets hit directly by one.

Several years ago, there was a scientific report published on the probability of an extreme CME hitting Earth. This scientific report concluded that the possibility is about 12% from 2012 to 2022. Now, 12% doesn't sound like it's very likely to happen…but there was actually a strange mystical prediction made by a famous fortune-teller in the 20th century named Venga Baba. Venga Baba foretold that "a strong dragon will seize humanity." To most people, this prophecy doesn't really make sense. Some believe that the dragon represents China taking over the global economy. On the other hand, I think that this so-called "dragon" represents a Coronal Mass Ejection."

If you could see what a CME hitting Earth would look like, it would look almost like a dragon consuming the Earth. Our planet has probably been hit by a ton of CMEs before.

To be clear, a CME hitting Earth won't harm you directly or any other creatures for that matter, nor will it destroy the Earth's magnetic field. A CME would, however, cause massive damage to electronics around the world. The last major CME that hit Earth was in 1859 and was named the Carrington Event. The Carrington Event damaged electronics all around the globe…but back then, the only electronics were mainly telegraph lines. In today's society, a Carrington Event level CME would cause insurmountable damage to our economy and to our infrastructure.

To prevent massive damage to the world's infrastructure, the power grid would need to be completely shut down for at least a week. It would be nearly impossible to determine the time frame of when Earth will be consumed by the CME. A CME could reach Earth anywhere between a few hours to several days and could last for days. Electronics around the world could possibly become fried if they aren't turned off and unplugged.

Scott, in the briefcase that I've entrusted to you, you will find $20,000. I urge you not to recklessly spend all this money. Use the money to stock up on supplies that you'll need once a CME hits Earth. By the time the major news outlets report on a CME hitting Earth, people will flock to stores, and all essentials supplies will disappear. Keep enough food and water to last you at least a month. Buy a portable generator and other essential supplies such as batteries, flashlights, medicine, and toilet paper. Keep your valuable electronics inside of a faraday cage or an enclosed metal container, which will protect your devices from the CME. Share your supplies with those in your community and others who do not have them. A weak community is what will really make this upcoming event a major disaster.

Encourage others to prepare, and when a CME hits Earth, help them out even if they didn't prepare. Humanity will face a lot more hardships once a CME hits Earth. I hope you spend the money wisely and heed my warning seriously.

Yours Truly,

Uncle Jared

"Well…I totally didn't expect to read something like that," I said to myself. I re-read what was written in the notebook and contemplated whether I should take my uncle's words seriously.

I decided to go to the store and buy various supplies with the money my uncle left me. In total, I spent a little over a thousand dollars worth of supplies, leaving me with a decent amount of money left over.

*Five days later*

It was an ordinary Thursday evening. I had just finished work and decided to treat a couple of my friends to dinner. I met up with my friends Justin and Sarah at a new sports bar that opened up and found them already at a table near the bar.

"Thanks for treating us to dinner, Scott," said Sarah cheerfully.

"No problem, I've still got a decent amount of money left over after paying off all my student debt," I said.

"So do you really think your uncle truly believed that some kinda energy from the sun is gonna knock out all our electronics?" Justin asked.

"Well, my uncle was a pretty strange man…so I'm sure he truly believed it would happen. I'm just not—"

"You guys! Look at the tv screen!" said Sarah with disbelief.

"Breaking news," said the reporter on tv. "Scientists have just become aware of a major solar storm heading towards Earth. They seem to call it a coronal mass ejection. We just received word from Hawaiian Electric, and they plan to shut down the power grid sometime later this week throughout the State. We'll have more on this at tonight's ten o'clock news."

"No way!" said Sarah. "Your uncle was right! Should we start preparing?"

"Well… I've already got a bunch of supplies at home. You guys should definitely buy some essentials, like food and water. The plumbing might not be working after they turn off all the electricity throughout the State."

"Gross, everyone's bathroom is going to smell terrible in a few days," said Justin. "I hope the power will only be off for a few hours or so."

"Don't count on it, Justin. With a CME, the power company will likely shut off the grid for at least a week to keep our infrastructure intact. We'll probably lose cell signal too. It'll best if we shut off all our electronics and unplug everything from power outlets so that our electronics don't get damaged."

"I doubt that. There's no way we can shut off all electricity for over a week. It'll be just like the pandemic we had but worse," said Justin.

"I agree with him," said Sarah. I can't imagine being without my smartphone for a week."

"Well, I can't blame you guys for doubting it," I said. "This all sounds so bizarre and strange. The CME might be that bad…but it's better to be prepared." And with that, I paid the bill, and we all went home.

The next morning, I received multiple texts from Justin.

Justin: OMG Scott!! This is crazy!

Justin: The stock market crashed like crazy today!!!!

Justin: This is a complete nightmare!

Me: How bad was it?

Justin: The entire market dropped 20% this morning. They had to stop trading on all stocks indefinitely!! Everyone is freaking out man! My cryptocurrencies are doing even worse!

Me: How bad did those drop?

Justin: I'm scared man. Every single cryptocurrency lost at least 80% of its value in just one day. I'm even contemplating selling mine too. I've got a lot tied up in this man.

Me: I'm sure this will all bounce back…although I don't really have much riding in investments, so I'm not really one to talk.

Justin: I don't know man. I really hope this isn't real.

I turned on the television, and every news station around the world seemed to have people panicking. Nobody really knew when the CME was going to hit us and how bad it would be. People were flocking to stores to buy supplies, and some people were just ransacking businesses. I then turned off all my electronic devices and unplugged everything from the power outlets.

I guess my uncle was right. We're going to have to face a lot more hardships…

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AUTHORS NOTE:

This story is entirely fictional, but the likelihood of a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting Earth is very real. I hope that you enjoyed my story and prepare for when a Coronal Mass Ejection strikes Earth. If you liked this story or found it helpful, please hit the like button below and/or share it with your friends and family on social media. Bringing awareness to the possibility of a CME is very important, as there will be very little time to prepare for it once the news outlets report on a CME heading towards Earth.

If you'd like to read the scientific report on the likelihood of a CME, you can read it using the following link:

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011SW000734