As I appeared out of thin air into one of the busy markets of Pompeii, I noticed that people were so busy that they had not even realised that someone dressed in totally different clothing had just appeared onto their streets. As I walked on, I saw merchants selling cheese, bread, lemons, turnips, and all sorts of other fruits and vegetables. I spotted a couple of Gladiators as well, strolling along in their heavy armour, glowing with pride. They were considered heartthrobs by some and were treated as sporting heroes. Citizens were walking through the streets in their long togas, most of them hurrying off to work, while slaves either were shopping for their masters, or working in the fulleries.

The roadway was made from cobblestone, covered in dirt and dust, and had stepping stones across it so that one would not step into the filth below.

As the day went on, I could not help but notice that the sky was becoming slightly darker and that a bit of smoke was rising from Mount Vesuvius. I asked one of the citizens if he knew what was happening and he thought it was just rain clouds forming.

Believing the citizen, I continued sightseeing around Pompeii and was really amazed by the Ancient Roman architecture.

After a couple of hours though, everyone could tell that the sky getting darker was not rain clouds but something far worse. By now the whole sky was black and some people were beginning to panic, while others continued on with their day to day lives as if nothing was happening. I wasn’t sure what to do so I just stayed where I was and waited for more events to unfold.

In another 20 or so minutes, rock and pumice were falling from the sky and I finally decided to take refuge in an empty house along the road. I decided to stay in the atrium, which was quite spacious, and had brick walls decorated by paintings. In the middle of the atrium was a small pool and out behind the atrium I could see some plants so I thought it was probably the garden. After I took in all my surroundings,  I sat down in one corner of the room and hoped that the rock shower would pass and everything would return to normal.

I took out my phone to call for help, but then I realised that mobiles were not invented until about 1900 years later. Disappointed, I put my phone back at started to think about ways to get out of Pompeii but eventually came to the conclusion that it would be impossible while pumice was still falling from the sky.

After a while, I heard several screams from outside, and I quickly rushed out to see what was happening. When I did see what was happening, my heart sank and I started panicking. A huge stream of lava was coming towards us and I knew there was nothing I could do to prevent myself from getting hit by it.