It was ending tomorrow and, in a way he was glad. They had called the meteorite Lagertha after the legendary Viking Queen, the meteorite tail like her long flowing hair and the force of her impact unprecedented. Of course, the world had gone mad, he had chosen solitude and he welcomed Lagertha and all her powerful glory. The impact was anticipated to be 6am, the world had simply stopped.

The government bodies had provided helpful downloadable pamphlet and a cyanide pill lovingly nicknamed the knockout drop. When the truth finally came out, it was clear there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Panic would achieve nothing, worry of course was fruitless, one could only wait, there was no escaping the inevitable.

He had not slept last night, choosing to stay up with his old dog Toby from sunset to sunrise. Ironically this morning’s sunrise was an absolute corker. It shone in every colour on the spectrum of deep red, bright magenta, burnt sienna and tips of violet, what a waste. He had brewed a pot of fresh coffee and tipped in a 3rd of a cup of his whisky reserve and drank deeply as he sat on the doorstep looking out at the rolling hills. The whisky warmed his empty stomach he patted Toby on his head, tongue lolling out oblivious to his anticipated demise. He looked at the loaded gun, he knew deep down he couldn’t do it to this beautiful old boy, now old and balding, blind in one eye, it would probably be kinder…maybe later but not now, it was 5:55am.

Similarly, the knockout drop sat on the side plate next to a half-eaten slice of defrosted wedding cake, innocent and now unappealing.

Would it be that bad? An instantaneous collision said to be the size of a thousand earthquakes, a tsunami like never seen before on earth and flames as hot as the burning fires of hell, no one knew, but they would soon find out, hopefully it would be quick,

There were no birds in the sky this morning, the silence deafening as the world waited and held its breath. Only now did he think of his mother and thanked god that she had not lived to see this Day. It was almost six.

He reminisced in the moment, smiled and a single tear escaped from the corner of his eye.

A sonic boom and the world went nuclear white. The man, the dog the sunset, the pill and the world were no more. Legartha triumphant in her obliteration.

Craig Binch