Nadia at the end of the world

by Sam Hawksmoor

Nadia could barely breathe she was so anxious. Her hands were shaking.
Raul, squashed in beside her on the bus seat didnt seem to notice anything
unusual. But shed already come to the fateful conclusion, after a few casual
dates with him, that Raul didnt really notice much beyond the orbit of his own
rather tall frame. It was all big picture with him.
They were on the Number 14 bus heading towards her family home in
Putney. It stank of damp dejected office workers glad to be out of the rain.
The bus inched forward in a clogged bus lane, water pouring from steamed-
up windows as everyone broiled in an overheated cabin. Normally Nadia
would walk from here, trying to keep fit, but the rain was pelting it down and
Raul, being from South America, hated the English rain. Brazilian rain, he
had assured her on many occasions already, was much superior to English
rain. She didnt care either way. Rain was rain in her opinion.
Raul carried flowers on his lap, pretty chrysanthemums, burnt orange,
now wilting in the dreadful humidity of the bus. They were a gift for her
mother. The source of all fear in Nadias life. The mother who had insisted
that she bring Raul home to meet them, as though he was the one. Nadias
mother was obsessed by the idea that Nadia should marry.
Youre a graduate. You have a good job. Youre twenty-three. You
must marry before you are twenty-four. No one will marry you after twenty-
four.
She glanced at Raul who was staring at his iPhone watching some
guys playing rugby and grunting. Raul was into sport, but was too thin and
too tall to actually play anything physical. In the two months since she had
started dating him, she had never seen him do anything physical (except in
the bedroom and even there she did most of the work). She had absolutely
no idea why she had agreed to bring him home. To shut her mother up
perhaps? Buy her time? It could only lead to more questions, to more
demands about when he was going to propose, then when will they have
children, when will they start repeating the nightmare that had been her
mothers miserable life.
Her phone beeped. Another text from her mother. YOU ARE LATE, it
screamed.
Nadia shook some more. Why oh why had she come home? Why
Raul, of all people? Was it just because he was there? The only guy to have
actually taken an interest in her since her return from Edinburgh. She missed
Scotland and the freedom it gave her. Four years of bliss away from family
and the shame that surrounded it. Her friends had implored her to get a job in
Edinburgh, but her mother had pleaded, begged, screamed at her to come
home after graduation and in the end she had given in, as her mother knew
she would.
She had regretted every day thereafter.
Raul tried to clear the window and peer out.
Much further? He asked, already miserable.
Well get off at the bridge, she answered. Its quicker to walk from
there. Just gets stuck on the high street anyway.
Raul made a face. In Rio he never used buses. They were for poor
people. In Rio he had a Golf GTI and lived in a secure gated compound
unsullied by traffic or people. His father was in government and Raul fully
intended to follow in his footsteps.
Im not sure about the flowers, Raul. My mother is superstitious. Im
sure theyre the wrong flowers.
But they are pretty.
In a graveyard perhaps.
Raul shrugged. They had been on offer in the supermarket. You get
invited to eat, you give flowers. Everyone knew that. There were no wrong
flowers.
Nadia frowned. She wasnt even sure she even liked Raul. Theyd
met at the noisy ruby loving South African pub by work. He was completing
his MBA at City and Jules had pushed them together. Jules was always
trying to get Nadia off with someone or other. Raul was good-looking, a bit
shy really, but bright. There was nothing he didnt know about mathematics,
but then again, there was nothing she wanted to know about math. Numbers
bored her. She worked on the social media team at the office, blogging and
tweeting garbage for a select group of corporate clients. Her Masters in
Applied Media were utterly wasted on recommending dubious products to
unsuspecting tweeters who may actually believe they were personal
recommendations by the celebs they were following. It sickened her, but it
was well paid and better than being unemployed and at the mercy of her
mother.
Will your father be there? Raul asked randomly.
Nadia blinked. Had he never listened to a word shed ever said? She
had distinctly told him that her father had abandoned her mother and run off
with a girl only one year older his precious daughter. (So precious she hadnt
heard from him once in the last two years). She glanced at Raul again.
Would he do that to her she wondered. The moment she turned 40 and had
grey hair. Hed just up and go and shack up with a 20 year-old nightclub
dancer?
Probably.
No. We havent seen him since he moved to Spain. Raul? You must
forgive my grandfather, understand? Hell say things, do things She
shuddered at the thought of all the embarrassing things he could potentially
do. Hes a broken man. You mustnt mock him.
Raul looked at her with surprise clear in his face. I was looking
forward to meeting him. He was quite famous in Rio.
Nadia winced. She knew he meant notorious. Grandfather Alphonse
was the great family shame. A renowned professor at Escuela Tcnica
Superior de Ignenieros Industriales in Madrid, hed suddenly developed a
mania that the world was going to end. He published a paper on it, given a
date and from that moment on he was mercilessly mocked and ridiculed. For
a while he was a celebrity. He went on a speaking tour (Rio was one of the
stops she recalled). At the appointed date thousands gathered on a rock
outside Madrid to await the end of the world and of course nothing
happened.
He was shattered. Hed done all the calculations. Used the latest
computers to crunch the numbers and he was so absolutely sure
All this she remembered from when she was around twelve years old.
He had come to them like a broken toy. Holed up in the loft, then taken over
the living room where he was often found sleeping on the sofa curled up like a
child. He still believed of course, but he was alone in that belief now and he
was their eternal shame.
Hes fragile, Raul. One wrong word and he just starts crying. If you
see him, its best to say nothing.
Raul nodded. Id heard he went crazy. Many people agreed with his
calculations in Rio, yknow. He wasnt alone. I have read his paper.
Nadia was surprised.
You have?
At UFRGS, my university in Rio. It was a lecture. How Numbers can
let you down. I was surprised when I met you. Aracena is not so usual a
name. I guessed right away you must be his grand-daughter.
Nadia was shocked. Hed never once mentioned this before. Shed
never discussed her grandfather except to say he was sick.
Nadia pursed her lips. Did this mean anything? There could be any
amount of Aracenas in this world.
People use math for all kinds of things. To make weapons, to
calculate the gravitational weight of a drop of water on Mars, or predict the
end of the world. Not everyone becomes so famous as Dr Aracena, Raul
declared. I will be honoured to meet such a man who was so brave.
Brave?
He knew he would be mocked. But he thought he was right. Raul
shrugged. Mathematicians can only be right or wrong. Theres no in-
between.
Nadia didnt know about that. All she remembered was a man who had
been utterly humiliated, who never spoke, who often howled in anguish from
the room at the top of the house, rarely took a shower unless he was forced
to. He was the reason she had fled to University in Scotland (that and her
mother of course).
When she had returned Grandfather Alphonse had mellowed a little.
Could even smile from time to time, but he was never quite normal. She often
wondered if that was why her father had sought relief from someone else and
finally abandoned his father to them all.
We should get off, Nadia declared, standing. The bus was suddenly
oppressive. She needed air. It didnt matter if they got wet; there were warm
towels to dry by. She wanted off the bus.
We must get wine, Raul remembered as they zipped up their coats at
the bus stop.
My mother wont allow alcohol in the house.
Raul looked pained. No? Really?
Nadia hurried him across the busy road towards Lower Richmond
Road.
This will be a disaster, Raul. You shouldnt have agreed to come.
You invited me. He protested.
I was just being polite. You should have refused.
Raul blinked, then laughed, shaking the rain out of his face. He
thought she was joking. Meeting the family is important, he said. Next
month my father visits. You will meet him. Dont let him pinch your ass. He
thinks every women wants him. You think your family is embarrassing? Mine
is far worse.
Nadia took his arm. She had no intention of meeting his father.
Parents judged you. She loathed being judged. She had seriously
considered only dating orphans. She had no idea how you would do that. It
was not exactly something people usually listed on their Facebook page.
All she knew was that fathers and especially mothers would look at her
and decide her hair was too dark, his skin too sallow, her eyes too brown to
end up married to such a blue-eyed specimen as Raul. He was one of those
blonde Brazilians. She had no idea where they came from but it certainly
wasnt the Conquistadors. And as soon as they knew about Grandfather
Alphonse Aracena theyd add crazy to their list of objections.
She thought about cousin Lalia who was living with them now. Married
for one year. Her husband had had second thoughts about her and thrown
her out. Nadia had thought him a poor choice of husband at the wedding in
Sal in Morocco. All those tribal relatives had sour faces. They had decided
that Lalia was not a good catch and started on the groom almost immediately.
Lalia didnt stand a chance against a family determined to wreck a marriage.
Its not far, Nadia told him, hurrying now as the rain began to fall
harder.
Raul was fussing with the flowers, all drenched now. Nadia knew her
mother would shriek when she saw them and put them in the bin. The
evening would go downhill from there no doubt.

Oh hes so tall. Was her mothers reaction as she fussed over them, making
them shake the water off their outerwear on the porch, desperately trying to
hide her horror at the sight of chrysanthemums in her house. She wouldnt
even look at them. They didnt exist; she quickly carried them into the kitchen
and flung them out of the back door, slamming the door hard as if to keep out
the bad omens.
She came back all smiles, as if it never happened. Raul had seen it all
but aside from a raised eyebrow to Nadia, he ignored it. After all he had been
warned.
She opened a door. Now go into the comedor, Raul. Lalia will
entertain you whilst Nadia and I get the food ready.
Nadia was about to object. Lalia was not renown for being social; and
what with Rauls natural shyness and her studied diffidence, it would be an
awkward twenty minutes in that dining room.
Hes so tall, her mother repeated in the kitchen. The newly expanded
kitchen her mother practically lived in now shed had a conservatory built out
into the garden. The food was all prepared of course, just as Nadia knew it
would be. Paella simmered in the huge pot on the range and her mothers
special crispy Tortillitas de Camarones (shrimps in pancake batter) were
cooling in a dish.
You dont need me here, Mama. Let me go to him. Hes shy, hes
Lalia will take care of him. You need to know that your grandfather
wants to come to the table.
Nadia groaned. Why now? He never came to the table anymore.
Did you make him shower? Is he wearing a clean shirt? Oh God, Mama. He
will embarrass us.
He wants to meet him. You never bring a man home. This is serious,
Nadia.
Serious? Nadias blood suddenly ran hot. I only brought him
because you nagged me so much to bring a man home. Hes just a date. I
could have brought any man off the street to shut you up. Its just a boy I met,
thats all. It does not require Grandfathers approval.
Her mother just gave her that look she gave when she wanted to
silence her. Nadia realised shed been almost shouting.
His father is the deputy finance director in the Brazilian Treasury. An
important man, Nadia.
Nadia felt her forehead twitch, as it generally did when talking to her
mother.
Im not dating his father. And who gave you permission to look him
up?
Her mother waved her hands in dismissal. You dont think I wouldnt
look him up? The boy who is dating my daughter? Its all there on Google. I
should not look up and see if he is?
What? Rich? Rauls father is rich, Mama. Raul is poor. Hes not a
playboy. He doesnt even own a car here. He cares nothing for money.
I dont care about cars. I just want to know hes from a good family.
You think I dont worry about you? Youre twenty-three. Unmarried. This is
not healthy. You think we women get prettier as we get older?
Nadia threw her hands up in horror. Now her mother thought she was
an old maid. She knew exactly why Grandfather Alphonse sometimes took to
the sofa and curled up like a child, covering his ears when her mother was like
this. He was lucky, had an excuse, he was crazy, but Nadia just wanted to
scream at her mother. She made everything so difficult.
Where are the flowers, Mama?
Her mother narrowed her eyes. You think he doesnt know they are for
the dead? Do they not have customs in Brazil? Did his mother not educate
him? To bring the flowers of the dead into this house. Its shocking, Nadia.
Shocking. So disrespectful.
They arent the flowers of the dead in England, Mama. Youve been
living in London twenty-five years or more. No one dies from getting flowers.
No one.
It is disrespectful, Nadia. We will not talk of flowers.
Nadia poured fruit cordial into the crystal glasses. Of course they were
using the crystal. Nothing but the best for Raul. God she needed something
stronger than this.
When she entered the dining room Lalia was laughing, seemingly
entranced by Rauls wit. She was doing that thing she always did with fingers
on her neck when flirting, she knew it drove men crazy. Worse, Raul looked
entranced. Lalia was prettier than Nadia, she knew that. The flashing brown
eyes, the petite frame that never put on weight. Nadia realized that she had a
rival and she reminded herself that Lalia was newly single again and
dangerous. Raul was a catch. Nadia had a passing paranoid thought that
her mother had set this up to get Lalia off her hands. Let her steal Nadias
boyfriend, because obviously Nadia was never going to land such a rich boy.
Its a fruit cordial, Nadia told them, making a face. Sorry.
Lalia laughed, that special naughty little girl laugh she saved for mens
ears only. Ive got vodka upstairs. She wont be able to smell it.
Raul grinned, happy to be brought into the conspiracy. Nadia saw his
eyes lustfully follow Lalias pert little bottom out of the room.
Shes twenty-eight now, Nadia remarked casually, letting that sink in.
Four whole years older than Raul.
She still looks like a teenager, Raul replied, wistfully looking at the
space that Lalia had left behind.
Nadia pursed her lips. It was disappointingly true. Lalia did look
impossibly young. But then again she had no cares. Zafri, her ex-husband
had wanted a quick divorce (no doubt he too had found some cute night club
dancer to distract him and provided an alternative plain wife to placate his
Moroccan family.) Hed offered a quarter of a million to Lalia in final
settlement and shed grabbed it. She knew he was worth much more, but
getting it out of him would have been a lifetimes work. Shed easily find
another man with that kind of dowry.
Lalia returned with the vodka concealed in a perfume bottle and topped
up their drinks.
And I dont get vodka too?
Nadia spun around. Grandfather Alphonse was seated at the end of
the dining table, half hidden in the dark. She hadnt realized he was already
here.
Lalia blushed at being found out, but Grandfather held up his glass.
Fill it before the grand inquisitor returns to strangle any joy in the
occasion.
Nadia allowed a flicker of a smile. He always called his daughter-in-
law the grand inquisitor when he was lucid. Better yet, this meant he was
temporarily sane. She felt relief.
Its an honour to meet you, Dr Aracena, Raul announced, raising his
glass.
Lalia tipped a dash of vodka into the old mans glass, but he held her
hand there for longer, making sure he got at least two shots.
I wish that were true, Dr Aracena replied, lifting his glass again and
toasting them all before knocking it back in one huge glug. He set the glass
down and stared at Nadia a moment.
Best hang on to this one, Nadia or Lalia will steal him from under your
nose.
Raul laughed. Nadia and Lalia glared at each other. They both knew it
was true.
Im sure hes not at all interested in older women, Doctor, Lalia purred,
winking at Raul, who nervously drained the remains of his vodka cocktail.
Dr Aracena merely smiled. He knew what was happening here, even if
Nadia didnt.
You come to gloat at the man who missed Doomsday by a million
years, Dr Aracena pointedly asked Raul. Im here. You can tell me Im a fool
to my face.
Raul took up the challenge, glad to have been forewarned by Nadia.
I have read your paper, sir. A white dwarf asteroid, up to 30 kilometers
wide on an elliptical orbit between two galaxies. Invisible until it suddenly
appears behind the shadow of the moon. I like it. Something like that must
have struck Chicxulub on the Yucatan Peninsular 65 millions years ago.
Yours would make a crater twice the size of the Gulf of Mexico. It could knock
earth off its orbit.
The dust and debris thrown up into the atmosphere from the Yucatan
asteroid wiped out fauna and flora and half the species on the planet. Dr
Aracena acknowledged. The big lizards starved to death. The resulting
earthquakes and tsunamis must have overwhelmed most of the planet. I
doubt some places saw the sun again for decades.
Raul seemed genuinely interested in this discussion Nadia was
surprised to discover.
And where the dinosaurs went, we will follow, Raul stated. Seven
billion of us falling.
Off a cliff, Nadia chipped in. But not before dinner I hope.
Lalia shook her hair. Both men stared; the effect of her tossing her
mane was as devastating as any asteroid appearing in the sky and had them
transfixed.
The world will go on, with us or without us, she declared. Wont it,
Doctor. Who cares if the world ends? The rats and the ants will rule.
Dr Aracena shrugged. Perhaps not the rats, but the ants are pretty
resilient.
Nadias mother came in with the crispy Tortillitas and sizzling hot
Gambas. Time to eat. Sit, eat, Nadia fetch the paella. Papa Doc, no gloom
at the table. You promised faithfully.
Raul glanced over at Nadia, but Nadia was leaving to fetch the rest of
the food and missed his gaze. Suddenly Lalia was at his side and putting him
in the chair next to her. He noticed her hand held on to his just a fraction too
long and she gave him a sly smile as she relinquished it.
Nadia was in the kitchen lifting the huge pot of paella off the hob. Was
Raul just pretending to be interested in her grandfather to be polite? Certainly
Lalia was trying her hardest to be the focus of attention. She wasnt sure how
she felt about this at all. Did it matter if she stole the boy away from her? She
wasnt in love with him. She didnt want to fight for this one. But then again,
why make it easy for her?
She decided to go back to the dining room wearing a smile. Raul
always said he was first attracted to her by her smile.
Raul was eating gambas when she got back. He was concentrating on
his seafood and hardly noticed when she placed the paella on the table. He
barely cognisant of Lalia flicking her hair either. Nadia locked eyes with her
grandfather a moment and he nodded and made a face. He knew she didnt
love Raul. Grandfather Alphonse could read her like a book.
Can I discuss the numbers with you after dinner, Dr Aracena? Raul
suddenly asked. My professor, Dr Lingaard was particularly interested in
your work, yknow.
You were studying in San Francisco?
He came to Rio in my final year. He was my supervisor. He said he
was the only one left who still believed in you.
Dr Aracena stared at Raul with surprise, then nodded, going back to
his food. He was very generous. Very generous man.
Nadia ate nervously, watching Lalia flirt and her mother twitch and Raul
just eat. He had no small talk and was a hungry boy. She began to sense
she wasnt there at all. She ate in silence, not even attempting to make any
conversation. It was all too weird.
The incident occurred after the meal. Whilst Nadia and Lalia cleared
the table and made coffee.
At first Nadia thought it was her Grandfather howling again and was
about to die of embarrassment, but as she went to investigate she realised it
might be laughter coming from Grandfathers room. That in itself was
surprising, but then she heard raised voices and realised they were arguing.
This was bad. Very bad.
She pushed on the door and it swung open to reveal Raul and her
grandfather pointing at a chart on the wall and jabbing at some numbers. She
opened wider and the former living room was unrecognisable. Every inch of
the walls was covered in sheets of paper each covered by calculations and
angry black drawings. This truly was the work of madness. Clearly her
grandfather had not given up his quest for answers. He stood arms crossed
in a defensive posture as Raul was pointing at some equation on the wall.
Are you all right, Grandfather, Nadia asked softly. He didnt
acknowledge her presence. He was too focused on Raul.
Density, Raul was saying. You didnt allow for density.
Density is y2, Dr Aracena replied, jabbing at the equation. It is an
unknown quantity multiplied by the expected velocity.
Raul was excited. But all of this is unknown You are making
assumptions that it drops out of its ellipsis and
No, you misunderstand everything. It is absolutely following the same
elliptical orbit, but is Earth that has shifted.
Infinitesimally.
Yes, even infinitesimally it makes a huge difference.
And it only comes into our galaxy orbit once every 3000 years.
Again no. You take me for a fool? The first known recording was in
Memphis, Egypt 2998. It shows a comet or asteroid appearing from behind
the moon and passing earth so close people thought it was Horus himself
coming among them.
I found another account of its passing in 300 BC in scrolls at the
Jordanian Institute. And again, an account by Chinese scholars in 915 AD.
Its a White Dwarf, Raul.
Raul was sceptical. An elliptical orbit once every two hundred and
forty years is too strange. Where does it go? How can it pass from one
galaxy to another without falling into orbit around one sun or another? It
shouldnt be possible.
I calculated it was due twelve years ago. I admit I was spectacularly
wrong. I know that. I paid for that. I was ruined. But I know it is out there.
Raul shrugged. I like the mystery. I think that these are real sightings,
but they are not of the same asteroid. No description is ever alike.
Dr Aracena stepped back, disappointed.
The Egyptian description is very detailed.
Raul shook his head.. The description fits a comet.
But no comet was due at that time. We know all of the times of
comets. They describe this as the five days of the shadow moon. The white
dwarf passing so close to the moon it seemed to them that the moon had a
halo.
Nadia decided to intervene. You shouldnt tease grandfather.
I am genuinely interested, Nadia. I like a mystery.
But, this fool of an old man got the date wrong. Her grandfather
reminded them.
Raul nodded. Date yes, but Two hundred and forty or fifty years ago
someone must have seen it, recorded it.
I was hoping Mikhael Lomonosov might have recorded something, Dr
Aracena said quietly. He discovered the atmosphere on Venus and led the
expedition to observe the transit of Venus in 1761. William Herschel most
definitely observed something that September in Halifax, but believed it was
an atmospheric aberration. No one was looking for it and it vanished without
note for another two hundred and forty-odd years.
Raul smiled. And as you say, it is overdue.
Nadia was annoyed with Raul for getting her grandfather so excited.
Hed be depressed after all this. It was all best left in the past.
Still, Raul added, crossing the room to join Nadia. If you had been
right I would not have met Nadia, or the lovely Lalia. He placed a little
possessive kiss on Nadias forehead.
Dr Aracena bowed. He noted the word lovely when it came to Lalia,
but not his darling Nadia. He wondered if Nadia had noticed the same.
Nadia left them too it. She had no interest in the end of the world.
Shed dreamt about it, who hadnt, but the craziness attached to her
grandfather had kept her firmly rooted to the ground. Her dreams were quite
prosaic really.
Raul left at ten-thirty. He thanked everyone, insisted hed had an
eventful evening, refused Nadias offer of walking him to the bus stop and
was, by eleven forgotten. Lalia had already gone to bed, shirking her clearing
up as ever.
Nadia patiently cleaned the kitchen as her mother fussed over
Grandfather Alphonse. When Nadia finally got to bed she slept surprisingly
well, letting the days anxiety slip away. Shed brought a boy home. Please
God, let her mother be content with that for another year at least.

The funeral for Grandfather Alphonse was a small affair. Hed died just one
day after Rauls visit for dinner. No reason. Hed had a nap in the afternoon
and didnt wake up, that was all. His time apparently.
A journalist from Madrid called out of curiosity, but neither Raul nor
Lalia attended the funeral.
It rained. There was a sense of relief. Nadia didnt feel sorry for him.
Hed stuck to his theory to the very end and the burden died with him. Not a
bang but a whimper. He would have smiled sardonically at that remark and
nodded his head in agreement. It is better that I am wrong, Nadia. It means
you have a life ahead of you. I never intended to steal your future.
Shed expected her father to come, be the dutiful son, but his new wife
was due any moment and he couldnt possibly leave her, not even for his
fathers funeral.
Her mother had wanted to burn all her grandfathers papers and even
his books. Nadia was horrified. She didnt know why exactly, but she spent
an entire weekend packing it all up and placed neatly into Xerox boxes, which
she carted up into the roof space. Perhaps because one day someone would
care enough to want to look, should he be ever vindicated. The only irony
being that if he ever was vindicated his glory would be very short lived.
Lalia announced her engagement to Raul at the Sunday lunch the
following week. Theyd apparently been seeing each other since the first
night Nadia had brought him home. Her mother seemed pleased, not at all
upset on Nadias behalf, all the proof Nadia need as to whom she favoured
most in this family. She should have protested more but she had never
wanted to live in Brazil anyway.
She tried to be bitter and upset by the betrayal, but her heart wasnt in
it. Raul deserved Lalia. She most likely had not yet revealed her temper. Or
her inclination to spend days on end in her housecoat watching bad TV. All
his to discover.

It was the Wednesday of the engagement party she had not attended. She
had worked late to make sure she couldnt possibly go. Lalias betrayal had
helped her in many unexpected ways. Shed made a decision. She would
leave home. Move to North London where most of her work colleagues lived.
No more mother or cousins in her life. Shed be a new Nadia, much like the
one that used to laugh and had friends, the one shed left behind in Scotland.

Shed forgotten about the strike. Tube and busses this time. At nine she
began to make the walk home, deciding to follow the river as far as she could
before it turned away towards Worlds End.
She was passing Battersea Bridge. Saw people gathered in knots, well
wrapped against the unusually cold September wind. Everyone was staring
up at the sky. The moon was rising. A full, blood-red moon, perfectly clear in
the clear sky.
But they werent looking at the moon, but at the shadow that had
appeared behind it. A distant bright object, easily visible to the naked eye.
Some were listening to chatter on their iPhones about the phenomena, but
Nadia only saw how beautiful it was, and how exquisitely deadly. To be seen
so clearly it would have to be a very large object indeed.
Raul phoned. Not at all annoyed shed not come to his engagement
party. He was excited at the news. Hed immediately sent everyone home.
He was already on his way to the airport with Lalia. He wanted to die in
Lalias arms in Rio, he told Nadia, oblivious to any insult he may have given
her. Nadia almost considered it sweet. She didnt care what Lalia thought.
She wished him well.
Nadia didnt go home. She knew the phone would be ringing wildly
and her mother would be going mad as everyone would want to know about
Dr Aracena. Theyd be so disappointed he was already dead.
She caught a cab to Kings Cross. Not everyone was talking about this
moon shadow yet. Not everyone knew its significance. She took 300 out of
a cash point, all it would allow.
She got a berth on the night train to Edinburgh. 120 pounds one way.
She called her old friends and told them to meet her for breakfast at the
Mount street caf they always loved. They had no idea of the significance of
her visit but she wasnt going to tell them on the phone.
Her late grandfathers picture was on all the on-line news sites on her
phone by midnight. She felt almost proud that he hadnt been forgotten. The
Aracena Shadow they were calling it. She slept peacefully, almost happy for
the first time in years. She felt only slightly guilty for not going home to be
with her mother, but resolute in her decision to finally break free.
The White Dwarf Asteroid Dooms Earth to Oblivion headline that
greeted her at Waverly Station at seven in the morning was a downer, but her
friends were waiting for her and they hugged and wept. They all got terribly
rowdy at breakfast and shed eaten and drunk more than she ever needed.
Didnt care about the midday hangover, she was with her friends and they
cared about her, missed her.
The clouds obscured the moon that night. Everyone was discussing Dr
Aracenas theories and how, because the moon was (relatively speaking)
infinitesimally further away from Earth since the last time the asteroid was
here, it could quite possibly make fatal impact. It was hurtling towards earth
at a frightening speed. Talk about blowing it up was just that, nothing was
prepared, no one but Dr Aracena had predicted it and hed been wrong by
twelve whole years.
Nadia helped her friends barricade the doors. The screaming and
shouting outside was truly blood curdling. Fires broke out all over the city and
no one was going to douse the flames
When will we die, Nadia? her friends asked, as if she knew and as if
shed tell them.
In our sleep, she reassured them.
Then we must not sleep ever again, was their answer.
But they slept.
And so did everyone else.

Sam Hawksmoor - June 2014
author of The Repossession (Joint Winner of The Wirral Paperback of the
Year 2013) and The Repercussions of Tomas D