By Shima Jack

First it was just a tiny speck. Barely there. Alone in the vast blackness that was space. Slowly, meandering, it ventures closer, pulsing, vibrating with wild, burning energy. It rotates, small blue tendrils of gas and light twisting and humming with electricity in the black, black stillness. Spiderwebs of purple dance across the surface.

Earth.

A delicate blue and green orb, glowing with life, turns in it’s slow orbit around the sun. Tiny white clouds, sprinkled like icing sugar, drift in their own wandering path across the surface.

This is home. The only place in the universe fit for life. Glittering oceans cover vast areas, blue underwater kingdoms of life. Snow covered, majestic mountains rise out of the lush green landscape.

Tall swaying grasses sway in time to the heartbeat of Africa, animals all around the country pausing to listen. Lion stop, golden heads lifting from a nap under the shade of a tree, wildebeest pausing in their rampage through a muddy river. In the dense warmth that surrounds the jungle, monkeys lift their eyes to the canopy, small tidbits of food falling from their hands. The dappled gold and black back of a panther, rippling with muscle as it moves through the lush, vibrant undergrowth, stops for a second.

Day turns into night in a conflagration of pink and purple clouds. Night spreads like ink on paper. Silence descends like a blanket, broken by the chirping of crickets.

Whole cities light up like galaxies. Music and laughter drift around the streets, mingling with the smell of food. Pigeons perch in small holes in buildings, guarding their young.

Morning comes in an explosion of red and pink, and the darkness fades.

This is Earth. The only home we’ve ever known.

Out in space, the purple orb slowly turns in its drifting path, pulled by gravity, closer and closer.

But our world is a cruel world, and it slowly turns towards Earth. Gathering speed, it pulls closer and closer. Time seems to slow down as the meteor speeds closer, turning red as the gas flames up. The world seems to take a breath. Satellites fly off like small pieces of trash as the meteor ploughs through the atmosphere. Everything is silent as the orb, almost gently coming into contact with Earth.

Heads turn. The sky is purple, small flashes of red shooting through the stormy grey. Mouths are open with horror, confusion and curiosity. Police sirens wail in the distance. Some people are praying, kneeling on the street, eyes closed. Others are speeding off in their cars.

The sky gets darker and darker, until it looks like night. The only light comes from the flames flickering across the sky. Screams and wails howl into the darkness, muffled and strange. Pigeons have long since fled. Some people are crying, tears streaming down their faces, others hide in their basements, barricading the doors. Some people just stand, staring at the sky.

A deathly silence covers the Earth.

A bright white circle of light bursts into existence as the the two huge giants touch. It spreads like a huge white halo around the earth as it shudders and sighs with a resounding boom. Flames lick at the place where they touch. Ashes spiral, like hot white snow. The halo ripples over the Earth’s surface, leaving death in it’s wake.

A small white dot appears on the Earth’s surface. It grows larger and larger, until it is all there is.

Then it is gone.

Only the hot white ash remains, drifting down, spiralling.

All of Earth, gone.