Friday June second 2045-




The Week Before

Emma Allen. Would anyone ever remember that name? There was not a chance in the world that somehow my name would be etched into the interplanetary history books- “Our Hero: Emma Allen”, not a chance!

I had two options: 1) tell everybody that the world was ending or 2) keep it quiet and wait to see what would happen. Both options sounded great but I knew that none of them would stop the end of everything.

My mother was in our lightly lit kitchen, chopping some vegetables for dinner while some pots stood on the stove- boiling away. The beautiful aroma escaping out the window brought our dog; lucky was his name, to whine underneath it. I stumbled through my sisters toys which were strewn all over the floor and took a glance out the window to throw lucky a dog treat. He sniffed it once and gave me a solemn look before snatching it up in his mouth and gulping it down with a lot of loose slobber escaping his mouth. I looked at him and felt the sadness wash through me, because I knew that soon he would perish along with the rest of the world!
A glistening tear escaped my eye and rolled slowly down my cheek, falling to the ground with a silent ‘plop’. I turned around to see my baby sister, Mary, grab Lucky by the collar and drag him inside the house. His whine echoed in the large kitchen as he tried his hardest to loosen her grip on him.

“Mary,” I mumbled, pulling Lucky away from her tight grip. “You’ve got to be gentle, see,” I grabbed her hand and lightly patted his head with it. “Don’t grab Lucky by the collar, it will hurt him.”

She looked at me with her teary chocolate brown eyes. I couldn’t help but stare at her sadness, I’m sure she’d become more upset once she found out what the world would end up like; if her childish brain could process that type of information. She was too young to experience that sort of horror. Mary was 3 years old; young, innocent and unnoticeable.

I only just noticed Mary hitting me over the head with her Barbie Doll. As she hit me she yelled, “Bad ‘Mma, bad, bad, bad. ‘ary wan to ‘old woofer,”

I laughed precariously, grabbing another of her Barbie’s and using her to talk to Mary. “Hiya Mary. I’m Barbie and I think that you should listen to your older sister.”

“Wassa old’r sissa?” She asked, hitting me over the head again, taking no notice of the Barbie doll in my hand talking to her.

I sighed, crossing my legs and grabbing her in a hugging grip. She squirmed and kicked me; she even loosened herself so much as to hit me over the head again with her Barbie.

“An older sister is what I am, because I’m bigger than you and wiser!”
“Wassa wis’r mean?”

“Wise means clever,” I smiled, stroking her rosy cheeks. She squirmed some more and yawned widely. I hugged her tightly, this time managing not to get hit over the head from a flying Barbie doll. The darkness was creeping in through the window and that only meant one thing.
“Are you tired, Mary?” I asked.
“Mmmmmmm, me yes, sleep’y.” She yawned again, cuddling up to my shoulder and closing her beautiful brown eyes. I picked her up in my arms and stood up, balancing the little girl. She didn’t stir or open her eyes, so I knew it was nap time for her. I made my way up the mahogany stairs, slowly and step by step, to take Mary back to her nursery.

I passed by my mother as I was returning from the nursery; she held in her hands a blue blanket and a pillow.

“Here, take this to Mary’s room and cover her up. It’s going to be a cold night!” She handed the blanket to me and went back into her room.
I retraced my steps and went back to Mary’s room. The windows’ blinds were open, letting the moonlight leak through. Mary’s crib stood in the far corner, opposite the window. I made my way across the room, still holding tightly the blue blanket and pillow. The blanket was mine, from when I was a baby, and it still smelled of lavender, just like when I had it.

Mary was sleeping when I got closer, and I could hear her soft snores; not like the snores from older people, but the kind from babies that were in a deep sleep. Her eyelashes fluttered as I lay the blanket on her tiny little body, and she squirmed before pushing herself up.

“’Mma, is that yoo?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Shh, yes it is me!” I cooed at her, brushing the hair from her face; her beautiful brown, curly little ringlets. “Go back to sleep, or you won’t wake up bright and early.”

She gave me a sour look, slightly resembling my mother’s when she got all huffed up. “Ba ‘mma, I cann sleep, the monsa will get me!” She pointed to herself, yawning.

I smiled. “What monster, Mary? There’s no monster here!”
She looked at me, on the verge of tears. “The man, he wooked at me and sayed that there gna be a kaboom!”

I frowned, remembering the vision I had previously had of the thing that Mary called the ‘Kaboom’; the world, ending shortly and before my very eyes. It was that same man, the one with the suit and the walking stick, staring at me from afar. He frowned, pointing towards the sky and gesturing for me to join him. This vision wasn’t a vision itself, but it felt strangely like an out of body experience.

I was there though in that vision, watching the sky burn up and the children screaming at their parents. It was sadness, devastation and loss. I watched the burning of the clouds, the sun exploding in the distance and the ground falling from beneath our feet. It was the end our lives, and it was Earth’s demise.

Mary tugged at my shirt, cuddling up to me and sniffling.
“Mary, the man is lying- you know, not telling the truth!” I explained to her.

She looked at me with those longing and defenceless eyes. I watched as a small, sparkling tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. I reached out and wiped the tear away, grabbing Mary by the abdomen and pulling her up into my arms.

“You know, Mary, that dreams aren’t real. They are… er, an imagination!”

“Imination?” She tried to pronounce, cuddling into my breast.

“Imagination, Mary, dreams that are in your head.”
She looked sullen and then turned her face towards the window; letting the force of the moons light hit her face.
“Is da moon imag…gg…nary?”
“Of course the moon isn’t imaginary, pumpkin, its real- like you and me!”
“Yeah, I’m a real per…er…reson!” She giggled, pulling my hair and yawning.
“I think its time that Mary went lullaby!”
“Sleep’y,” she mumbled, yawning once again and shutting her eyelids.
I lay her down in the crib, carefully tucking her in and pulling the cribs bars up. I ambled to the door, and paused, looking back at the crib. Mary was snoring quietly once again, and I couldn’t help but smile at her beauty. The moon definitely had competition.

I shut the door behind me as I left Mary’s room. As I strode towards the stairs I took a peak at the clock.

It was late; again!
Somehow, the days got shorter and there was no time left to spend with family. I knew what was to happen soon, and I knew that no matter how much I pleaded with the man inside my head I knew, alas, that I would never persuade him to save us. The dream was so clear, that I believed it to be reality. It was part of the dream, the only bit that I clearly remembered.


“It’s coming, Emma, you’ve noticed haven’t you?” He muttered, glancing back at me as we walked forwards into the light of the sun. The children’s playground was full of children and parents, all laughing and enjoying the weather.

“I saw it yes. It was in one of my dreams!”

“Did the dream ever tell you how to stop it?”

“No,” I frowned, looking at the sky. “It only told me what was to happen!”

“There’s never any hope for something of this magnitude, Emma, and nothing can ever change the way the world aligns,” he took my hand and put it to his forehead. “Although, we can never be sure if the future will really fulfil itself in that way, all we can do is hope! But, humanity’s going and so is its history!”

I looked at my hand at his forehead and noticed why he had placed it there. He was cold, and frail and most definitely old. But what he had said had made little sense to me. All I knew was that the world was ending and that I could not stop it. Cold, frail and most definitely old!

We looked at the sun, it started to turn orange and the sky burst into flames. The children and parents around us in the park stopped to stare at the sky as the flames danced. The sun expanded to twice its size and the parents started to weep, grabbing their children to run for cover. Cover was not going to save these poor people; poor people who did not deserve to die that very day.

“Help them, what are you standing around for?” He yelled at me, pushing me toward the shadows. “Go back and warn them before it is too late!”

I stepped into the shadows.

Saturday June third 2045-




Nothing is helping


I woke up to find Lucky, strangely in my face, licking my ear. I pushed him off, pulling the covers over my face. I felt his body squirming around on the covers; probably chasing his tail, I thought.

I pulled off the covers, taking a peak at Lucky. He sat staring at me, right in my face. I giggled, grabbing him and chucking him in the air before catching him and patting him on the head. He smiled that stupid dog grin and hopped off my bed, chasing his tail again except this time on the carpet.

I was out of bed at that instance, stretching and walking towards my mirror. I felt oddly old, like my sleep had lasted a decade or two. I never believed that 17 was old, just older than most. No one would ever think that a 17 year old has seen more of the world than any living, or dead, person.

The face staring back at me was young, although her soul was as old as the house she lived in. My hair was a mess, tragically, and my eyes were still half shut as if they needed a second of sleep to be full and awake. I was a monster, to put it straight, a comb through my hair would be the only saviour right now!


I paced around the room with my hairbrush yanking half the hair on my head out. Lucky sat on my bed, head on his paws and watching me idly. From time to time he would yawn or close his eyes to take a short nap, but he was always in the ‘watching-you-very-carefully’ position.

Someone knocked on my door, shortly but hard.
“Emma, honey, Mary wants you to dress her Barbie in the ‘morning’ clothes.”
“Yeah sure, mom, I’ll be down in a few!” I mumbled, still running the hairbrush through my rats nest hair.

Ten long and wonderful years later I was dressed, and ambling towards my door in a sort of ‘I’m-tired-but-don’t-want-to-show-it’ way. I wasn’t doing a good impression of a person trying not to be tired.

Mary waited for me at the bottom of the stairs, throwing her holiday Barbie at the wall, along with her holiday Ken doll; they both rebounded, hitting Lucky in the face. It was quite a sight actually, violence at a young age! She noticed me coming down the stairs and yelled,

“Oo-er, ‘mma is coming, ‘mma is coming. ‘arbie, stop humping and come over ‘ere!”
I giggled. Simply put, Mary mixed up jumping with humping and made it sound as though Ken and Barbie were getting it on. Children were so funny when it came to pronouncing words.

“The queen has arrived,” I cooed at her, bowing. She looked me up and down and laughed madly.
“What is qreen?” She asked, getting up and throwing Barbie at me. Holiday Barbie hit me square in the face, leaving a visible arm mould in my skin.

“Queen, not Qreen, Mary and I’m not going to explain the whole dictionary to you now, am I?”

“Dict…dick visionary,” she giggled, shaking Barbie and Ken. “Dick visionary,”

“Do you hear that mum? I think Mary has learnt an actual phrase that isn’t normal for normal children. I think she will be a proud member of the family!”

“What do you mean, Emma?” She asked, strolling into the room and laying her eyes on Mary. Mary kept repeating the same sentence.

“Dick Visionary, Dick Visionary,”
Throwing Barbie at the wall again, Mary yelled, “DICK!”

“Mary Louise Allen,” Mum screeched, folding her arms. “What is this trash you’re talking?”

“’ary not taking trash, me eat it!” She burst into hysterical laughter once more. Ken and Barbie would never live to see another day at this rate.
Ken was lying face down near the stairs, his arm hanging on by a thread. Barbie, on the other hand, lost her head; literally. Her body was near the window, being chewed on by our wonderfully ‘normal’ dog and her head was on the first stair.
I was going to miss this family. It was always stuck in my mind, the thought of death being so near. Soon, very soon, I would need to toughen up and try and live with the thought of being alone.
Mary was strangling Lucky, his eyes were bulging out of his head and he was whimpering loudly. Holiday Barbie was hanging out of his mouth, and she was covered in his saliva. I wandered forward to remove holiday Barbie from Lucky’s mouth. In the process, I also removed Lucky, once again, from Mary’s grip. She hit me over the head with the remaining pieces of Holiday Ken, as Lucky had chewed basically every part of Ken’s body off.
Lucky ran off into the kitchen, probably sensing food being placed in his oversize bowl. Funnily enough, Mary didn’t follow behind. She sat on the ground, licking certain limbs and trying to ‘glue’ them back onto the bodies. If mum let her loose in the street it would be the apocalypse; well, perhaps not, but it would be bad.
I sat down next to Mary, staring at her effort to piece together her favourite toys. Eventually, she threw Barbie and Ken on the ground, crossed her arms and started to cry. Her tears ran down like waterfalls. I grabbed Mary in a tight embrace and held her there as she cried intensely. After a few minutes she stopped and looked me in the face; well actually, she grabbed my hair and brought my head down to her level.
“Emma,” she mumbled, pronouncing my name perfectly in her sweet voice. “Kenny and Brabie are not pwaying faiw. Can yoo teach them a lesson?”
“What do you mean not playing fair? Mary, you are the one that tore them apart and now they won’t piece back together!”
“But ‘ary not done nofing wong!”
“Mary, you’ve got to be gentle, just like with Lucky!”
She gave me a sad frown, twisting Barbie in her hand. Ken lay next to her, covered in Mary’s spit. She picked Ken up and gave them both to me.

“Emma, pleasss fix dem!” She mumbled.

“I’ll try my hardest, ok Mary?”
She nodded, smiling and puckering her lips.

“Kiss me, old boy!” She giggled. I guess she got that from watching too many rom-com’s with mom. I smiled back, puckering up and kissing her on the cheek.

“No, no, Emma. Yoo meant’a kiss me on the lippy’s, like the woman’s on the telemission!” She puckered up again. I sighed and went in for the kiss. She slobbered all around my mouth before exclaiming, “Wow, old boy, yoo are’a goody kiss-er!”

I laughed along with her, before finally getting up to go to my bedroom. When I got there I put both Holiday Ken and Holiday Barbie on my desk. I gave them a quick once-over and decided it was just impossible to save them.

They were as good as dead.

It was twelve at night when I woke up from my dream. The old man with the walking stick was in it, telling me about the flames and what-not! I was covered in sweat and I was panting. Was their anyway to forget what I knew was coming?
I heard a cry echo from the other room; Mary’s nursery. I hopped out of bed, running out and directly into the Nursery. Mary was standing up in her crib, holding onto the bars and crying madly. I sighed, walking up to it and holding my arms out for Mary. She stopped crying immediately and reached her hands out. I grabbed her, softly so not to hurt her, and she cuddled into my shoulder.
“I had a tewwible dream Emma. It was the old man again; he sayed that fire was comin’ and that the kaboom is comin’.”

It was the same as the one I had, and I knew now that somehow the old man was getting to us both. What would telling Mary solve? Would she save the world with me? There was not a chance that Mary was the key to saving the world.

“Mary,” I said, turning her face to face me, “do you know why you’re dreaming of the fire and the kaboom? Did the old man tell you?”

She looked at me, confused, “I fink the old man told ‘ary about the fire! But I don’t wemember what he was saying!”
“Are you sure you don’t know what he said?”
“Mhmm…”
“Mary, please think. Tell me, what did the old man say to you?”
Mary looked puzzled, then crinkled her nose and forehead and thought hard. After a few minutes she finally looked towards me and said,

“Emma, I ‘member what the old man said! He said ‘’ary Awen, the fire is coming.’ And that is all.”

I stared at her. What did she mean ‘that is all’?
“Was there something bad in the dream? Like monsters or something?”

She shook her head. “No, no monsa’s, just the old man and the fire!”
“Well if you dream about it again, don’t forget what the man tells you!”

The words that the old man said were all mixed up, like he was trying to communicate from the other side of the veil,
“Emma Allen, the end is near… Emma, can you save them? ... Can you save me? ... Will you ever save humanity? … Will you require help? … I can get you help, all you have to do is ask! … Emma Allen, she will help you …she will…I’ll tell you who…give me a second…Emma…EMMA!”
“I will save you…I will,” I remember saying, “I have to save you even if it means I die in the process…who will help? … WHO?”
I woke up.

Monday June fifth 2045-




Like a ghost?

Mary was playing in the sandbox, the sunlight radiating down on her pallid face. People were walking their dogs; some even jogging with them. Lucky was whizzing on the acacia tree, as though he was afraid that some psycho dog was going to turn the corner and descend upon his terrain.

The playground was empty at this time of the day. Children would usually populate most of it, but it was a mystery why they were not here.
I promised Mary I would take her to the park; she had begged me to take her, throwing her newly bought ‘Christmas Time Barbie with exclusive accessories’ at my face as a threat. I had to give in and say that we would go, but only for 25 minutes. She resulted in throwing Mr Potato Head at me just to seal the deal.
I turned around to see that Mary had somehow crawled over to Lucky, as he whizzed on the nearest tree to the sandbox, and hugged him tightly as he tried to run away from her. I don’t know who she got the mad gene from, but it was definitely not from me. I had to break up the dispute, once again.
“Mary Louise, how many times do I have to tell you not to hug Lucky almost to death?”
“Ba Emma, the old man tolded me we didn’t have long left and that I should cheri…ii…sh the time we have left togever!” She reached out to try and grab Lucky again, but I held her back.
“When did the old man tell you that?”
“Jus’ now ‘mma,” she mumbled, sucking on her thumb, “jus’ now he sayed that!”
“What? Did you fall asleep again?”
“Nah Emma, he camed ova and tolded me jus’ now!”
I looked around, trying to locate the man. I saw a cloak disappear behind a tree.

“Mary, stay here and do not leave Lucky ok? I have to go for a second, but I will be back!” I yelled at her, leaving her in the sandbox and running towards the shady tree that the cloak had disappeared behind.

“Okey-dokey, sexy woman’s.”
She was definitely watching too many rom-coms.

I reached the tree, checking behind it; no-one. I was sure I saw somebody go behind the tree.

“Mary, are you sure it was the old man?” I yelled back around the tree.

“Why wood I lie to yoo Emma,” Mary called back, stomping on a sandcastle. “The oldy man came here and sayed it to me, I swear!” She yawned. “Emma, I’mma sleepy, cans we go home now?”

“Sure, but you wanted to come here for a long time remember?”

“HOME!” She yelled. I walked over to her, grabbing her in my arms and whistling for Lucky to follow. He emerged from behind a tree, holding in his mouth a big stick.

We got home 15 minutes later and mom took Mary from my clutches, Mary snoring lightly. The night was racing in, darkening the house. I sauntered up the stairs to my bedroom and plonked myself onto my bed. Not bothering to change my clothes I closed my eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

One minute I was dreaming about grabbing the mans hand in the playground and walking into the shadows and the next we were in pitch black; my eyes were getting used to the newly formed darkness. I was holding the old mans hand. We were definitely not in Kansas anymore, or rather, the playground.

It was the future, hours after the minute that ended everything. The old man stood next to me looking out at the empty, broken up land. Everything was on fire, everything. It was the only light that occupied the empty darkness. Bodies lay scattered around the fire, some even in it. My tears began to spring up, falling and dropping to the dark, black earth. In seconds I was weeping, sobs ripping through my chest. The sight was horrifying; the innocent people all sprawled out across the dark plain. I looked up at the sky, I saw the stars start to expand, explode, and disappear, each going out like a night light. It was all that I could look at.

“What…what…I have to save the world from this?”

“Mhmm,” he nodded, walking forwards and taking off his hat, then inspecting the disaster area. “Why, is it too hard?”

“Of course it is, can’t you see for yourself?”

“No, all I can see is doubt, Emma,” he turned to face me, “This endless cycle of doubt; even your answers to the questions in your dreams contain doubt!”

“THEN TELL ME WHAT TO DO,” I screamed at him, the tears coming out more and more. “TELL ME WHAT WILL SAVE THEM, TELL ME WHAT!”

He came closer to me, grabbed me by the hand and closed his eyes. I mirrored his action.

“It’s time for the end to pass, let us retrace the steps; the past!”

He pulled me forward and it was completely black.

Tuesday June sixth 2045-




Closer than ever before!


“Wake up, sexy woman’s,” Mary whispered, clambering onto my bed. “Wakey Upey Mrs Sexy, WAKE UP SEXY OLD MAN!” She yelled, thumping me on the head with a toy.

“Ok, I’m up, I’m up,” I mumbled, pulling off the covers and scaring Mary. She screamed, hopping off the bed and hiding under it. “Fee, fi, fo, fum,” I growled.

I got off the bed and crawled under with Mary. She squealed and crawled out, running out of my room. I laughed, wiping laughing tears from my face; sometimes having a cute/annoying little sister was humorous.

I was making my way down the stairs, slowly and rubbing my half-asleep eyes. Mary sat in the living room, throwing the ‘fixed up’ Holiday Barbie at her Christmas Barbie, who sat in a hot tub (small, square cardboard box) with her head staring at me.

“You know, Mary, I think Christmas Barbie is evil, it is a little frightening.”
Mary turned to face me and yelled, “Dick Visionary,”

“Oh no, I thought you’d forgotten about that word!”

“NAH, NAH, NAH, Mary never forget newwwwww words!”

“I don’t think that’s a standard word, Mary,”

“Standing Bird, standing bird, standing bird,” She screeched, throwing Christmas Barbie at the wall. “Standing bird, standing bird, cawwww, cawwww,”
Mental, I told myself, mental as can be!

I stumbled over toys to get to the kitchen. The window was open and I could hear Lucky growling, probably chasing his tail or chewing a stick. The fridge was open, and I knew why. Mary had been in here, there was a trail of toys leading to it.

“MARY,” I yelled, shoving the toys away with my foot. “Who’s been in the fridge?”
I heard a giggle from the living room, a giggle that said ‘I’m guilty, but I’m pretending I’m innocent!’
“Wasnnn me,” she mumbled, snorting. “It was Chrissmas Brabie, you sayed she was evil!”
“I know full well it was you. Unless, of course, Barbie grabbed all her ‘enemy’ toys and pulled them along with her. I didn’t know she was that strong!”
Another snort, and I heard her giggle some more. I turned around and Mary was holding Christmas Barbie around the corner of the kitchen and pretending Barbie was standing up herself.
“Emma, I didded it, it wasn’t Mary!”
“What? Christmas Barbie, are you alive?” I joked. Mary giggled madly, trying not to give away the person behind the wall.
“Yesssss, I am evil and will kill yoo!”
“Oh no, somebody help me,” I yelled, running out of the kitchen, “Christmas Barbie is on the warpath!” I ran into the living room and saw Mary sitting near the wall that had the opening for the arch; she sat giggling her head off. “Mary Louise Allen,” I yelled at her, crossing my arms like mom did when she was angry at her. “You are in big, big, enormous, gigantic trouble!”
“Eeek,” she squealed wheeling around and crawling for the stairs.
I ran after her, catching her in my arms as she scratched and screamed and kicked me.

“Are you sorry for keeping the fridge open?”

“No, no, no, no, no! I wanna’d the fwigge open, I wanna’d, wanna’d, wanna’d,” She kicked me, “You cann’d hurt Mary, I’mma inncent, inncent I tell ya!” What has mom been watching with her? Crime shows. Definitely crime shows.

“Mary, you’ve got to learn to be sorry!"

“Ok, Emma, I’m sowwy,” She mumbled. “Can you put me down now?”

“Ok, I’ll put you down, but only if you promise to behave yourself!”
Mary nodded. I gently put her down onto the ground and waited for her to move away. She went off, crawling out the back door, probably gone to annoy Lucky.

The next minute I heard a yowl and Mary yell, “Bad Lucky, you’re not awowwed to pee-pee on Mary,”

“Mary, it’s naughty to hit innocent dogs, what on earth were you thinking?” Mum yelled at her. That was Mary’s M.O, annoying Lucky.

The doorbell rang at that precise moment. I sighed, who now?
I opened the door and Lachlan was standing there, hands in his pockets and whistling.

“Well, hello Emma Allen. How is the beautiful girl doing?”

“Very smooth Lachlan. Where did you learn that statement from, How I Met Your Mother?”

“Yeah, spot on. So how are you?” He asked, pushing through the door and taking a look around the room.

“Pretty good, given the circumstances,”

“Yeah, well what is it this time?

“Mary,” I grumbled, pointing towards the kitchen. “Shh, I don’t want her to hear you!”
“Oh, Emma, why would you not want Mary to hear that I, Lachlan, am here to visit her and present her with a new toy?” He deliberately yelled, expressing each word with enthusiasm.
Mary ran into the room, yelling, “Lockie, Lockie, my boyfriend Lockie!”
“Sacre bleu,” I mumbled, hitting Lachlan over the head with my hand.
“Mary, so hairy, how does your garden grow?”

“Don’no Lockie how does my gawden gwow?”
“Very tall; how are you Mary?” He asked, picking her up and kissing her on the cheek. She giggled madly, going as red as a tomato.
“Stop it, you naughty girl,” she mumbled, slapping Lockie in the face.
“Oh Mary, let’s have a tea party!” He screeched, pretending to be a girl.
“YAY, tea party time, mamma bring the cakes!”
“What’s this hullabaloo about?” Mum asked, wiping flour onto her apron and walking into the room. “Lachlan Jones, pleasure to see you back and walking!”
“Yeah, well it turns out broken legs heal faster than doctors think. How are you Mrs. Allen?” He asked, smiling charmingly.
Mum went red and embarrassed. “Er, I’m fine. Lockie how many times have I told you to call me Josie?”
“Sorry, Mrs.…er, Josie,” he mumbled, also going red, “so Mary wants to have a tea party, is that ok with you?”
“Wee party, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” Mary yelled, knocking Lockie hard on the head. Lockie pulled out something from his pocket, wrapped in wrapping paper and gave it to Mary.
“A little present; I heard that your old one ‘broke’,” he chuckled. Mary ripped it out of his hand and tore into it with her teeth. She held up the present and screamed,
“LOCKIE BOUGHTED ME CHRISSMAS KENNY, YAY,”
“Say thank you, Mary,” mum growled.
“No need, Josie, I thought she might like it. I saw it in the window and knew it was for her. Enjoy, Mary!” He smiled, putting Mary down on her feet. She ran into the living room and I heard her mumble,
“Looky here Brabie, Lockie got me your new husband. Say hello to Chrissmas Kenny,” she giggled madly. Something was really wrong with my sister.
“So Emma, I need to talk to you privately while Mary is occupied with the…er, freaky toy!”
I looked him over.
Lachlan was, how to say it thoroughly, amazingly gorgeous. He had the eyes that every girl could only dream of and his hair was touched by God. Green eyes, brown hair. Sigh.
“Oh, ok,” I muttered, pulling myself from my daydream.
“Let’s go to your room,” he whispered, pointing to his lips and showing me to be quiet.
I nodded the ok. We both headed up the stairs, quietly and not to draw attention to ourselves. I quietly opened the door to my bedroom and walked in, closely followed by Lachlan. He closed the door after he had entered.
“So what’s this BIG secret?”
“Who said anything about it being a secret?” He asked, smiling widely.
“Er, well if you wanted to talk to me privately then it must be a secret,”
I heard mum yell down stairs and Mary start to cry. “And anyways, it must be something unusually awesome. I can’t wait to hear.”

“Well…you know how we are good friends and all…-” Oh no, I thought, here he goes, “well, I just wanted to ask if you fancied me in a friendlier way?”

I went red with the news. What? Lachlan wanted me to tell him whether I liked him? This was unbelievable.

“Er, well, you see…it’s, well, I do like you more than a friend,” in fact I think you’re majorly hot, I added in my head, “but I’m not so sure it would work out.” He frowned, sitting down on the edge of my bed and holding his head in his hands.

“Why? How would our relationship not work out?” he mumbled, looking up at me.
I sighed. Those beautiful eyes of his were staring at me…so deep and green.

“Well, I’m not saying it wouldn’t necessarily work out, but I just think it would be a bit, you know, awkward if we tried anything different. I mean, I do like you but…yeah!”

“I really do like you Emma! Can we at least try this?” He stood up and stepped forwards; only an inch away from me.

“Lachlan…-”
He cut me off by placing his index finger on my lips. His face moved in closer and was a mere centimetre away from my mouth. I looked down at his lips, so beautiful, just like him. Was I ever going to forgive myself?

In a matter of seconds his lips were on mine, moving together like the tide. I smelled that sweet scent of him, like musk, or something along those lines. I was thinking rather than doing and the next second Lachlan was pushing me onto the bed, bringing his body up to rub against mine. I felt both sensations; the one of teenage hormones and the one of irritation.
He was intimidating me with his body, using it as a barrier so that I couldn’t escape. This made me slightly on edge. I felt as though soon he would start undressing himself, and worse, me!
I paused, stopping the rhythm of our passionate kiss. I looked towards the door, my eyes widening in shock at the sight. Crap, I thought, crap, crap, crap.
“What? Did I hurt you?” He asked checking to see if anything was wrong with me. His eyes followed mine and they landed on the door. He jumped up.
“No, but I’m sure I saw the whole thing,” muttered mum from the door, giving me a stern look. Oh-oh.

Wednesday June sixth 2045-




“It’s over, pack them bags,”


“I’m so sorry Josie, I didn’t mean to do that to her,” Lachlan begged my mother as she pushed him out the door, “It kinda led from one thing to another!”

“I don’t care. Come back when you learn how to treat a lady!” She slammed the door in his face.

Mary sat in the hallway, giggling. She didn’t understand anything that was going on, but she decided it would be funny to giggle.

Mum approached me, hands on hips and a furious expression. She cleared her throat and I looked up at her, my cheeks a deep shade of red.

“And what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Look mum, I’m sorry, he came at me and I didn’t know what to…-”

“Don’t give me this ‘I didn’t know, I’m innocent crap’. Can’t you control your flipping hormones?”

The real answer was no, I couldn’t. “Mum, I swear, one minute he’s asking if I like him and the next we’re both lying on the bed, my body pushing up against his. What was I meant to do?”

“Push him away, boot him, I don’t know…what could you have done, Emma Charlotte Allen?”
“Sorry mum. I was kinda, er, caught in the moment,” I grumbled.
She gave me her look,
“I was thinking too hard to concentrate on any actual kissing, ok?”
“Mmmhmmm, I don’t believe you, but I’ll let you off this time!”
Mary giggled, shoving Ken’s face into Barbie’s as if to make them kiss.

“Kenny, Oh Kenny, I love you so much, kiss me old boy, kissssssssss me!” She screeched making loud and annoying kissing noises. I grabbed her Carebear and threw it at her face. As the toy fell down, her face was angry and she grabbed her Barbie doll and flung it at my face instantly.

It ‘thwacked’ me straight in the nose, and I heard a crunch,
“OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH I’m gonna get you so bad, Mary,” I yelled, putting my hand to my nose to stop the flow of blood oozing down my chin. She screamed and ran for the door, sliding through the doggy door. I ran after her, not noticing the door and I ran straight into it. I groaned and turned on my heels, running for the bathroom.

The mirror showed the proof of Mary’s arm throws. They were a menace.
My face was covered in blood and my nose was crooked.

I had to run for tissues, stuffing them at my face to stop the increasing blood flow. Mary was going to pay so much for what she had done. I looked at my face carefully in the mirror. I could see the wrinkle lines on my forehead as I screwed up my nose and wiped more blood off of my face.