Nearly every morning these days, it seemed to Jerry as if he was leaving for work with some sort of nit-picky palaver ringing in his ears. He'd phoned his partner while stuck on the motorway, to tell him that he'd be late for dinner. Jerry thought he was being considerate, but all Mike did was shout something about ruined plans. Sighing, he wondered if his partner was having some sort of mid-life crisis. Or, maybe Mike was feeling less comfortable with him, since Jerry had put on a few extra stone. He made a mental note to himself to work out more.

The setting sun reflected blood red on the windows of houses and the cars parked along the kerbside. Twittering birds flitted through the air, and flowers bloomed in all the gardens he passed. Driving down his road, lined on both sides with nearly identical council houses, Jerry suddenly had the urge to stop the car, turn around, and head for the nearest travel agent's office. A holiday, a nice little getaway, Jerry thought. That's just what they needed.

As the balmy spring air rushed through his open car window, Jerry dreamed of a sunny holiday in the Canary Islands or the south of France. Or, more likely on his budget, somewhere in Majorca. He didn't notice the strange black hole which had opened up in the sky above him.

Jerry's visions of sandy beaches and turquoise seas were abruptly halted, when a strange buzzing noise penetrated his ears. Was it the car, again? That would be rubbish, he'd just had it in the garage last week. Without warning, some kind of insect flew through the car window, and crashed into Jerry's cheek. He cursed, nearly swerving into a parked car.

Another big insect flew into the window, and another. They looked like some kind of grasshopper, which was odd, because it wasn't yet the time of year for them. Jerry rolled up the car window quickly, but it didn't help, because all of the sudden his vision went black.

The car was covered with insects, he couldn't see out any of the windows at all, couldn't see where he was going. Jerry panicked and tried to stop the car, but it was too late. With a resounding crash and a grinding of metal, the car slammed into the back of a removal van. Jerry wasn't going to have to worry about his job, Mike or getting away on holiday any longer.

***

After a night of clubbing with her friends, Ramona was tired and looking forward to a lengthy lie in back at her room. Now that exams were over, she could sleep as late as she wanted. At least, until she found a job. As she walked beside the rail track which ran alongside the river path she was walking on, the early morning fog brought with it a steady drizzle of rain. Sighing, Ramona drew her cardigan tighter about her, and walked a bit faster.

Pausing, Ramona thought she heard an odd noise. She turned around, but saw nothing. Straining to listen, she heard no sound but the stirring of the wind in the trees, the whisper of rain against the leaves and the gentle lap-lap of the water against the shore. With her back turned, she didn't see the large black hole which had opened up ahead of her on the tow path.

Before she could truly register what was happening, Ramona found herself staring at an enormous object coming at her through the fog. It shook the ground beneath her feet, and gave off a great huffing noise. Ramona looked down. It appeared that she had somehow come to be standing in the middle of the rail tracks. Two trains were bearing down upon her. One had a shiny black engine with red trim, puffs of white smoke trailing out behind it. Attached to the train were a long line of old-fashioned wooden passenger cars. The other engine, on the same track, but coming from the opposite direction, was similar to the first, but had a shorter load of vintage metal framed passenger cars.

Horror-stricken, her somewhat inebriated mind not able to cope with what she was seeing, Ramona stood fixed to the spot, unable to move. Her mind told her to jump, to run, but her body did not listen to her mind. She could only watch death's approach, with the icy fingers of that knowledge clawing at her wildly beating heart. The young woman's scream was cut off, by the reverberating concussion of the two great engines meeting head on.

***

Agnes smiled as she listened to her giggling children scampering among the lambs in the field next to her home. Her little girl, Alice, began taking her older brother Jimmy to task for teasing one of the sheep. He told her she was being too bossy. Before a row could erupt, Agnes called over to her children, suggesting that they get themselves something cold to drink from the kitchen

The afternoon sun felt warm on Agnes' upturned face, as she hung another sheet on the clothesline. Her two children climbed over the gate and came bounding through the garden. She smiled at them as they went past. Alice, acting as if it was her suggestion all along, announced that she and Jimmy were going to get some fruity drinks from the kitchen. Without turning from her task, Agnes reminded them to remove their wellies before going inside the house. That would be all she needed, having the kids track sheep dung and mud over her nice clean kitchen floor.

Bending down to get another sheet from her basket, Agnes didn't see the black hole appear in the pasture where the sheep were. Then, she heard a strange noise. Listening more carefully, she thought it sounded like muffled screams and explosions and machine gun fire.

With the universal martyred sigh of motherhood, she was about to scold her children for turning on the TV set before teatime, when Agnes noticed a strange white fog. It was rolling across the pasture where her children had been playing. An odd odour came to her, something like a mixture of black pepper and pineapple. As the fog reached her, Agnes' lungs began to burn, she suddenly found she couldn't breathe. Dropping the sheet, she collapsed to the floor.