Monday, October twelfth, I was sat on our old couch reading Harry Potter and the goblet of fire next to my little brother who had been watching TV for the past hour, “Will you turn that down?” I pleaded. He stuck out his tongue at me and continued watching. I got up and ruffled his messy, blonde hair. He smirked and swatted my hand away. Our parents had been at work all day. That morning, Vinny and I had tricked them into thinking we were sick, so we both got to stay home for the day. Our house was a mess. There were bowls with half-eaten ramen in them and clothes scattered on the floor. I went into the kitchen to clean up the mess we had made earlier from making cookies. There was flour all over the floor and dough on the counters. After wiping the tables and vacuuming the floor, I began to wash the large pile of dishes in the sink.

               As I scrubbed, I heard a loud, high-pitched noise come from the TV. It was the news. “Good evening,” The reporter started. I walked into the living room and leaned on the couch. A man in a black suit and a red tie, probably in his 30’s was shown. He had a serious and defeated look on his face, “This is Michael Thomas bringing you an urgent and unpredicted update,” Vinny began to speak but I raised my finger to say ‘wait’, “Moments ago leading scientist, Matthew Anderson, from NASA has confirmed that there is a large asteroid approximately 10 kilometers wide, that is on a direct collision course with earth,” I was stunned, “We are not sure when the collision will happen, but we urge you to stay calm in this troubling time-” His voice trailed off as I went into my thoughts.

               How could something like this happen? Did this mean we were all going to die?! I looked at Vinny’s, now pale, face and worryingly stated, “We need to call mom,” I ran to the phone in the kitchen and dialed my mothers work phone 2 5 9…, “Mom?!” I yelled out of desperation, 

               “Alexandra? Sweetie, is that you?” She asked.

               “Yes, it’s me, mom!” I shouted.

               “You have to listen to me very carefully,” She replied, “Don’t-” the phone started to cut out

               “’Don’t’ what mom?” No reply, “Mom?!” Nothing, “Hello?!” The phone was all static now, “Dammit!” I slammed the phone down onto the table and held my head in my hands. I looked up, there I saw Vinny’s beating blue eyes staring at me. I knew right there and then I had to protect him. He was only five, he shouldn’t be seeing me like this, “Vinny, I-” I was cut off by the sounds of sirens.

               We rushed to the window and were met with firetrucks blaring their horns, quickly going down the street. Red and blue lights reflected across our worrisome faces. Not long after, people began fleeing their houses hysterically, running through the neighborhood screaming, “we’re all going to die!!”