Flare

Chapter 2

I’m not sure what woke me. I’ve never been a particularly heavy sleeper, but that night I came awake with the unsettling feeling that something was wrong.

I lay there for a few moments, blinking in the dim light that made it past the curtains, staring dumbly as it flickered from blue to green then back again.

My first thought was that a police car must be in the road outside, but when I crossed to the window and drew back the curtains, my jaw dropped as I saw the sky.

The horizon was alive with colour. Blue, green and red snakes of pale, ethereal light writhed and twisted in the air, dancing in front of the stars as I could only watch in wonder.

Throwing on my dressing gown and slippers, I hurried downstairs and out into the street to look up at the sky. It was so beautiful that I felt a lump in my throat. I’m not sure how long I stood there before I tore my gaze from the sky, but when I did I saw that other people had come out of their houses, all craning their necks to stare in amazement at the light show. A cool wind blew in gently from the sea. I shivered and was about to head in for some warmer clothes when one of my neighbours, an old lady whose name I thought might be Mildred, hobbled over to where I stood. She was wearing an overcoat, neatly buttoned up the front, but I could see the hem of her pink nightie poking out the bottom and large, fluffy slippers were on her feet.

“You see that?” She demanded, pointing her walking stick at the sky.

“How could I miss it? Have you been out here long?”

She nodded. “About an hour. I don’t sleep much nowadays, so I was sitting up listening to the radio when I saw it through the window. What do you think it is?”

I shrugged. “It looks like the northern lights, but they’re usually, well, further north.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it in all my days,” she exclaimed, a trace of wonder in her voice, “do you think it can hurt us?”

“No, I don’t think it can,” I said, but as I spoke I suddenly recalled Jerry’s phone call from earlier in the day. If anything could cause the northern lights to appear this far south, it would be a solar flare, but I’d never heard of it happening in my lifetime.

“Only I saw a film about triffids a few weeks ago,” Mildred continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “and they were looking at lights in the sky and they all went blind.”

I was about to reassure her but I paused before speaking. I was assuming that the lights were benign but what did I really know?

“I’m sure it will all be fine,” I said lamely, “there’s probably nothing to worry about.”

Mildred sniffed and shrugged, almost knocking her glasses from their precarious position on the end of her nose. “Not much point worrying at my age anyway.”

Without another word she turned and headed back to her front garden, leaning against the wall to continue watching the swirling lights.

Despite my earlier scorn of Jerry’s panicked conspiracy, now I’d seen the sky I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

With a final look at the fantastic colours overhead, I went back inside and up to my bedroom, checking my alarm clock and seeing that it was a little after midnight. Hoping that he wouldn’t resent the intrusion, particularly after my abrupt end to the call yesterday, I picked up my phone and dialled Jerry’s number.

He answered it after two rings, his voice low and serious.

“I told you, didn’t I?” He said without preamble.

“Yes Jerry, you did. I take it you’ve seen the sky then?” The line faded and crackled again, blanking out completely for a second or two.

“…here all night, waiting for it. I don’t want to be in the city when it hits.”

“Jerry, I lost you. Where are you?”

“I’m up on the downs behind Shoreham,” he said, referring to the ancient chalk hills that surrounded Brighton, “you should get up here.”

“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could meet in the morning for coffee?” I said hopefully, not wanting to have to drag myself into the countryside in the dark.

“You still don’t get it, do you Malc?” There was anger in his voice now, something I’d rarely heard from him. “Mornings in Hove with coffee while you check the news on your laptop, it’s all fucked!”

I sighed and closed my eyes for a second. I was tired, but as I didn’t have to get up early I supposed that a trip to the downs wouldn’t kill me.

“Ok Jerry, you win. How do I find you?”

He gave me surprisingly straightforward directions to a spot only half a mile or so outside of Shoreham, and I promised him I’d be there as soon as I could. I was still unsure of the validity of his end of the world rantings, but the photos I’d be able to take of the sky from up on the hill would be worth their weight in gold.

“Oh, and Malc?”

“Yeah?” I replied, already getting dressed.

“Bring a flask of coffee, it’s the one thing I forgot and if the world is going to end I’d like to be awake for it.”