A glowing ball hurtled toward the planet with tremendous speed. From far away it looked like a shooting star but it wasn’t just a random chunk of falling rock. It was a sphere of light that moved with singular purpose. Someone or something directed it.

“Whatever it is, it’s big enough to be a problem.” The old man mused, munching on the end of an unlit, wooden pipe. Lines creased his face giving him the appearance of a jovial prune.

I had visions of the world ending in torrents of flame. My heart hammered my chest.

“What should we do?” I asked desperate for answers.

“What can any of us do?” The old man asked rhetorically.

“I don’t know that’s why I was asking you!”

“Well let’s examine our options. We can die. We can get drunk and then die- that’s my favorite one, or we can take take shelter downstairs and wait and see what happens. It could be nothing.”

I looked at the old man suspiciously. “You’re not just using this celestial event to lock me up again, are you?”

“Would I do that to you, my friend?”