Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

I had heard about the hurricane, or what was left of it. The reports said it would only affect the north of England and Ireland, so I wasn’t expecting any drama.

Apart from frequently checking the trees outside my window, just in case you understand, I continued working. A couple of hundred emails later, the light seemed to change. The paper in my printer had changed colour, and my arms had adopted a healthy tan. Something weird was happening after all.

The wind was starting to pick up, huge gusts trying to rip the leaves from the trees. The window in front of me starting to creak and groan under the building pressure.

I determined to edit more of my WIP, keeping half an eye on the weather, just in case the experts had it wrong. An hour later, I had to switch on the light as the orange gloom was pervading every corner of my office. Outside, the sky looked awful, the colour of a bad bruise. It certainly felt as though hell was about to be let loose!

Work abandonned, I went outside to find myself in a vacuum, the air heavy and expectant. Then someone shouted, ‘Look at the Sun!’

Above my head in the bruised sky, was a small ball of fire totally unlike any Sun I had ever seen. My first thought was that it couldn’t be right, maybe it was a satellite or a meteorite, burning up as it approached Earth. I mean, when could you ever look straight at the Sun and not damage your eyes?

The sky stayed bruised for some time, but the wind didn’t get any worse, gradually losing strength as normality slowly returned. The day had been eerie, weird and a little scary, as we wondered what was happening. People in the North had a far worse day and must have been terrified and our thoughts go out to those who have suffered…