though, and it was obvious why. Cats.
"Ah, maybe they've just evacuated Venice, you know, as it got unstable. It was like that for years wasn't it? They kept threatening that it would just sink one day. Well, maybe that's what happened."
It was a real possibility, Venice was constantly at risk of sinking, or the canals flooding and washing away the whole man-made city, reclaiming it back to the lagoon it once was.
Amanda visibly brightened. "Do you think so? Really? Yes, of course. Haha. Gosh, I was getting worried it was the end of the world or something. Oh." Suddenly she looked crestfallen, like the hope had been dashed on the rocks of despair.
"What? What's wrong?"
"What Tellan said. That we had to save the world. Well, maybe this is what happens. This is the future, there's no people. And there aren't any bodies either. If people died there would be bodies."
"Calm down, there won't be bodies if they've evacuated. Don't jump to conclusions."
"It is Dale, it's the end of the world." Amanda started crying.
"Hang on, let's find out." Dale fiddled with the Hexad and then took Amanda's hand after wiping away the tears. He pressed down on the number 3 and saw it flash to 2 in an instant.
Amanda and Dale disappeared. A cat watched them from the stone handrail on the bridge, green eyes blinking with boredom before it lifted a leg and began to lick its foot.
A huge man appeared a few steps away from where they had just been a moment ago, took a quick look around and stared menacingly at the cat until it jumped down and sauntered off. He disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, muttering something unintelligible through a thick curly beard.
Bad News
47 Years Future
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Ugh."
"Dale you moron, stop doing that!" Amanda clambered off him, managing to stick a Converse in his eye as she did so.
"Sorry." Dale sat on the floor for a moment, legs out in front of him, trying to calm his nerves, then slowly got to his feet, checking the Hexad was all right, then putting it away and buckling up his satchel. Sweat was staining his short-sleeved shirt through the blue and his jeans were making him feel really uncomfortable.
He felt like somebody had poured a bucket of warm water over his head, so he knew he'd definitely got the location right: Thailand. More specifically, Koh Tao, a place they had visited seven years ago — at least it would be if you counted from what he thought of as their present. They'd stayed a month, lazing about on the beach, eating way too much Pad Thai and drinking incredible amounts of rice whiskey that was as strong as the sun was hot.
He sat down again on the boiling hot sand and rolled up his faded jeans, wishing he'd not worn his leather boots but had on a pair of flip-flops instead. Gosh, when had he last worn fli—
"Ow!"
"Will you stop daydreaming. What is wrong with you?"
"Sorry. But do you remember the time that guy came over and asked if you were for sale and you smacked him across the head with your beach mat. Haha, good times."
"So we're in Thailand then?" asked Amanda crossly, arms folded across her chest, staring at him like he'd ended the world personally.
"Yes," said Dale warily. "Forty seven years in the future. That's okay, isn't it?"
"Dale you muppet, I'm seriously wondering if this isn't frying your brain? How do we know that whatever happened has even happened yet? And why the hell would you bring us somewhere where there were hardly any people anyway? It should have been a busy city, not the middle of bloody nowhere. And god, it's bloody boiling." Amanda took off a thin pink cardigan and dropped it onto the sand. She sat down next to him with a bump.
"Um, sorry. I didn't really think it through."
"No, you didn't."
Splash.
They looked into the shallows down the white sand, out into perfect turquoise water — there was nothing but the ripples where something had hit the water, or maybe it had simply been a fish. A second later a
"Ah, maybe they've just evacuated Venice, you know, as it got unstable. It was like that for years wasn't it? They kept threatening that it would just sink one day. Well, maybe that's what happened."
It was a real possibility, Venice was constantly at risk of sinking, or the canals flooding and washing away the whole man-made city, reclaiming it back to the lagoon it once was.
Amanda visibly brightened. "Do you think so? Really? Yes, of course. Haha. Gosh, I was getting worried it was the end of the world or something. Oh." Suddenly she looked crestfallen, like the hope had been dashed on the rocks of despair.
"What? What's wrong?"
"What Tellan said. That we had to save the world. Well, maybe this is what happens. This is the future, there's no people. And there aren't any bodies either. If people died there would be bodies."
"Calm down, there won't be bodies if they've evacuated. Don't jump to conclusions."
"It is Dale, it's the end of the world." Amanda started crying.
"Hang on, let's find out." Dale fiddled with the Hexad and then took Amanda's hand after wiping away the tears. He pressed down on the number 3 and saw it flash to 2 in an instant.
Amanda and Dale disappeared. A cat watched them from the stone handrail on the bridge, green eyes blinking with boredom before it lifted a leg and began to lick its foot.
A huge man appeared a few steps away from where they had just been a moment ago, took a quick look around and stared menacingly at the cat until it jumped down and sauntered off. He disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, muttering something unintelligible through a thick curly beard.
Bad News
47 Years Future
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Ugh."
"Dale you moron, stop doing that!" Amanda clambered off him, managing to stick a Converse in his eye as she did so.
"Sorry." Dale sat on the floor for a moment, legs out in front of him, trying to calm his nerves, then slowly got to his feet, checking the Hexad was all right, then putting it away and buckling up his satchel. Sweat was staining his short-sleeved shirt through the blue and his jeans were making him feel really uncomfortable.
He felt like somebody had poured a bucket of warm water over his head, so he knew he'd definitely got the location right: Thailand. More specifically, Koh Tao, a place they had visited seven years ago — at least it would be if you counted from what he thought of as their present. They'd stayed a month, lazing about on the beach, eating way too much Pad Thai and drinking incredible amounts of rice whiskey that was as strong as the sun was hot.
He sat down again on the boiling hot sand and rolled up his faded jeans, wishing he'd not worn his leather boots but had on a pair of flip-flops instead. Gosh, when had he last worn fli—
"Ow!"
"Will you stop daydreaming. What is wrong with you?"
"Sorry. But do you remember the time that guy came over and asked if you were for sale and you smacked him across the head with your beach mat. Haha, good times."
"So we're in Thailand then?" asked Amanda crossly, arms folded across her chest, staring at him like he'd ended the world personally.
"Yes," said Dale warily. "Forty seven years in the future. That's okay, isn't it?"
"Dale you muppet, I'm seriously wondering if this isn't frying your brain? How do we know that whatever happened has even happened yet? And why the hell would you bring us somewhere where there were hardly any people anyway? It should have been a busy city, not the middle of bloody nowhere. And god, it's bloody boiling." Amanda took off a thin pink cardigan and dropped it onto the sand. She sat down next to him with a bump.
"Um, sorry. I didn't really think it through."
"No, you didn't."
Splash.
They looked into the shallows down the white sand, out into perfect turquoise water — there was nothing but the ripples where something had hit the water, or maybe it had simply been a fish. A second later a
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