A long and happy life

"Is the rumour true, then? We're all going to die?"

“Unfortunately, yes. The meteorite is due to hit in five hours. All the media know so far is that it's going to come close. That’s all we are going to tell them. The last thing we want to do is set off a panic about something that cannot be changed. We don’t want to make humanity’s last few hours worse than they have to be."

“True. At least everything here will die instantly. Those on the far side of the Earth will not end so well.”

James scrambled up from the flower bed underneath the window, not bothering to step around the plants or even sneak as he moved away, as he usually did when he eavesdropped on his father. No point now. This was one conversation he’d rather not have heard. He had to see Hannah. If the world was ending, there was no way he wanted to spend the rest of it with his father.

He found her up a tree, as usual. Hannah spent as little time on the ground as possible and was always on the lookout for a new tree to climb. She spotted him underneath and threw a pinecone. “Get up here, you goof. You’re late.”

James struggled up the sticky pine. He hated the feeling of sap on his fingers, but it was Hannah’s favourite tree to climb for some unfathomable reason. Hannah sat and swung her legs as she waited. When James finally approached her level, she grinned and poked him with her foot. “What took you so long, slowpoke?”

James grimaced. He hauled himself up and sat down on the branch next to Hannah. “Sorry. My dad’s boss dropped by, and you know he usually has something interesting to say.”

“Well? What was it this time? Another trip? Maybe we can sneak along somehow.”

“No. He’s not going anywhere.” James looked away. How could he tell her? Should he tell her? Maybe Dad was right, and there was no point in telling people about something they could do nothing about. He always said there would be little time from the average person spotting something in the sky, and a meteorite landing. If he was right about that, maybe the kindest thing to do would be to not tell her. Even if he lied to her about it, they’d only have a few hours for her to be mad at him. He’d never lied to her before. Was the end of the world really the best time to start?

Hannah stared at James. Usually when he’d been eavesdropping on his dad, he came around, bubbling up with the things he’d overheard. They’d laugh at the stupid stuff Max thought was important, or lament that he was going away again. Despite what James thought, Hannah didn’t think Max was a particularly bad father, just a chronically absent one who didn’t have a clue what to do with his son when he was around.

James was just staring at something in front of him. It scared Hannah. Usually he didn’t take anything seriously for long, and he hadn’t smiled this entire time, let alone cracked a joke. “James? What is it? You can tell me. Did your dad get fired or something? No, let me guess. He wants you to get a job there too.”

“No.” James swung down off the branch and started clambering down. Hannah might love being in trees but it wasn’t doing anything for him. It certainly wasn’t where he wanted to spend his last few hours. There was a much better spot he had in mind.

“James!” His sudden departure startled Hannah and worried her even more. She scrambled down, catching up to him quickly. The sparseness of the lower branches meant that she had to follow behind him for what seemed like an eternity before they were both on the ground.

“What is it, James?” He didn’t answer, just grabbed her hand, and pulled her along. If he was going to do this, it was going to be in the perfect spot.

The quarry didn’t look like much, just a bunch of holes, dust, and gravel, but it was special to them. It was where they’d met, when Hannah had been trying to climb a cliff with her friends watching on. He’d been walking past to meet friends of his own when he stopped to watch this crazy girl scale the rocks. He always like to joke that she fell for him at that meeting. In reality it was a loose stone that made her fall, right where he was standing in a position to catch her. She’d ended up with a fractured ankle, and him with a sprained wrist, but they had become friends.

Over the years they had become closer, but they had never actually dated, until last year. That was when James had realized how he felt about her, fortunately before she had ended up with some brain-dead jerk. No My Best Friend’s Wedding for them, the knowledge of which James could blame Hannah for.

When they reached the base of the cliff, James looked around. Perfect. The walls of the quarry limited their view of the sky, lessening the risk of Hannah spotting the meteorite. Objectively, it wasn’t the most beautiful or romantic spot, but hopefully Hannah wouldn’t mind. The end of the world was coming, although she didn’t know it, and he wanted to make her last few hours as happy as he could, although he wouldn’t be able to follow through on what he was about to ask.

Hannah was still watching James, perplexed. He seemed more relaxed, now that he had come here. But why come to the old quarry? It was where they had met, yes, but there wasn’t anything else to recommend it. She smiled as she looked up at the cliff. Her parents had been so mad when she had come home with the cast, but as soon as it was off, they had enrolled her in climbing lessons. Smart people. One fall was never going to put her off climbing, although the only time James ever climbed was because of her.

She turned around to find James on one knee. He took her hand. “Hannah, I know I’ve been a bit strange just now, and I don’t have a ring, but I love you. Will you marry me?”

Hannah gasped and put her other hand to her mouth. “Yes! Of course!”

James stood and smiled, before kissing her. “We are going to have a long and happy life together.”