When the time comes For you to leave your friendships To ditch the toxic bitches And say goodbye to unworthy people

When the time comes For you to find yourself And tell those people to fuck off Because they’re not worth your time

When the time comes To spill your heart out Because you were in fear Before

When the time comes For this sun to set And the moon of your heart to rise It will rise high

When the time comes To sever old ties Because they don’t know How to be a “friend”

When the time comes For you to open your fucking eyes And realize What a friend really is

When that time comes Today or tomorrow You won’t be ready It’ll hit you like a truck

When that time comes At full force In your face You won’t be ready

When that time comes For you to end that person And their life with you You won’t be ready

But neither will they So fuck them And fuck society Because this story is yours

“When the time comes, be ready.”

I thought I would never be ready. I thought I would always be terrified of death, But I liked to ignore that fear with superhero fantasies And short lived distractions.

“When the time comes, be ready.” Be ready for what? Be ready for anything? I’ll never be ready for that. Be ready for the end? How could I be. I can wish for death without being able to face it. That’s why I enjoy my faceless friend.

You can never prepare for loss. Even if you grieve in advance, You just might spend a little longer hopeless. I can’t prepare for death. I can’t prepare for life either. All you can do is persevere, And one day you might just wake up and be…

ready.

It creeps up on you, he realised. This list of things that you have to live with. He didn’t just mean the long list of stuff that aches, hurts or doesn’t work, He thought also of the things that nobody cares about any more.

Nobody cares, for example, about what he once did for a living, why would they? How is any of it relevant to anybody? Even if he had once been the Prime Minister, who would really give a damn now? Old Prime Ministers aren’t the dynamic, hopeful, coming men of the brave new world that they wanted to usher in. All anyone would remember is what they hadn’t managed to do, what they buggered up. They were all in it for themselves anyway.

Things change, he thought. He realised he was looking back, which is probably not a good thing when you’re trying to sleep. That was then and this is now. Then was a foreign country.

He lay there, at three in the morning, listening to the whooshing sound of tinnitus, pulsing ceaselessly with his heartbeat. Fifty eight beats per minute. Each beat as high pitched as he could possibly hear through those rubber headphones they use in hearing tests. But loud, really loud, on the edge of uncomfortable. He counted them in time. Sometimes, although not often, they seemed to jiggle a bit, like one of those snow-storm paper weights with a Santa sledge magically suspended. Strange palpitations in his chest. But then they settled down again to that steady pulsing clamour. It never ended though, not for a moment. On and on. Night and day.

The pulse of it reminded him of his younger years. Headphones, cathode ray tubes, listening, recording to twin tape recorders. It was all about the pulses then too. This new Soviet ship, sneaking down past the Iceland-Faroes Gap into the North Sea. Strange bulges on its superstructure. New kit for sure. His job to figure out what new kit. Exciting stuff back then. No satellites or computers to help, so he recorded the pulses. Flew crossing patterns at a distance. Measured the amplitude and repetition rates of the pulses. Nearer in, further away. Fly out till it’s undetectable then in again. Over and over. Listening, watching, prodding them to turn the stuff on then off, then on again. Then towards them, low and then high. Fly some doctrinal attack patterns, see if it locks on, see if the pulses change, record it all. Recede, watch what happened when they went back to standby. Run in again, how long from standby to acquisition? When in acquisition could they ping a second aircraft? All about pulses. Pulses full of other frequencies. Just like the damned tinnitus, screeching, full of noise, regular.

Bang all the data into the radar ranging equation. Twist it, bend it, manipulate it. Solve it. Come out with a capability envelope-is it new or seen before? Blend it with those tiniest snippets of information somebody talked about in a bar in Karl Marx Stadt or Minsk or Novgorod. Slowly filtered back across the dark green East German forests and over the wall, some never arriving, some enjoying a hold in a gulag somewhere. Look at the photographs meticulously taken at a set speed, at a set height and distance. Throw some countermeasures at it and see what it does. Give it a name and a number. Pass it on. Up the chain.

All so long ago now, a different world, a different time. He remembered.

He calculated fifty eight beats per minute as the pulse repetition frequency, guessed that each pulse was an envelope of fifteen kilohertz noise. Pretty poor klystron, he thought. Still, the Soviet’s had better ones. Lossy transmission, constant temperature, no matter what antenna gain might be, he could call it unity because it doesn’t matter in this case. Eventually he calculated that tinnitus would not be a viable threat to the Nation.

He wished it would stop though. Then he was glad it hadn’t because if it did he would likely be dead, which would be why he couldn’t hear it anymore.

Who cares anyway? Nobody remembers. It all ended back in 1989. Nobody did it for years after that. We were all supposed to be the best of chums. All rubbish, of course, but the politicians wanted their bloody ‘peace dividend.’ Idiots. He realised suddenly that today’s generation’s parents weren’t even born when that all happened. Was it really all that time ago? More than thirty years? Good grief. His hip went to sleep, unlike his brain, which was momentarily dealing with a cramp in his calf muscle.

And now it’s all starting again, he thought. Now they have computers to work it all out. Satellites by the dozen. Drones. Nobody needs to risk their life bobbing around in the cold Northern seas, or stealing sonar buoys from under the Soviets noses or crunching numbers with a slide-rule whilst throwing up in a blue bag, on an aeroplane doing low level circuits for thirteen hours at a time. Nobody needs run the risk of being sent to a gulag or shot. No World War Two thermionic valve noise to measure, it’s all made with our tech anyway, so we know what it does.

It’s just not interesting anymore. Four in the morning he fell asleep, his tinnitus the slow march beat to his dreams of long forgotten fears.

Time was a precious gift, a luxury that we did not have. I stared at my friend as he anxiously paced the small room. His blond hair was a disheveled mess, and his piercing blue eyes clutched a look of dire concentration.

 "Callum, we're not making any progress... the Raiders will attack by nightfall, you know-"

 "I know, Aedan." His tone was firm, even harsh. My breath stuck in my throat. Callum was rarely angry.
 An uneasy quiet hung in the room. The only sounds were Callum's light footfalls against the old wooden floorboards and the occasional crackle of the fire.
 "If you leave now, you can catch up with her." I offered, grimacing as I did so. I already knew his answer.

 Callum froze. His fists clenched, and he stared into the dancing flames of the fire. When he spoke, his voice was scarcely a breath.
 "How can I rescue one without abandoning the other?" He sank to his knees, head cradled in his hands.

 My heart sank. He was right. I looked away, unable to see my friend in anguish. If he left, he'd be leaving his people, his kingdom, to fend for themselves against ruthless attacks. Yet, if he didn't go, he'd be allowing the love of his life, and the hope for us all, to wander into a death trap. What choice was there that could save both?

 I glanced across the room, and my eyes fell on the blade. The long, glinting sword that lay in magnificent regality. An inscription laced the outer rim of the blade, and in it's hilt was embedded a single sapphire surrounded by a small ring of diamonds. The symbol of our kingdom. The symbol of our rightful king. My gaze darted back to Callum, and I drew in a breath, renewed confidence flooding into my veins. I stood and took up my own sword.

 "There is a way." I said, my voice bolder than I had anticipated. Callum gazed up at me, his expression one of sorrow with a hint of curiosity. I smiled. "You, Callum McCartney, my dearest friend and companion, my brother in spirit, my King, will go after Lilian." I paused, holding up my blade, "I, hopefully also your dearest friend, will stay in Ocapalus and defend our beloved Kingdom, or die trying."

 Callum stood, hesitancy on his face. I cut him off before he could object.
 "Adonai never meant for us to fight alone, my friend."

 For the first time since he'd returned, he smiled slightly. "Adonai has blessed me far more than I am worthy of, Aedan. What ever have I done to deserve a friend such as yourself?"
 I smirked, "Nothing. I suppose I'm just simply dumb enough to stick by your side in this world of incomprehensible confusion."

 Callum laughed and punched my shoulder playfully. I grinned. My old friend was back. I held out my right hand, and he clasped it with his own. In unison, we recited the vow of the Kingdoms.

 "May I forever fight with and for you, 
 until the day when sorrows shall cease."


 Callum strode across the room and gently picked up the sword. He examined it with an odd expression, then turned to me.
                He held out the sword.

 I faltered. "Callum, I... you know I can't..."

 "Take it." Was his reply. "I'm not King yet."

 "But one day you shall be."

 "Perhaps, should Adonai will it." He smiled slightly. "But until then, I entrust it to you."

 Swallowing hard, I gently grasped the hilt. With reverence, I tramped to the corner and removed a slat from the wall, revealing a small hole in which other small treasures were stored. Cautiously, I lowered the blade inside, covering it with a cloth.
 "It will be safe there." I said, turning back to Callum. He smiled and gave a single nod. His gaze shifted to the window, and out into the darkness beyond.

 "Take care, Aedan. May we meet again." He paused a moment, turning to me. "Remember the signal. When the time comes, be ready."

 I straightened my shoulders. "Until the day when sorrows shall cease."


                              *******

(This will be in a future book in the series I'm writing. I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know if there's anything I can improve on!)

“When the time comes, be ready.”

That was the last thing Will had said to me before he disappeared 3 years ago. The memory blazed in my mind as I tried to breathe silently inside the dark closet. I had been too consumed with grief and loneliness to think about what he had meant. I bit my lip with shame. I had let him down, and I would pay the price for it.

I heard voices on the other side of the door.

“She’s gotta be in here somewhere,” said a male voice with a thick Welsh accent.

“Shut up and keep looking,” said a voice from down the hall, also with the same accent. They were from up north. The Men of the North. That’s what Mum used to call them. My legs felt numb. My hands started to shake. The stories of their brutality flooded my mind.

Suddenly, one of the men kicked the closet door hard. I gasped and jumped backwards, tripping over a dustpan. The scraping noise echoed loudly. I held my breath. This was it. In my last moments, I thought of Will, and Mum and Dad. Maybe this would feel less painful if I filled my mind with happy memories.

The door shook again as the man threw himself against it. I heard a crack forming in the wood. Again, and the door started to come off its hinges. Then it stopped.

I heard a loud thud outside the door. Someone thrown against the opposite wall. The unmistakable sound of a sword going through flesh. Then, the closet door came flying off its hinges as it was violently kicked in. Luckily, I ducked out of the way in time. A tall man stepped in. He was wearing a golden parka - the uniform of the North Mum had described in her stories. I looked away and shut my eyes tight. The man grabbed my arm and pulled me up with ease. He whispered into my ear, the Welsh accent replaced by a familiar English one.

“I told you to be ready.”

Dan clipped on his helmet. His boss came up to him. “You ready?” “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied. “Good, because this is the final battle. You know what to do.” “Uh huh.” “Lead the enemy away from the general, stall them. Wait for the signal. Then advance. Defeat the big boss.” “Got it.” “You know the signal, right?” “Yes. The firing of a gun.” “Good, then.” His boss patted him on the shoulder. “I’d better go.” His boos strode away. “Very well. Don’t forget the signal.” “Yes sir.” Dana hoisted his gun. “Oh, and one more thing?” His boss turned. “When the time comes, be ready.”

Danny closed his eyes and expected to feel the blast of a bullet. But instead, he heard Leonard scream in pain. Danny’s eyes flew open to see Leonard laying on the ground, blood flowing out of his chest.

“What the-?”, exclaimed Danny. He didn’t have a gun on him. And if he did, he wouldn’t fire. Him getting killed was all apart of the plan to land Leonard in jail.

“Don’t worry Daniel”, soothed a familiar voice ,”Your stupid, but your alive”.

Danny turned around to see his partner, Harvey, holding a gun by his side.

“Harv?”, Danny asked, stunned ,”What in God’s name are you doing here.

“Making sure my best friend doesn’t act like an idiot”, explained Harvey ,”Now come on. Sadie is at your house with Diana. Don’t want to keep your wife waiting, do you?”

Diana. “Oh god”, Danny thought ,”How could I have forgotten about Diana?”

“Umm, yeah, let’s go”, Danny replied after a minute of silence.

“Great”, Harvey said ,”Floyd will come down and get your car. You can just drive with me”.

“Okay”, Danny responded wearily, then proceeded to walk towards the car. When Harvey closed his car door, he turned to Danny.

“There are a lot more safer and simple ways to put a guy in jail. Trying to get yourself killed isn’t one of them. Why’d you do it?”, asked Harvey.

Danny sighed.

“I’ve been trying for 5 years trying to nail this guy for Santiago’s murder”, Danny explained ,”The guy wouldn’t admit it. I was desperate Harv. Santiago’s mother came to me about a week ago, begging for me to but the man responsible for her son’s murder away. This was the only option”. Harvey stared straight ahead, silent.

“You could have told me, you know”, reasoned Harvey ,”We could have found a way”.

“Lieutenant James told me not to tell anybody”, said Danny.

“Well, your lucky I showed up and saved your behind or you would’ve been the man bleeding on the ground instead of Leonard”, Harvey replied.

“How did you find me anyway?”, Danny asked.

“Diana told me about your plan when we arrived at your house”, Harvey explained ,”And sure enough, I was driving all the way over here to save your butt”. Danny couldn’t help but smile to him self.

“Thanks again, Harv”, Danny said.

“Anytime Daniel”, Harvey replied.

• • • • •

Less than 30 minutes later, the 2 were back at Danny’s house. When Danny stepped in the door, screams followed.

“DANIEL LUKE ADAMS!”, yelled Diana ,”I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK THAT YOU WOULD BE DEAD AT GOD KNOWS WHERE! BUT HERE YOU ARE, WALTZING BAKC IN HERE! IF I WASN’T SO GLAD TO SEE YOU, I’D KILL YOU MY SELF!” Diana ran towards her husband and hugged him. A couple of minutes later, Danny’s younger sister, Sadie, walked in the room. Her expression went from sad to angry.

“Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, pull a stunt like that ever again, you hear me Daniel Adams?”, said Sadie dangerously.

“Yes ma’am”, Danny replied jokingly. A smile came over Sadie’s face and she to walked over to hug her brother.

“I love you Danny”, Sadie whispered.

“I love you too, Sadie”, Danny responded happily.

• • • • •

When Harvey and Sadie left, Danny and Diana sat alone in their living room.

“Danny?”, Diana asked.

“Yes?”, Danny replied.

“What…what will happen if you are killed in the line of duty”, questioned Diana. Danny stared at the floor.

“I don’t know”, answered Danny ,”But when the time comes, be ready”.

“Ok-okay”, stuttered Diana.

“But that time isn’t now”, Danny said ,”so just make that best of it”. And with that, Danny put his hand on Diana’s cheek and pulled her in for a kiss.

I awoke with a start. And sunlight flooded my eyes. I looked out the window to see an endless field of poppies instead of the expanse of space. Had they really landed without telling me? I ripped myself from the bedsheets. But my heart squeezed just as I reached the hallway. I leaned against the wall not daring to make a sound. It wouldn’t do to show the others how sick I really was. The pain would pass soon. Finally I made my way to the cockpit where the idiot was messing the wiring. But there was no sign of Dina or Leon. “Where are the others, Sid?” I asked. “They’re getting fuel from the extraction site.” I massaged my temples. “Why the hell would you let them out into a field of deadly poppies.” His head finally popped up. “I just thought it made people sleepy.” “Yeah. As in sleep forever. I swear someone ought to put a brain in that head of yours.” “Sorry I-I’ll go get them.” “No. Stay put and try not to mess up anything else.” He nodded and went back under the dashboard. I went through the airlock without bothering to put on a suit. The sweet smell did nothing to put me to sleep. Instead I pulled in the two inside. But waking them would be another matter entirely. Though that wouldn’t help if we didn’t have any fuel. I walked back out to finish filling up the barrel of fuel. But I wasn’t expecting another ship to to fly at me. I ducked as it landed. It was a newer model that had a robot arm snake into the well. But it was the suited figure that I focused on. “Ty Woods. Right?” I froze. How did this stranger know me? Could she have been part of the tin project? Or perhaps even worse. “I’ve got a job for you that would suit the both of us. That is if you want your friends to wake up.” “Who are you?” I couldn’t see her face because of the helmet. “Ellie West soon to be CEO of Witchery Inc. Though my predecessor had quite the fondness for scavenger hunts. So I must gather a few data gems to get the keys to the kingdom as you would say.” I glanced back at the ship. They needed that antidote. And we barely had any meds on board as is. “What do you want me to do?” Before I knew it we were flying to a lake. But in the very was a bubble hovering just a few feet off the surface. And inside floated a sapphire. Ellie secured a rope around my waist. “I can’t get any closer or I’d risk popping it. And the lake is too acidic for either of us to swim in.” “Isn’t the bubble made of the same thing?” “Just the surface. It won’t do more than rust your joints.” So she was part of the tin project. Or she’d been a backer at least. “Time is ticking. Or would you like to spend more time staring?” I yanked at the rope but the winch didn’t budge. So I leaned over the side before giving her the thumbs up. She started the winch and I began to lower down. It was slow. But when I gave the cut motion it stopped smoothly. The bubble hovered before me on its own accord. No doubt a witch’s doing. But it was the only way to save Dina and Leon. I reached through the bubble feeling the acid sear through my skin grafts. But I grabbed onto the sapphire and yanked it out. I gritted my teeth as the last of the skin burned off. But the pain went away as soon as my sensors felt no connection to my skin anymore. I let out a breath. Then I gave Ellie the signal. As soon as I was back in her ship she ripped the sapphire out of my hand. It hurt but I didn’t retaliate. “The antidote.” She tossed a spray bottle at me but was still focused on the sapphire. “Spray a little of that in their faces and they’ll come to.” “Great. Now I’d kindly thank you for a ride back.” She nodded and entered new coordinates. But it still bugged me that she wasn’t actually flying the ship. “You’re quite good at this, Ty. In fact I could use your help getting the other two gems.” “Not interested.” “Not even for a new heart?” A shiver ran through me. There was no denying her part in the tin project. But if that was true it would be easier to get a heart that was compatible. “There are only two other gems. An emerald and a ruby. I be happy even get you the surgery for free.” The ship landed. And the airlock opened. Two barrels of fuel already awaited me. “I’m still tracking down the other two. But when the time comes, be ready.” I didn’t answer simply stepped off the ship. Her giggled followed until the airlock closed again. Her ship took off and I grabbed a barrel for support. A new heart. It was too good to be true. But if it was true then I had to do everything in my power to get those gems.

Tatum was hunched over the bedside of her mother, who was coughing a lot and looked pale as snow. Tears were falling down Tatum’s face.

“Please mother,” she said. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m getting more and more tired by the second,” she said. “I just want to sleep.”

“No,” Tatum said. “You’re the only one I have left. My older brother, Kobe, is far away in some place I don’t even know, and I hardly even talk to him nowadays. You’re the only one who I truly care about in this family.” 

Her mother slowly lifted her hand to touch Tatum’s cheek. She caressed her soft cheek, and Tatum held her mother’s hand strongly. 

“Please. You must be strong,” Tatum said. “For me.”

“You are far too fucking dramatic,” her mom said suddenly. 

“Huh?” Tatum blinked.

“Your brother is studying abroad in Britain. We will visit him in the fall. And I just have a minor cold. The only reason you are acting like this is so I can drive you to watch Scream 6 with your friends.”

“Yes,” Tatum said. “You are the only one who can drive me. I failed my driver’s test three times.” 

“I’m not getting out of this bed,” her mom cried. “I called an Uber. When the time comes, be ready to get out and get into the Uber.” 

“Oh thanks,” Tatum said. She rushed out of the room.

“You selfish girl,” her mom whispered. “I asked you to prepare tea for me, but you forgot.”

This is it This is all there is Everything is gone..

When I tell you this is the hardest thing you will ever experience, I am not kidding. So when the times comes, be ready.

Let me tell you what this is all about. You may think you’ve clicked on a little, silly story to keep my streak up, but no. Nope nope nope. Nien.

This is it Everything’s gone Hurry up! hurry up! It’s almost dawn

Once the clock hits 6:00am, we’re gone. Unless we can make it in time. Follow me! The end is almost near! Can you see the black abyss up ahead? Good! Now sprint! And don’t stop!

The echos of our footsteps ring through the area. I don’t know if we’re still on earth.

As we near the edge of the cliff I see the darkness. We need to jump. It’s 5:54! The earth will explode if we don’t jump in time!

Come on grab my hand! 3,2,1, jump! As we are falling into nothingness, I feel dead. Or extremely alive. I feel weird. We’ve been saved. We’ve been falling for a while now.

6:00 strikes. The explosion is beyond terrifying, but it’s nice to know that we escaped level 1 of life. Onto level 2: Surviving Saturn.

You ready for the adventure?