My grandmother’s reaction to my vision, cemented it’s validity in my head, my stomach churned with anxiety. She said to meet at the Manor House, she had inherited the house, and me, from my parents after the accident. The house sits on a large parcel of land, backed by the Cairngorms national park. A beautiful backdrop to my tragedy; I wasn’t looking forward to going back there, but I had to yield to my grandmother’s insistence.

A mixture of excitement and dread spread through my veins. Loading up my Range Rover, I take a last look at my tiny cottage nestled in the middle of the glen, the sparkling loch glinting in the distance. ‘I’m going to miss it here.’ Melancholy bit at my soul, bringing the bitter taste of hopelessness to the back of my throat. Driving away from my home, I take the twisting single lane road to civilisation. Hopeful that this was not the last time that I would see my home.

The Manor House was exactly as I remember, the red brick and white trim, surrounded by greenery and flowers. Climbing out of the Jeep, I look around the manicured gardens to the mountains beyond. Beautiful as it was, dread still held me in its grip. The warm temperature did nothing to dispel the shiver coursing up and down my spine, as I retrieve my bags from the boot and walk to the front door of the house, ringing the doorbell with trembling fingers.

“Chris!” My grandmother swung the door open wide, beaming a smile, “how are you darling?” She enveloped me in her arms. “Come in and close the door.”

“Nice to see you too, gran.” I stepped across the threshold, dumping my bag in the foyer. “Is everyone on their way?” I was looking forward to seeing the family again, peeking into the empty living room, slightly crestfallen at the stillness in the house.

“They will all be here by tomorrow night. Now why don’t we get you settled and fed?”

I followed my grandmother up the stairs to my old bedroom, memories swimming through my mind. Everything looked exactly the same as when I left a decade ago. The soft coral décor of my old room, my nightstand, dressing table. It all looked pristine, timeless.

“I’ll let you get settled. You unpack and we’ll have some soup.” My grandmother seeming to sense my unease, gave me a comforting hug before leaving me alone in my childhood bedroom.

Everything was all at once so familiar, and yet, so foreign. My bed tucked under the window, dressed in the soft cotton sheets. The curtains a pale pink velvet that I had picked out myself years before. Not a speck of dust touched the house. ‘Gran must have ran herself ragged keeping this place clean, not to mention the gardening.’ I thought. Unpacking my clothes and toiletries took only a few minutes. Staring out of the window at the mountains beyond, that kept my attention. I could have swore that I saw a flicker of light dance across the sky, but it was gone before I could focus on it. How could the world shatter into nothing but stardust? It didn’t make sense to me. I heave a sigh and turn from the view of the hills, and head downstairs to the kitchen.

Grandmother stood at the kitchen counter; the massive pot in front of her filling the large room with steam. “Sit down dear, I’ll fix you a bowl. You want bread?” Her eyes never lifted from her work.

“No thank you. I’m fine with just the soup.” The chair scrapes against the tiled floor as I pull it away from the wooden table. Taking a seat, I breathe in the homey fragrance of lentil soup. Clearing my throat to get grandmothers attention, I ventured, “gran?”

“Yes dear?” She ladled out a bowl of the soup, placing it in front of me with a warm hand on my shoulder.

“What did you tell everyone?” My visions weren’t exactly a secret, but most of the family didn’t believe a word of it. Preferring to think of me as weird.

She heaved a sigh, sitting across from me. “Well, I told them that I was dying, and I wanted to see them all before I bought the farm.” She didn’t look happy about the lie. “They wouldn’t have come otherwise, I needed to force their hands.”

Chuckling into my soup, I shook my head at the old woman. “You’re a force to be reckoned with gran. I’m sure you will outlive us all.”

The next day dawned with a flurry of activity. Family from all across the country arriving at the Manor House in a steady stream of commotion. Three uncles, two aunties, a great aunt and a hoard of eight cousins. Not to mention partners. The house was full to bursting with life. With twenty people in the house, it was hard to get any space to myself.

The kids ran around the gardens, playing tag or chasing a ball around in the sunshine, where the adults crept around the house, paying their respects to gran. It wasn’t long before the questions started. But gran was adamant that everything would be explained later that night, once everyone was settled in. Creeping through the old house, I found a quiet corner, hiding from the questioning stares and pointed looks from the others. I was so used to being on my own now, after ten years of living in the glens, the hustle and bustle was proving to be too much for me to take.

My thoughts twisted in my head, ‘the family are not going to like the real reason that they have been called here.’ My stomach clenching painfully, I curl inward. Scrolling through my phone, I read the news reports of the strange lights in the sky. Others had noticed the dancing lights. Scientists said that it was atmospheric electromagnetism from powerful solar flairs. Videos on ‘YouTube’ and ‘Reddit’ echoed them. There were a steady stream of uploaded videos capturing these electromagnetic displays in the sky. It was happening just like in my dream. The fear building in me, ready to overflow and consume me whole.

That night at dinner, we all sat at the large dining table. Waiting for my grandmother to tell them why they had been gathered. She sat at the head of the table, waiting for everyone to settle down before she cleared her throat and stood, calling everyone’s attention. “I am afraid that I have lied to you all, but I assure you that I have the best intentions. There is a serious situation at hand. We must stick together and weather this storm as best we can.” Her eyes move across the room, pinning everyone in place. “Chris has had a dream, in it the world shatters and something arrives. What it means, I don’t know. What is coming, we cannot know. But we must stay together.”

Interrupting, David laughs loudly, “a dream! We are here because a child had a bad dream? Are you kidding us? We thought you were dying!” Standing up at the table with an incredulous look, he glanced around to gain support. “Helen, you can’t be buying this right?”

His sister never moved, her face thoughtful. “Had this come even a year ago, I would agree with you David. But Chris did see the birth of our Tommy before it happened. Let’s hear her out.”

All eyes fixed on me, causing me to shrink back under the weight of their gaze. My heart stopped beating, my mouth dried up like an old riverbed. “I..I..” faltering, I sent a silent plea to my grandmother to take over. She simply nodded for me to continue. ‘Damn it!’ Gathering my thoughts and clearing my throat I launched into my tale, leaving nothing out.

Silence stretched the room, no one spoke, all eyes trained on me. I wanted the world to swallow me, some looked at me with pity, but David had a look of pure venom.

“You are a very ill little girl.” He spat, standing up from the table, throwing his napkin onto his plate.

“Uncle David, I am twenty-eight years old. Certainly not a child. I know how this sounds, but you have to believe me.” I took my phone out of my pocket, bringing up the news of lights in the sky and the videos.

“Nonsense! It’s says so right there. Electromagnetic interference from a severe solar storm. You are mentally unwell Chris, you should have been institutionalised after Gregory’s death.” Silence followed his words, the room refusing to take a breath.

I was reeling over his insult, insinuating that my fathers death somehow broke me. It was then that we heard a deafening crack, split the air outside. Racing out of the Manor House, we crowd into the garden, eyes turned to the blinding light in the sky. A fracture had opened between the stars, growing bigger. “What the hell is that?” David screamed, his voice drowning out everyone else’s.

No one answered. I watch in silence as the world began to split in two. The crack growing bigger before imploding in on itself and disappearing altogether. All eyes slowly returned to me, some looking at me in awe, others with fear. But my uncle David had a hate in his eyes that I did not understand. “Everyone in the house.” Gran demanded, her voice clear in the silence.

I turn on my heels, retreating to the living room and turning on the news.