He had felt a pull, something unexplainable, drawing him to Paris. He jumped on the first available flight and in under 24 hours he was in the City of Light.
She had felt the same urge and made her way to the city. She had never visited it before, but at her first step, an irrefutable confirmation resonated within her.
They met outside a cafe. They did not need a maître d’ to seat them together. Something far greater was orchestrating the day’s events.
“I felt compelled to come here,” she said breaking the ethereal silence.
“So did I,” he said in response.
“Isn’t that strange?” she pondered out loud. “The urgency, the synchronicity.”
“Stranger still is the fact that my heart is pounding inside my chest,” he said, confidently at first, but apprehension coloured his face as soon as the words left his mouth.
She smiled, and the apprehension was swept from his face as it became a mirror of hers.
They spoke for hours. Morning turned into afternoon. Breakfast turned into lunch. Strangers turned into something much more.
As the evening sun began to cast golden rays upon the pair, he noticed something in the sky.
“Look,” he said. “It’s a shooting star.”
A ball of light was hurtling through the darkening sky. She had seen shooting stars before, they burned brightly and then dissipated. This one kept coming closer, and growing bigger.
“No it’s not,” she said still gazing upwards.
Just then, all around them phones began to go off. They both retrieved their now buzzing phones and read the message that explained the commotion:
“ALERTE D’URGENCE : Plusieurs agences spatiales ont confirmé la détection d’un astéroïde massif sur une trajectoire de collision avec la Terre. La durée estimée de l’impact est de trois heures à compter de la diffusion de ce message. L’astéroïde fait plusieurs kilomètres de large et aura un effet dévastateur lorsqu’il entrera en collision avec la planète. Il est conseillé de trouver immédiatement un refuge d’urgence. Évitez les zones densément peuplées et recherchez si possible un terrain plus élevé. Ceci n’est pas un exercice. Restez à l’écoute pour d’autres mises à jour.
EMERGENCY ALERT: Several space agencies have confirmed the detection of a massive asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Estimated time of impact is three hours from the distribution of this message. The asteroid is several kilometres wide and will have a devastating effect when it collides with the planet. You are advised to find emergency shelter immediately. Avoid densely populated areas and seek higher ground if possible. This is not a drill. Stay tuned for further updates.”
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