For ten thousand years they awaited the arrival of the Ark. A great vessel to take them away from their dying planet, ravenous with the consumption of itself.
On the preordained hour in the preordained place, they assembled; all one billion of them.
They watched as a thin trail of light arced through the sky and gasped in wonder. They watched as the arc extended beyond the horizon and disappeared. A long silence.
The scouts they dispatched searched far and wide below the trajectory of the light. In the end they found a picture of the planet from deep space with a note attached that read: 'Sorry we missed you.'
Paddy Dobson
5th December 2021