If the experts were right, and she suspected they were, the world wouldn’t make it that far. Why waste the carefully wrapped presents? For so many years, she – and many others – had scoffed the rumours. There was no denying it now. Earthquakes, tornadoes, freak landslides - these were just some of the natural disasters happening on a daily basis across the world. Major ones, ones that devastated millions of people at a time. When Mary felt the ground tremble beneath her all afternoon, she knew. It was almost time. She gathered her family around her. All teenagers now, but still, the same care went into their gifts. They all embraced each other, exchanged presents, even laughed and joked together. Nothing could cut through the tension and nervousness when glasses of wine fell over as the tremors increased in strength. At three in the afternoon, the world turned dark and the television stations cut out. Mary’s youngest daughter had cried in her arms. Now they waited. A lull in the air, except for the howls of neighbouring dogs.
