All through dinner Ron felt the panic growing within him. He tried to eat, but the tightness in his stomach made it impossible. He felt trapped, and waves of fear and nausea washed over him. He went through the motions of eating to keep the others from recognizing his panic, but he knew Anne was watching him. His mother, however, was for once too preoccupied with her own fears and worries to notice him.
When the meal was over at last, he got up from the table knowing he ought to stay and help. But for a moment, he thought, he had to get away. Only for a moment.
He went into the garden behind the house and stood by the pool, where he and his father had watched the darting, luminous fish only the night before. Or was it a century ago?
He looked up at the night sky, wondering where Earth w
