Hi all! I am happy to present:
“When the World Ends…” was written by JJ Marshall:
Check it out–here’s the storyline:
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Sci-fi/YA coolness! Want an excerpt? Well, here it is:
Jonah opened his eyes. Even though there was no natural light aboard the ISS he knew that it was morning. The light of the sun was radiating off of the Earth below, shining off of the blue oceans and turning them white. As he blinked to let the sunlight seep into his eyes his vision cleared. The sleep faded away and he could see a figure standing at the window. It was no more than a silhouette though Jonah knew it was Alec. He wore pajamas that were shapeless, but it was the outline of Alec’s face; the dead-straight nose, the set-eyes and his small, tightly pressed lips, which helped Jonah to know.
‘What’re you doing?’ he asked, rolling off of the bed and joining Alec at the window. As he went he saw that Trey was still slumped, asleep, in front of the bedroom door.
‘Watching the sunrise’ Alec replied quietly.
Jonah looked down at noticed a photograph in Alec’s hand. It was a trio of people standing in front of a house. It was red-bricked and beautifully adorned with climbing flowers and a blooming magnolia tree on the front lawn. ‘I recognize your dad’ Jonah pointed to the man in the photo. ‘And this must be you’ he hesitated. ‘Where’s your mum?’
Alec nodded down at the Earth.
‘On Earth?’
Alec nodded again. ‘When my father was first chosen to come to the ISS, about seven years ago, my mother had just been diagnosed with skin cancer. Although it took two years before we got here, they wouldn’t have let her come because of her health. She needed to be treated in a Sphere on Earth’ Alec paused and Jonah sensed that there was more to be said and so didn’t interrupt the silence. It lasted for a good few minutes; stretching on as they watched the Sun slowly draw its light across the Atlantic Ocean, heading for America. ‘It was my father that forced her to stay. Technically, anyway. Because of his promotion to the Board of Officials he couldn’t be seen flouting the Space Flight regulations by demanding that an “invalid” be allowed to travel’.
‘That’s…awful’ was all Jonah could manage to say.
‘That’s not the worst of it…’ Alec continued quietly, speaking in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. As he spoke he looked down at the photograph and gently rubbed his thumb over his mother’s face. ‘She didn’t want him to have to make the choice, and so seven years ago she left us. In the middle of the night she just disappeared. I woke up in the morning to be told that she had gone. The worst thing was he didn’t even seem to care…it was like he was relieved’.
Jonah couldn’t even manage words. He shook his head in disbelief.
‘That was the day he changed’ Alec said, turning away from the Earth to look at Jonah. ‘That was the day he stopped being my father. I just hope that she lives on somewhere, with someone that does care about her and can make her happy. And I wish I was with her’ he sighed heavily and glanced down at his watch. ‘We can go, he’ll be gone by now’.
Alec strolled across the room to wake Trey whilst Jonah continued to stare down at the Earth, wondering if his mother and sisters might still be alive down there too.
Hope this intrigues you enough to look further into the story.
And….one last thing to get you hooked–the book trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7mRMOLVbbM&feature=youtube_gdata