The emergency call comes when I least expect it.

One moment, I'm dunking my sweet custard cream into a mug full of tea and the next moment the shrill, fateful ring of the telephone coming from the lobby of the fire station. Before I know it, my supervivor has swept me away from my precious moment of repose, and I'm frantically putting on my heavy uniform (the sweltering heat seeping in from outsi...

The emergency call comes when I least expect it.

One moment, I'm dunking my sweet custard cream into a mug full of tea and the next moment the shrill, fateful ring of the telephone coming from the lobby of the fire station. Before I know it, my supervivor has swept me away from my precious moment of repose, and I'm frantically putting on my heavy uniform (the sweltering heat seeping in from outsid...

Everything was all set up. The table was laid with a silver cloth, which was decorated with little black musical notes. Birthday balloons were littered across the floor, and my favourite songs were playing in the background. In the centre of the table, of course, was the cake. It was covered in a plain black fondant, and on it was the number ten - how old I was that day. The '1' was created from a...

It had been a tradition for years. When the oldest member of the Emerald family turns sixteen, they travel to the Sacred Vault, picking up the glistening stone for which our family was named and unleashing its protective powers over our kingdom.

And today it's my turn. After a lifetime of waiting for this, I will become the new keeper of the Emerald, taking over from my aunt. I never really liked ...

"The knife belongs to me."

I feel his amber eyes bore into mine, the amber eyes that I fell in love with that one time long ago. But now, with my heart beating so much that I can feel it move in my chest, the shining silver blade pointing directly at his.

"Not after everything you have done with it, no it isn't."

I know his bodyguards are not far from us right now. As he's from one of the highest ...

The small, excitable corgi chases after the colourful butterfly, to a door that makes said butterfly stand out immensely. It is almost pitch black, with specks of browns and greys given by dust, which could easily have spent eras accumulating.

I run, against the blazing heat of today's sun, until I notice the dog I'm walking has somehow got into a house when I wasn't looking. It now seems that I ...

Today is now the day we were set to leave Earth. To get onto the ships, to fly away for a better life. With green grass, blue skies and a world which would thrive for generations of humanity in the future. But today I am staying right where I am.

In this dying world, the sole option for humanity to not be extinct is to travel to space, where we can inhabit a planet light years away. To get there?...