The Watch – Part 157:

The band, Evolving Beef of the Skintight Binge was on stage, singing their hearts out, beautifully blending heavy metal with operatic music. Every song they performed took us on a journey of a lifetime. Each verse is packed full of character development, backstory, scenery, all in, on average, ten minutes at a time. The crowd was mesmerised by how the guitarist manipulated the strings to play the world’s best solo every time, how the drummer made our chest vibrate with every beat, and how the base guitar gave off a deep, long, rhythmic masterpiece each time he changed chords. And the operatic singer belted out her words with an incredible soft, strong and meaningful voice that changed to the perfect pitch with every word, allowing us to understand it all and take in their meaning for ourselves.

I was lost in their music, travelling through space, passing planets and suns and exiting and entering galaxies, living through the entire Universe’s life. Never before has music showed me just how powerful it can be, how it can stimulate the imagination just the way it wants to, and how it we can come out of the other end changed, feeling like a new person. I never felt anything like it before.

            Here was one of their songs:

No matter where that destination lies

Verse One:
A break away from reality
I'm proud of where I came from
Soaring through the clouds, seeing the ants below and wondering why they're not up here with me now
You and me got the whole thing sussed

Music

Chorus:
Positivity for starting a new beginning no matter where that destination lies
This is me, this is who I am
My soul's beside me, cheering me on and for once not leaving me behind
You're not just a memory

Music

Guitar solo #1

Verse Two:
Infinity stretching as far as the eye can see, then nothing until I get there
Understanding my own values will see me through this

I am sure nothing will stand in my way

Music
Guitar solo #2

Chorus:
Positivity for starting a new beginning no matter where that destination lies
This is me, this is who I am
My soul's beside me, cheering me on and for once not leaving me behind
You're not just a memory

Music

Guitar solo #3

Music changes ever so slightly until playing something different

Verse Three:
Everywhere in reality, I fall
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?
Whomever shall be there, I will honour with dignity
Well I heard it today and I couldn't help but sing along

Music

Drum solo #1

Chorus:
Just perfection from beginning to end, without missing a beat
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
How does this world work
Every time I hear that song I go back

Bass guitar solo

Verse Four:
Leaving everything behind
Are you the now-or-never kind?
The world has changed; I have changed; what is the right way of doing things now
The sun is low

Music

Chorus:
Just perfection from beginning to end, without missing a beat
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
How does this world work
Every time I hear that song I go back

Music

Drum solo #2

Guitar solo #4

***

As soon as the song ended, a low rumble from above caught our attention. We looked up and saw a sight straight out of a disaster movie. Where they came from, how they arrived without anyone noticing, were questions that instantly popped into my head the moment I saw the four meteorites heading straight for Earth. They tore through Earth’s atmosphere, burning so bright the sun had some competition.

‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ I said.

‘Don’t just stand there trying to work out why it doesn’t make any sense,’ Amy snapped. ‘Go.’

‘Right.’ My moving through the crowd to get to a safe spot so that I could activate my watch without anyone seeing me triggered a chain reaction; it snapped everyone out of their state of shock and made them realise that they needed to get out of here as quickly as possible. It was instant mayhem. Everyone pushing and shoving everyone else out of the way so that they could get to safety first, which made it so much more difficult for me to move. I looked up at the meteorites once more and came to a shocking realisation.

‘I’m not going to have enough time.’ It doesn’t matter how fast I am, how strong I am, those meteorites are going to hit home. I had to think fast. What do I do? I looked around the crowd and saw Amy and Tom being shoved about like ragdolls as they try to get to safety. I used what little remaining time we had to fight my way through the crowd once more. I used every ounce of my ordinary human strength as I slowly inched my way through the crowd.

‘Sebastian?’ Amy asked. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Amy, Tom, grab my hand.’ They did so without questioning.

Then everything went black.

TO BE CONTINUED…