The much discussed and anticipated night was looming. The day had remained clear and sunny. Some light cloud in the afternoon had been pushed away by a gentle breeze. The weather was a blessing.
Many amateur and if there were any, professional astronomers in the local area would be setting up their telescopes for the evening.
Rex and Ella's plans were the same as last time this happened although they couldn't remember when that was exactly. The only difference was their friend Matt was staying over for a few days. A welcome visitor Matt was travelling north to see his son, daughter in law and the expanding family.
The three friends drank red wine, chatted and prepared a simple meal.
Rex had chosen Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive along with tracks from other bands such as Man or AstroMan as the soundtrack for the evening . He had even found the Jetson's theme somewhere.
"Meet George Jetson" all three sang the opening line.
Around 10.30 Rex and Matt laid plastic on the lawn and dragged out the spare room mattress. Ella had some cushions and a blanket.
Another bottle of red wandered outside too.
It seemed natural for Ella to lay in the middle. The cushions allowed them to sit up in their makeshift bed and sip their wine.
Under the stars on a warm night Ella, Rex and their friend Matt lay on an old mattress, looked to the heavens and waited. Matt saw the first twinkle of an extra little star and even as he spoke the sky filled with streaks of light.
Meteor showers raked the black night sky.
The media had talked it up for weeks. Some pundits even predicting Armageddon.
Ella lays flat on her back and watches the cosmic display grow steadily more spectacular. The boys join her.
"I couldn't be in a better place if it is the end of the world," she laughs.
It seemed natural to hold hands so they did.
There had always been a simmering sexual tension between them all, but life was always a rush and made up of brief get togethers.
Tonight that tension was responding to lazy time, no need to get up early, the proximity of the cosmos and being in bed together, even if it was a mattress and a few blankets on the lawn.
"What would you like to be doing if the world ended tonight?" asks Rex.
"Fucking!"said Ella