She nods. “You’re right. What you feel about yourself: that’s what really matters.”
It’s the end. Not just the end of my day, but the end of my life. We’re in the bathroom, but this time I’m staring out at Daisy Jacobs, whose sombre face stares back into the mirror.
“You do realise no-one will ever know what you have done for your world?”
She stands up straight and a slight smile quirks at her lips. “I saved the world. Me: Daisy Jacobs. It’s tempting to shout it from the rooftops. But no-one would ever believe me, would they?”
“Nope. But what matters is we know. You did it. You saved your world … you saved me. And life goes on. Thanks to you.”
The frown returns. “Go on, say it,” she says.
“Say what?”
“Quark, come on. You can see everything that’s in my mind.”
“I’m only in your tiny mind now,” I joke.
She growls. “Quark! You know what people say at times like this.”
“Cup of tea?” I smirk.
She sighs.
“Ok, Ok.” I pause, dragging it out. “My work here is done …?”
She squeals with delight. “Thank you, Quark!”
“Thank you, Daisy Jacobs.”
She rocks backwards and forwards.
“Are you that keen to be rid of me?” I ask.
“I’ll miss you. But you’re coming back, aren’t you?”
“In the blink of an eye.”
The farewell sadness shines in her eyes as she squares her shoulders. I smile (inwardly, obviously) as she gathers her familiar strength and courage to face me one last time. She nods.
And like that, the bond is gone.
I leave her and look back to see her standing, alone. And I realise I can see her; I’ve left, but my existence continues. I relish the feeling of being the sole inhabitant of my own space. I feel energised, excited, alive!
Epilogue
I wake in my own bed. I yawn and stretch. I sit up and look around my bedroom. My actual room. I’m surrounded by the familiar, but the very first thing I notice is the faintest hint of Mum’s perfume, lingering like the ghost of love.
There’s a soft knock and Mum’s actually here, peering round the door.
“Daisy?”
“Morning, Mum.”
“You okay, my lovely?”
“Mmm.”
She comes closer and looks down at me. “Sure?”
“Mmm. I am.” I reach up to her.
And she knows, as only a mum can know. “I thought this Daisy had gone,” she sniffs and takes a deep breath, “I thought my Daisy had left me.” She practically glows as she sits down on the bed next to me, and with a sigh I rest my head on her shoulder as I’ve done so many hundreds of times before. I feel I’ll explode with bliss as Mum puts her arm around me and eases me into the oh, so familiar embrace.
I am alive; I feel it in every one of my billions of atoms. A smile, like a flower unfurling, curves my lips.
THE END
AFTERWORD
by the author
To any scientist reading this — in fact to anyone with any understanding of science at all — I am sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I like science fiction and those bits in end-of-the-world disaster movies where actors playing at being scientists spout nonsense in an effort to make us believe that speaking pseudo-scientific babble very rapidly will convince us that what they are saying a) makes sense and b) could really bring about the end of the world as we know it.
I am very sorry to say that the science used in this book should come with inverted commas — ‘science’ — and should carry a health warning; it easily science-y enough to warrant the prefix, ‘pseudo’.
However, though I glaze over and start to dribble when things get too complicated, I do love science as well as science fiction. And I strongly encourage anyone interested in finding out the real science (rather than the totally made up ‘science’) behind the ideas explored in this story (death, destruction, hormones, love and the end of the world as we know it) to read a book, watch an Alice Roberts or Brian Cox documentary or speak to a science teacher.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary is a husband, father, house husband and now author. In personality, he’s somewhere between Quark and Daisy — not quite as geeky (or brave) as Daisy, but considerably less misanthropic than Quark!
After a failed career as a Civil Servant, he’s worked in publishing, advertising and in other creative jobs that have always been in some way connected to writing. Writing for others is a great career, but making stuff up is the best job ever! Daisy Jacobs Saves the World is Gary’s first and far and away finest novel.
Connect with him on Instagram @ghindhaughwriter
A BIG THANK YOU
Thank you so much for reading Daisy Jacobs Saves the World. We really hope you enjoyed it and would be so grateful if you could leave a review on Amazon or GoodReads (or both!).
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