Beyond the horizon

Abigail knew she needed to go home and tell Alan. She pondered of a minute wondering if going to all these people before him was actually her avoiding the confrontation. But hey, it was Alan's idea to send Amy there in the first place so if anything it's his fault. Right?

Abigail's final train home gave her nearly an hour to sit in silence and think about how she was going to tell Alan. Being blunt would be a good idea. He would be too caught up it the shock to get angry at her. But maybe revealing it slowly would be a better idea. Or maybe even waking up from this nightmare would be an excellent idea. The announcement came for Abigail to get off. Just like the train, the platform was empty. And so were the streets. It was only 6:00 pm but everyone was scared of the people that appeared in the sky.

Abigail finally reached her home and unlocked the door. She opened it slowly but was pulled in by Alan who hugged her tightly.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" exclaimed Alan. He paused before speaking quietly into her ear. "William told me what happened at the sanctuary and ... what happened to Amy. Don't blame yourself for it." Abigail felt a little guilty for feeling relieved instead of upset. She was sad but the relief about not having to be the one to tell Alan was a bit more powerful.

Later that night in bed Abigail was typing and clicking frantically on a laptop but closed it angrily. She couldn't find a single flight going to that island where Izzy said Amy would be and all ships would either decline having a passenger or were cancelled due to the 'alien attack'. Abigail put the laptop to one side and rolled over to face Alan. He was heavily engaged in a book called 'How to Become a Spy' that he had started reading the evening Abigail went to pick up Amy.

"Alan. You used to be a sailor, right?" asked Abigail. Alan sighed and placed a bookmark on his page.

"Honey, that was a long time ago. A can't sail you halfway around the globe to an island where we THINK Amy is. I don't even have a boat anymore after you made me sell it. Lets just wait for these alien people to leave us alone and then get Cynthinia and all that to find Amy. In the meantime, I'm sure she's fine and is perfectly capable of fending for herself." said Alan. Abigail sighed in annoyance and rolled over to put her back to Alan. Two claps in quick succession turns the lights off forcing Alan to put his book on the bedside table and go to sleep.

When Alan awoke he rolled over to his wife's side of the bed. Normally he would put his arms around her a give her a morning hug but this morning resulted in him hugging the air. He opened his eyes and couldn't see any sign of Abigail anywhere. He put on a dressing gown and rushed downstairs but there was still no sign of Abigail. He looked outside but again no sign of Abigail or his car. Alan pulled his bike out of the garage and pedalled as fast as he could towards the harbour.

Abigail must've taken his car and drove down to the harbour to steal a boat and go find Amy. And hill leading all the way down to the harbour confirmed his speculations as he could she her running down the dock with between loads of boats and stopped at a sail boat. Alan tried to make himself as aerodynamic as possible as he went down the hill to go as fast as he could but had to burn through at least 2 cm of rubber from the brakes. He ditched the bike next to his car and ran down the dock just as Abigail untied the last rope and jumped onto the boat. It drifted away from the dock as Alan fell to his knees breathing heavily.

Abigail didn't look back as she pulled the sails up causing the boat to jerk forward with a gust of wind. New boats used Zamerium in the sails to absorb some of the kinetic energy of the wind and turn it into fuel for the boats engines. But it would take a while so for now she sat down with a compass in hand a watched out of the corner of her eye as Alan became smaller and smaller. However, chance of her future with Amy in her arms was getting bigger and bigger by the second. At this rate it would only take her... 20 years. Abigail realised her extreme mistake once it was too late. Not only would that be too long, but it's also if she never stops sailing. She's going to have to stop for food and water which could total up to even 25 years. But it wouldn't stop her. She was going to find her daughter and be there for her. Be a parent she didn't have.