2400 AD

Ten Years Later

“Uncle Gideon! Uncle Callum! Jacob! Come quickly. Hurry! You have to see this! Come on guys.” Thespian shouted with as much excitement as he could muster. He ran out of the house towards the cliff edge overlooking the ocean and stood against the railing.

All three ran after Thespian, and when they reached him he pointed to the sky on the horizon.

“It’s happening,” Gideon said, raising his hands to cup his cheeks.

Callum’s mouth remained open wide and after several minutes of staring and whispering how unbelievable it all seemed, he took all three into an embrace, and with a smile on his face, said, “At last.”

On the horizon, the dust cloud from the Toba eruption had thinned out leaving patches of blue sky and the wind pushed against these clouds as they flaked away into nothingness. The four of them stood at the railing for hours as the patches grew larger and revealed a vast ocean of azure beauty.

Jacob sent his drone to collect images of the new sky to download them onto his computer. Thespian took pencil to canvas and drew sketches of the ocean and blue sky.

Gideon invited Callum to take a walk on the beach without their masks. They walked together, arms draped around each other as they celebrated the newness of this day.

They skipped in the waves washing against the beach. Dived into the ocean and splashed each other. Chased until they dropped onto the sand. Gideon wiped the sand away from Callum’s lips and gently kissed him.

“Our first vermillion sunset. It’s absolutely beautiful.” Gideon swiped away the hair from Callum’s eyes.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Callum gently ran a finger across Gideon’s cheeks.

“I have an idea, Mr. Ingram. How about I teach you how to Tango?”

“Too late for that, Mr. Kinsman. Cleo taught me the tango ten years ago.”

“Shall we?” Gideon stood and dusted the sand off his clothes and helped Callum up into his arms, ready to take the first step.

As the sun set, visible for the first time in many, many years, Gideon and Callum tripped over each other in their dance of love.

Jacob stared at Thespian seated on the golden sand.

“What?” Thespian asked.

Jacob held out his hand. “Tango?”