pIzZeRiA

Part One And The Last

The shrieking can be heard in the high street, in Rome, Italy, and it seems to be coming out of a pizzeria.

Could it be -- that my friend, Jack had gotten himself into mischief? It was he, after all, who had entered the pizzeria mere seconds ago.

I rush in and find him lying on the floor.

'No, no, you've got to wake up! WAKE UP!' I shout.

'I-I can't see you... Who's there..?' comes the faint reply.

'Oh, goodness he's alive!' I pick him up and haul him out of the doorway.

Jack and I are wondering what on earth is happening when a silencing mist covers the air around us and turns it black.

I reach into my pocket and grab my phone -- someone needs to be called -- but a piece of the pizzeria's roof falls behind me and when I jump forward my phone gets flung out of my hand.

I look back to see a figure standing on top of the roof and shout to him, 'Leave us alone!'

He doesn't seem to hear. Instead he grabs another piece of the roof and hurls it at us.

'Run!' I scream at Jack, but he is nowhere to be seen. Could it be that he is --

I can't think of that now. My first priority is getting out of this place. I look around for something useful but all I can see are bits and pieces of the pizzeria and neighbouring shops: I can just make out a comb, a fork, a shawl and what seems to be part of a table. this place is in ruins.

I run and I run -- but I seem to get nowhere. The black mist still surrounds the area and I can't see where I'm going. What's worse is everywhere looks the same -- rubble and debris covering every inch.

'We can repair this...' calls a voice from somewhere inside the mist but I'm too angry to be optimistic.

'No! No we can't!' I shriek back at it.

The voice seems to be quietened down, for now at least.

I am beginning to think things might actually turn out okay when an ice cube tray gets flung at me from... somewhere.

My head is spinning and I can't take it anymore. I sit on the ground, clutching my forehead.

Sirens sound in the distance.