When I came home, I went straight to my room and took the box out of my pocket. It was a small, plain, cardboard box. There wasn't any thing unusual about it. No markings, no symbols. Just a perfectly ordinary box. I placed on my desk and opened it slowly to reveal...a bottle. A bottle the size of my palm. I picked it gingerly. It was as if I thought it would break apart any minute now.

Why had my grandfather given me this? For what reason? He obviously thought I should have it, but he didn't say how to use it.

"Through the Second World War...and beyond..." What did he mean by that? I knew he had been in a tank regiment. He travelled through North Africa and then, saw battle at Monte Casino in his tank. He never talked about the battle itself but, given that it was a bloody battle won only at (one was led to believe) huge cost, I didn't blame him.

I sighed and put the bottle back in its box. People talk about historical battles and wars, but no one really stops and thinks about what the soldiers went through. D-Day, Stalingrad, and the Pacific Theatre, Operation Market Garden (a failure of epic proportions),the Pacific Theatre...the wars were won, but the scars remained deep. Grandad never showed it, but I think the war had an effect on him. But, as long as he knew his family was fine, it didn't matter.

A tear made its way down my cheeks and I wiped it slowly away. Thinking about what he an others went through always made me come close to tears. Things like his two photos of the battlefield of Monte Casino (dated 2nd August 1944-45) and especially a photo of one of his friends with some writing on the back,

Johnny (his nickname taken from his middle name, John). From another friend who suffered. Andy.

I think that said it all.


So it was that I found myself putting my coat and shoes on and taking a walk round town. I don't normally do this, but I needed to do something to think about. I checked my coat pockets to check the box was still there. I decided to take it with me just in case I needed it. For what I wasn't sure, but it could come in handy.

You never know.

I walked among some of the hustle and bustle of town until I found myself making my way to the town centre. A new scheme had been introduced and it was now partly pedestrianized for walkers. As I walked on, I heard a woman scream. Several others took it up and I stopped. Suddenly there was burst of what sounded like laser fire, like something out of a computer game.

A gap in the crowd revealed a large group of small, robotic beings that carried small handguns that fired lasers or what looked like lances. Some carried shields and they were moving slowly towards the fleeing shoppers and walkers, shooting their weapons. The people fled in all directions, seeking cover and sheltering in nearby shops and behind anything they could find. I stood still for a moment, taking in the scene.

I was shocked, stunned. I had played shooters and war games, but this was no game or festival, this was serious. Someone was trying to kill all these people and possibly destroy my town, my home...

I decided, against all reason, to stand my ground. I was afraid of course, but no one attacks my hometown and gets away with it.

The centre was cleared in just over a minute. The robots stopped their pursuit and stood, watching. The brief silence that followed was more frightening than the earlier chaos.

Then a robot noticed me and from somewhere inside it, an alarm sounded across to the group. In moments, all eyes were on me. Then they all came at me at once. I curled my hands into fists and prepared myself. A robot lunged its lance at me and I dodged quickly. Then another lance appeared. I moved, but too slow. It caught my coat pocket and there was a loud RIP as the fabric was torn...

...And the box, containing the bottle, fell out onto the ground. I fell away from it and, as I got up, I saw box lying there until the foot of a robot stepped on it. There was a glass shattering sound as the bottle inside broke. But I had bigger things to worry about. The robots had surrounded me and the ones with guns levelled them towards me. I closed my eyes. There was no point resisting now, I was dead anyway.

But before the robots could fire, a strong wind came out from nowhere behind me. I opened my eyes and turned around to see the cause of it. The wind began to pick up and I had trouble steadying myself so I wouldn't fall over. Shielding my eyes, I could make out two figures. Then there was the sound of an explosion, a white flash making its way towards the robots and myself. I braced myself for impact, but it passed by me, or rather through me. The robots, however, were thrown aside with great force into the air, then coming down and landing here and there around the centre, splintering into many bits and pieces when they hit the ground or an inanimate object.

When all the robots were down, the flash suddenly disappeared and the wind died down almost as quickly as it began. The release of tension or perhaps the flash made me feel drained of energy and my eyes began to close. The two figures made their way over to me and as I fell, I felt hands catch me and before I fell into darkness, I thought I heard someone say,

"It's him. You'll be okay. Okay..."