This filter didn’t alter our faces. The only difference were some golden numbers above our heads; 13 for mum, 40 for me, 5 for Sandra who was a couple of years younger than I. There were smaller figures after them, and I leant closer.

The last ones kept ticking down.

Christina was born 1982 in Sweden but met a very nice English man and now lives outside Birmingham with her husband and two cats. She has published approximately 15 short stories and other pieces, most recently “Spaceship Terror” in Trembling with Fear.