The following was my entry into the RTE Short Story competition. It wasn’t shortlisted but I hope you enjoy –

“There, can you see it son?  There and here on the readout of the gravity waves.  The two dotted lines.  It has come all the way from LIGO.  You know the place in Louisiana in the States.  I got it just for you.  You’re the very first person outside of the project to see it.  Imagine that!  Two supermassive black holes in a long and increasingly intimate dance in a galaxy an immense distance away. So far away son, the waves have taken millions of years to reach us.  Each one has a mass billions of times the mass of our sun.  Nobody is even that sure how they managed to grow into such monsters.   

They are coming ever so slightly closer and closer over time.  Already, they have been dancing round each other for millions of years and will for millions more but like all things it will eventually end.” 

Darragh had moved heaven and earth to get the readings for his son.  He knew that it was one of the few things that would bring him some cheer in his darkest moments.  At first, his requests had fallen on deaf ears, but he persisted until he got someone in authority from LIGO to listen to him.  Eventually, a kind German scientist emailed him what he wanted after he explained his circumstances. 

Her name was Lina and had a child of about the same age.  She wanted to do some much more, but Darragh told her that was all he really needed.  It was such a relief when he finally got his hands on it.  He had to do something for his son, even if it only made a small difference. 

~Wow Dad!  That’s amazing.  And how will it end?” he asks in a quiet, barely audible meek voice. 

Darragh looks at his ill son Paul in the hospital bed. His time would too soon be coming to an end. Gaunt, pale with sunken eyes, so unlike the vibrant boy of only a year ago.  His Mum, ashen faced sits on a chair on the other side of the bed.  A smell of disinfectant pervades the room. 

“The two will become one. In truth, it already might have happened.  These waves have taken so very long to reach us.  It’s like we’re looking into the deep past.  Time works on a different scale for black holes.” 

“How far are they away from each other now Dad?  Have they gobbled up many planets?  I’d say they have eaten loads.  Hopefully, there were no people on them.” 

“Oh, I don’t know son.  It’s so far away, a couple of thousands of stars and an awful lot of planets, I’d say. There would not have been any people or intelligent beings on them though. The centre of galaxies is inhospitable for people like you and me. But, when they merge, these lines will disappear. They will be joined together forever.” 

Paul begins to cough, gently at first but then more forcefully.  The tissue his Mum had raised to his mouth is covered in blood.  It has been like this for some time.  At first, nobody thought his coughs were anything to worry about.  Everybody coughs after all.  Once, the Covid test came back negative any lingering worry faded away.  But more time passed, and they grew worse.  Then, the blood appeared.  An extremely aggressive form of cancer.  He was now living his final few moments. 

Paul had always been fascinated by space and what lay beyond the earth.  Always an inquisitive child once his grandfather told him that there were other suns and planets beyond our own, he was hooked.  Whether it was the different types of stars that existed from the very large red giants to the diminutive red dwarves, the planets that orbited them or more recently the black holes that devoured them.   His imagination would just run wild with all the possibilities. 

Darragh had never been that interested in space.  Much more of a down-to-earth kind of guy.  Far more interested in finding space on the hurling pitch with the local club or finding somewhere to stand at the local than anything beyond the earth.  It was something that he had never really thought about.  Even less cared about.  His friends were all the same ilk.  The fear of the Earth being suddenly devoured by a black hole was not something that had never entered his head.  Good at school but he was never one of the top students.   

He had watched dumbstruck his son’s strange interest grew over time.  And no matter how many times he tried to play ball with him, he would just want to talk about his latest discoveries instead.  Footballs and hurleys were quickly left to one side as the computer screen or book took centre stage. 

“Dad, the Earth orbits a yellow dwarf star.  You told me that it was huge?” 

Well, what could he say to that?  An important hurling match was about to start after all. 

“Wow Paul, I never knew that.  I’m not impressed with it all now.  Can we swop it for a bigger one?” 

“We can’t do that Daddy.  Don’t be silly!  Then the Earth would get far too hot.” 

He got his brains from his mother.  That much was obvious.  She is a microbiologist of all things, not the kind of woman he thought that he would end up with.  Not just academic smart either, she could have an enlightening conversation on just about any topic.  Whether it was on a hot political topic or the latest goings on in some soap.  Darragh loved having an intelligent wife.   It was love at first sight for him.  Her not so much.  A college-romance.  He studied something far less exotic while at college – Commerce.  Most of his day was spent playing pool or in the bar rather than studying.  It was their final year and she laughed at his jokes.  He knew of her, of course but they had never spoken till then.  At a house party of all things.  They were both a bit tipsy.  Her name was Laura, and she made the first move.  Just as well, he was never that good at that sort of thing, Paul may never have been born at all.  In fact, it was his first real relationship. 

All his friends at the time teased he was punching way above his weight. 

“Get a ring on it before she wises up.” 

“You’re punching man, you’re punching.” 

“Did you tell her that you were rich or something?” 

They were quasi jokes of course; a tinge of truth.  Mostly after a few drinks and usually said in good humour.  But sometimes he sensed a bit of jealousy there too.  Not that he could blame them. 

She was everything that he had always dreamed of.  Quick witted, sassy with long straight brown and warm blue eyes.  The first few years passed swiftly.  Then, after a few years of marriage they talked about expanding their family.  He was hesitant at first.  The huge responsibility of being caring for a little human weighed heavily but then decided it was something he wanted too.  Paul arrived a year later, changing their lives forever.  They tried for another, but it was not to be. 

He also grew to love having an intelligent son, with the bushy auburn hair. So, he decided to feed his insatiable thirst for knowledge.  He still remembers that smile on Paul’s face one Christmas morning when he unwrapped a large book all about The Universe.  His startled face as he looked at the different illustrations.  Sure, he still looked back in fondness at the times when he was secure in the knowledge that he was the smarter one.  His first step, that time he would try to eat everything.  The nonsensical talk that would make him smile.   

There were bad times too.  Every couple has the odd argument, and no child behaves correctly all the time.  Life is never so perfect.  Mostly, the arguments were petty about whose turn it was to do the dinner and the like.  Occasionally, Paul would act up about having to go to bed, especially if there was a documentary on.   

Then, the doctors told them there was something wrong.  He can still remember the day like it was yesterday.  They were hopeful at first, but things became gloomier with each meeting.  Each one becoming an increasingly solemn occasion.  Sometimes, they did not even have to ask. It was written on their faces as they walked in the door.  

It had started in his chest but quickly spread to his other organs.  They tried chemotherapy of course.  Many hours spent in one hospital and then the next.  The tears of anguish, of pain and dreams shattering. 

Then the topic of conversation suddenly switched to palliative care.  It was no longer about Paul getting better but about being comfortable.  About suffering as little as possible.  That was the least he deserved. 

“How long has he left?” 

“Not long at all.” 

Paul was a beacon of strength.  At first, reassuring them that he would beat the odds and then that he would make sure they were okay from heaven.  They had never really mentioned heaven till then, being far from a religious family.  But it was a concept that Paul latched onto.  And anything that gave him some solace surely had to be a good thing. 

And what of the future now?  He had been impressed by Laura’s fortitude.  She had stayed so strong.  But the smiles and loving touches had grown more seldom.  As he looked at the broken woman, he wondered what joy could there remain in their lonely future.  She still laughed at his odd joke though.  So maybe all was not lost. 

A rocket scientist.  Perhaps, in charge of some future mission to the far reaches of the solar system.  That was the future Darragh had envisioned for his son.  Not this, never this.  So much potential.  He had wondered what it would be like to go for a few drinks with him when he was older and to talk about the birds and the bees.  His first girlfriend, maybe even a kid of his own.  It was not to be.  There would be no grandchildren.  It all felt so terribly cruel.  In the deepest midst of melancholy, he liked to believe that there really was a multiverse, and that Paul got the opportunity to realize all his dreams in one of them with a proud father by his side. 

Paul’s breathing was very faint now.  His struggles were coming to an end. 

“Remember Paul, the bond between those black holes may be very strong, but it is nothing compared to the bond of love myself and your Mum have for you.  Someday, we will be together forever too.” 

And then he was gone.