The first few hours would have been a time of great joy and wonder if they hadn’t known what was coming next. Many smaller fragments of the giant asteroid had been blasted away from the main body during the futile attempts to break it apart or divert it from its course. The first night had been like a fireworks display. At first just a few microscopic pieces of the asteroid entered the atmosphere each second and lit up during their fiery descent. Brief sparks of color flashed like fireflies in the night: yellow, red, and green twinkles causing the sky to come alive and dance. Four hours later some of the larger pieces started to hit, and the night sky glowed fiercely with bright streaking trails falling against the glittering backdrop. The announcement of impending death had come, and people stood transfixed, eyes cast heavenward, fascinated by its morbid beauty.
By morning the sky was gray and hazy, and the dim arrival of the sun muted out all but the brightest and largest of the fragments, which spun in flames as they plummeted, their path marked by trails of red billowing smoke that gradually faded and blended into the rest of the smoke-filled sky. No major pieces had yet hit the Earth, each having either burned up completely or into small enough pieces that they did little damage when they landed. Night and day soon became indistinct. The sun could not break through the clouded skies to give more light, but neither could the dark of night penetrate the thickly clouded skies. Both were equally lit with a diffuse glow that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. Occasionally the sky would light up intensely for a few moments, and a horrifying high-pitched whine would shriek in the distance. Sometimes a muffled boom would sound and the ground would shake. Then all would darken again. The smoke grew thicker, and the acrid air became almost unbreathable. Even those who had vowed not to run from this wretched death were forced to take shelter indoors where, unfortunately, they fared but little better. As sight became impossible, sounds of human pain and fear and despair filled the dark void.
Still the pieces of the broken asteroid fell. The noises of extraterrestrial death raining down from the uncaring heavens grew increasingly more frequent. Eyes and throats and ears of those still alive burned. The biggest pieces, the pieces that would guarantee the elimination of all life from the planet, were yet to hit.