Once

The clock on the bedside table read 00.17 when the telephone rang. Assuming it would be a reveller calling to wish me Happy New Year, I lifted the handset.
‘Hello?’
‘Look out of the window.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Put down the phone, walk over to the window, and look out.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘For once in your life, do as you are told.’
Shaking my head, I returned the phone to its cradle. Gazing out, I saw nothing until there was a flash. I heard the report followed by breaking glass. I fell backwards on to the bed, and then came darkness.