Short Stories

My Failed Death Count

10
I haven't looked at the clock on my wrist all day, but now it begins to pulse with the countdown. Still, I'm determined to ignore it to the very end.
9
I've already said my farewells. My family thought it was weird that I was going out, but I want to enjoy every last second of my life.
8
Normally, people hide out in their rooms the day they're scheduled to die. They die falling down the stairs or choking on food.
7
I harness myself into the zip line. There's no way I'll let myself die like everyone else.
6
I push off onto the longest zip line in the world. Today has been the best day of my life. It would be better without the countdown to my death.
5
It's getting harder and harder to ignore the pulsing death clock, but the feeling of the wind through my hair is unbeatable.
4
I close my eyes so as not to see it coming. Somehow, in the middle of the zip line, I'm going to die.
3
Goodness, I wish it weren't so hard to enjoy myself. There's no way I could possibly ignore the stupid pulsing thing on my wrist.
2
I take a deep breath, turn my face toward the sky, letting my hair fly in the wind, and open my eyes.
1
I brace myself and hold my breath, fully aware of everything around me.
0
I wait a moment, then let out my breath. I'm not dead. Even as the wind whistles in my ears, I finally glance at the clock, embedded in the skin of my wrist, and watch as it fades. It's as if it never existed.

I arrive at the other end of the zip line, stunned into silence. It's only hours later when I realize how I beat the countdown. I chose to spend my last day living to the fullest, while everyone else spent theirs hoping to survive. In choosing to live, I survived.