Day 7

Wow, I like this one a lot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

            “I’m very sorry to tell you this, but you’re going to die tomorrow.” The words kept repeating themselves in Amber’s head.

            “W-what? Why?” had been her response.

            “We don’t know when or how, but you were injected with a powerful virus that kills its victims in a matter of days. When we tried to remove it, it didn’t work,” her doctor had said sadly.

            Well, it was the day she was going to die. Amber had heard about this virus but had written it off as a myth. It now came back to haunt her. She didn’t really know what to do, so she just started her day. While she was getting ready, something donned on her. She hadn’t used any of her three lies yet. Then she decided three things: she was going to use all three lies today, she wasn’t going to tell anyoneabout her death, and she was going to live her last day to its fullest.

            Amber and her mother usually chatted over breakfast and this morning, Amber made them both a special breakfast. When her mother asked why, Amber just said, “Oh, I had some extra time this morning and I felt like making this, so…yeah.” My first lie.

            On her way to work, she stopped at Starbucks and got her favorite drink and a cake pop. Then she thought, Hey, why am I going to work? It won’t matter if they fire me anyway. I’m going to have some fun!

            She phoned her best friend, “Hey Lauren!”

            “Hi!”

“Do you want to hang out this morning? I was thinking that we could walk around the mall and then have lunch. I can even pick you up.”

“Sure, I can be ready in about 15 minutes.”

“Cool, see you then.”

The rest of Amber’s morning was spent in distracted bliss. Then Lauren asked why she wasn’t at work, “Did you get the day off?”

“Uh, yeah, I realized that we hadn’t hung out in a while, so I called this morning and they let me.” My second lie.

After she dropped Lauren off, she called her sister. Hailey was already married and had rambunctious three-year-old twin boys who loved their aunt. Amber wanted to see them one last time. Hailey said that they were free that afternoon and that they could meet her at a playground. They had a wonderful time: they played tag, Amber pushed them on the swings, and then they played tag again.

Amber realized that it was almost evening and her time was running out. The doctor never said when today I might die, it could be really soon. I need to get home to see Dad!

When she got home, her dad was about to go work on his Jeep.

“Hey Dad, would you mind if I helped you out today, I don’t have anything else to do this afternoon.”

“Sure, quick and go change, I’ll be in the garage when you’re ready.”

A few hours later, as she was washing up for dinner, Amber started trembling. It could happen any moment now. When she came out of the bathroom, her mom immediately noticed her shaking and pale face. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Amber couldn’t stand it anymore, and with tears rolling onto her cheeks, she shouted, “I’m going to die today!” She ran to her mom who hugged her failing body. “The doctor said I had a deadly virus and that this is my last day.”

Her mom gasped and also started crying. Her dad walked in with a confused expression on his face, and her mom related to him the dreadful news. They all broke down in tears in the middle of the kitchen floor. After a few minutes, Amber stopped crying, feeling better after telling her parents. But that didn’t last long, for now she felt weak and dizzy. Still shaky, she laid down in her parent’s arms, “Bye Mom and Dad. I love you. And don’t worry, I-I’m not af-fraid.” She smiled. She knew that they knew that was not true, but maybe it would make them feel better. Amber felt herself falling into darkness, and her last thought before being pulled into the abyss of death was, My third lie.

Amber sat up with a start, her heart pounding, and cold sweat covering her body. She then slowly lay back down to catch her breath. Whew, it was just a dream.