Dying in Three, Two, One

I'd been able to see a countdown to death above people's heads since I was a child.

The first time I saw it was when it appeared above my grandfather's head. I told my parents about it, but they didn't mind me. They thought it was just part of a child's imagination.

When I saw my grandfather again the next day, he lay on the bed with a white cloth over his face. People were crying, but I didn't understand what was going on.

Later, I saw the same countdown timer above my father's head. When I told him about it, his smile froze for a second before he regained his composure. That night, I didn't see him return from work.

All I heard was the urgent ringing of a phone. My mother turned ashen when she answered the call. She was already heavily pregnant at the time. She was in such a rush to head out that she slipped and fell on the steps, going into labor.

That was when I saw the familiar 24-hour countdown appear above her head. That day, she passed away due to major blood loss after giving birth to my sister, Phoebe. I stood outside the operating theater, feeling lost.

My third brother, Carl, shoved me to the floor and called me a monster. He said I'd cursed them, that I was the reason for my parents' deaths.

I scraped my palm on the floor, and blood oozed out. I wanted to cry from the pain but forced myself to hold it in when I looked around. The people standing around me didn't dare come near—I could see the fear and hatred in their eyes.

I didn't dare make a sound. All I did was bite my lip and get to my feet. Then, I dusted my dress off and comforted myself.

After that, I curled up in a corner and listened to the sobs around me. I hugged my knees and wept. "Daddy, Mommy…"

I slowly drifted off. When I woke up, I found that I was alone. Everyone had left, but no one had bothered waking me up. Was it because they didn't want me anymore?

I got to my feet, feeling panicked. However, my legs were numb after being curled up for too long, so I fell to the floor.

The corridor was silent; only the blinding lights were with me. Pain consumed my body, and I couldn't hold back the flood of tears.

That was the day everything in my life changed.