Celine Quinn
In my sixth year of running an inn in Rimevale, I'm diagnosed with bone cancer.
I leave the inn in the hands of my fiancé, Eric Jones, and head to Varenia with nothing but an old enamel mug. Once I'm there, I start a livestream called "My Last 100 Sunsets."
Every day at 7:00 pm, I turn the camera toward the snowcapped mountains and make coffee just out of frame.
On my 31st livestream, a comment suddenly catches my eye.
"Wait. Does that mug at the edge of the frame have a V-shaped chip in it?"
Six years ago, when a blizzard left us stranded in the mountains, I kept that same mug filled with hot spiced cider for Eric all night.
The chat explodes.
"That's Alice Graham from Veylune Inn!"
"Alice, why are you calling these your last sunsets?"
Then a private message from Eric pops up. "Alice, where are you? Send me your location right now."
What he doesn't know is that the night before I start chemo, I go back to the inn to get my documents and hear him and our receptionist, Denise Snyder, together in our bedroom.
They're in the bed I picked out for us.
"What if Alice comes back and catches us?" Denise asks.
Eric laughs. "She won't leave me. Not after six years together."
Standing outside the door, I open the confirmation email from an assisted-dying clinic in Varenia and click "Accept."
By the time more than 100,000 people have signed up to watch my 100th livestream, Eric finally recognizes the snowcapped mountains outside my window and realizes where I am.
I change the stream title to "My 100th Sunset: I Won't Be Here for Sunrise."