The Remaining Heartbeat [Weekly Short-Short Note: Theme 'Countdown Pulse']

Taraha-san, thank you for the prompt. Following the linked article, here I go.

(654 characters)

"It's on a deadline. Perhaps it would be better to call it a time limit. Even so... I wanted to see you. Just one more time."

Before I could ask, "Is it really you?", he began to explain the reason this encounter was possible with those very words.

In truth, I still haven't been able to grasp the reality that he is no longer a resident of this world. Even after being told that he had left this town, gone on a temporary journey, and then departed for eternity, I couldn't find a way to make it feel real.

"How should I put it? It's like a 'trial period.' A service for the living, maybe? Well, I don't really get it either. Regardless, it means I get to be by your side for a little while longer."
"The afterlife seems to have a sales-like vibe, doesn't it?"

He spoke of the situation with a bitter smile, and I chuckled upon hearing it. I suppose this isn't really a time for laughing. But if we can laugh together, isn't that enough? That's how I felt.

Respecting his wish to spend time just as we always did, I set the table with our usual dinner menu. Curry rice, leaf salad, and roasted green tea. Just the ordinary.

"That's what I like. Always... stay just like that for me."

Before falling asleep, his words reached my ears. Words I was used to hearing, which turned out to be the very last. When I woke up, only the beating of my own heart echoed, marking an irregular rhythm like a countdown.

The morning light streams in through the window. I sit up, feeling it. The warmth and the heartbeat. Even though I am alone, it was not just one. Along with a mysterious and unforgettable miracle.

— Fin —

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