epilogue

On days when I do something out of the ordinary, there is always one thing I think about.

“I might die today.”

When I go on a long drive,
when I take a boat by myself,
when I fly home for the holidays—.

But I should have known that true death happens when you are not on guard. Yes, I should have known.

During club activities, I was called over the school intercom. It was a dark, dark, rainy afternoon. As I headed out, seen off by my juniors who said, “I can’t believe a senior would do something like that,” the overbearing head of the grade had a look on his face I had never seen before.
A flicker of pity—?

That night, my grandfather’s name was on the news.
That is why I do not want to drive.

I knew that his health was not good after the surgery.
Caregiving with such a strict schedule was harder than I had imagined. Even so, I thought there was still plenty of time.
A sudden scream echoed. A small room with cat litter scattered everywhere. I rushed over.

It was the first moment of death I had ever witnessed in my life.
I could only pick up the small gray body and scream.

Why.
I thought we had another year or so. If I had known, I would have done more.

Death does not give you any warning.

Yes, you knew that, didn't you?

I have left behind what I needed to tell my family.

So, for about five more minutes... I feel like I still have, just a little more time.

If it were the old me, I probably would have just vanished, leaving nothing behind. But, I met so many people this past year.
So, just this one last thing.

Thank you for meeting me.

[Save Draft] [Proceed to Publish]

Even though there is so much more I want to do, so much more I want to try writing.

[Save Draft] [Proceed to Publish]
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Afterword

The submission period has ended and I can't participate in the contest, but since it was a theme I wanted to write about, I'm doing so belatedly.

#ContestToDieIn20Minutes

I felt like I would probably spend most of my time writing to my family. But I'm sure I wouldn't make that public. Would I save it as a draft, or send it as an email?

But it's not just that; I feel like I wouldn't want to suddenly disappear from the lives of the people I've met through note. With so little time left, I'd want to leave something for those close to me, but there's no time. It's scary. And I can't write letters.

So, in the end, I thought, wouldn't it just be my usual writing style?

I dared to write this on my smartphone in just over five minutes, not on my computer. The title is random, too. There's no thumbnail image. I thought that might be more realistic.

Even if I'm putting on a brave face, I feel like I'd end up writing my true feelings at the very end. I wrote this while imagining that.

#WhatAreYouTalkingAbout ...?