The day I was going to die

Do you believe in Karma? You know, that thing old people always whisper about, how what goes around, comes around? Well, I never really believed in that until the day that I was going to die.1

It started off as a regular day. I woke up, ate breakfast, brushed my teeth and changed my clothes. I had a lot of plans for today. I was finally going to do all the things I always wanted to do, but never had the time or the money. I was going skydiving, horseback riding, swimming with sharks and to end the day, watch the sunset. You're probably trying to speculate which one of those things killed me. Well, you might be disappointed, I didn't die doing any of those things. Skydiving was amazing, I felt like I was flying. Horseback riding was even better than a motorcycle, I felt like I was a part of the nature. Swimming with sharks was a little bit terrifying, but also made me feel incredibly brave. Watching the sunset was... um... cute, I guess. I was never into those kinds of things. You see, the day that I was going to die was a perfect day for me. I have never been so fulfilled. But, there always has to be balance. I was happy, therefore something had to end it. I was kind of thinking that maybe death is a little bit too much, but it's God's will. You're not supposed to question that guy. 2

It was getting dark, after all, I just watched a sunset. I decided to go home, tomorrow was going to be a regular day. I was going to wake up, eat, brush my teeth, dress up, go to work, come home, sleep. Restart and repeat. Every day. For the rest of my life. Well, my life didn't last for that long so I guess I can't complain. I was an accountant. I would sit in a little office counting numbers all day and always getting yelled at by my boss. I didn't really like my job that much. I didn't like my life. But, I never wanted to die. It was Sundays that always made the 6 days of working worth it. I could do whatever I wanted. To be honest, I have never taken any advantage of it, until today. Usually I would just relax, go to church, thank God for my crappy job, and go back home thinking about my job. Today I wanted to make a difference in my life. I wanted to have something to really look forward to. I wanted to be happy. Maybe I died because I didn't go to church?3

I was on my way home on the subway when my cell phone rang. Some unknown number. I usually don't pick those up, I just assume it's the wrong number, but today was my special day. 4

"Hello?"5

"Oh my God! I can't believe I'm hearing you're voice again! Emily!" I thought it was the wrong number until he said my name. Emily, yeah, that's my name. You don't like it, just shut it.6

"Um, calm down, man. Am I supposed to know you?" Yeah, I'm not that pleasant to other people.7

"Emily... I... I have to tell you... We won't make it. I screwed up, I know exactly what I should do, but I just can't anymore. It's going to take too long and I can't stand it anymore. Emily, we won't meet", don't worry, I understood just as much of it as you did.8

"Huh? You mean I was supposed to meet you? I'm sorry if I forgot about it, but maybe I would remember if you would tell me your name!" You see, I was never into prank calls.9

"Oh, Emily, you are going to be so different. No wonder it's going to take so long, nobody could like you right now", now I was pissed.10

"Listen, I might not be that nice, but living the way I'm living would make everyone just a notch meaner. I happen to be a born bitch. Deal with it."11

"Emily, I've been waiting for so long, you don't even know how badly I want to see you already. I see your apartment every day, I see you go to work, always looking back at your doors to remember if it's locked. You don't know why you do it. The only valuable thing in there is a rusted old necklace that your dad bought you before his death", Alright, now I could sense something fishy about this guy.12

"Who the hell are you?"13

"Look, I'm not even supposed to talk to you, you're not supposed to know me for another couple of months when you go to see the Niagara Falls. But I messed it all up, got too curious. You're not supposed to do that."14

"OK... So how about we just meet right now?" I was hoping he would make more sense in person. And if it would be a prank call, I would ruin it for him.15

"I don't know if I can... But... You... I already screwed it up, can't hurt that much. Get off on the next stop, I'll be the guy talking on the phone to you" Heh, it was my kind of humor. Not many people got it.16

"The subway is stopping right now, should I get off?"17

"Yeah, I see it" I shyly stepped out of the subway. There were about 10 guys talking on the phone. Fuck. I forgot everyone talks on the phone now. So the prank caller won.18

"To your right, Emily. God, you look beautiful" Huh. There he was. A guy in torn clothes talking on a cheap phone. His eyes looked like he didn't sleep for months. His hand was shaking. Just like mine. He hung up the phone. Ran up to me and tried to hug me.19

"Woah, woah, man! Slow down! Who the hell are you?" He laughed. What the hell was there to laugh about?20

"Let's do it the way we're supposed to. Let me read your future."21

"Huh? Oh, so you're a psychic. Now it's starting to make sense." He took my hand, looked into it for a while, whispered some stuff to himself, then looked at me.22

"Any questions?"23

"Um, how about, what's going to happen to me in the future?"24

"Remember when I said I screwed up? Well, I didn't. I fucked up. Today is your last day. Tonight, you're going to die"25

"That's some good news. I guess I'll see you later, then."26

Don't think that didn't scare me. It was the reason why I ran like hell to my subway. It was just a stupid prank, I kept telling myself. I looked in my drawer, the necklace from my dad was really getting rusted, I wished I would have taken better care of it. I kind of regretted not asking how I was going to die. Maybe than I could avoid it. I thought about calling him. I thought about how he would react. Saying he missed my voice so much and screwed up even more. I put my phone away. I saw a pile of papers I had to finish up before going to work. I tossed them in the fireplace, after all, I was supposed to be dead tomorrow. I always wanted to tell off my boss. My workplace was the only place I controlled my bitchyness. I called him.27

"Excuse me, Mr. Cougarale, but you can't tell me how to do my job. I have been working in the same position for 2 years now! All I do is add up certain numbers, I can do it with eyes closed now! You haven't even given me one raise, so you know what? I don't need your crappy job or listening to you yell at me because of your other problems! I don't care if I remind you of your wife! I am not her! I am not anyone's wife! I do my job and I should be rewarded for it! But you, you don't know how to do your job! I wish I could fire you! That is what you deserve!"28

"Emily... I think you just earned yourself a promotion. I need someone in charge of firing and hiring employees, but no one in our company seems to have enough guts to do it. How about it? I know you can be polite and so straight forward if you have to. How about it? Want to try it before leaving our company?" Now that was something I didn't think of. I was going to be dead tomorrow, I wasn't planning on killing myself, so he wouldn't be able to tell I knew I was going to die when I said yes to his offer.29

"It will be my pleasure".30

I was kind of happy. I earned a promotion before my death. Something my friends said would never happen. I lied down in my bed. I was happy. It was a good day. Before I knew it, I was sound asleep.31

When I woke up, I was still alive, I looked at my phone and read a new text message32

"I told you, you are going to die. What does it feel like to be reborn? Want to go out on the first day of your new life? Btw, my name's Kyle."33

I smiled. My new life was better. Much better. I had shorter hours and all I did at my job was tell people how much they suck. I loved it. I hated the way Kyle made it happen, how he freaked me out, but it worked. At first I just met him to thank him, but he was more of my type than I thought. I became much nicer, it seemed like I got all of my bitchyness out of me at work and my boss loved me for it. All I had to do was kill my old life, and I could start living the life I always wanted to have.