Bab 2: 1

Today is the day I finally turn twelve; an age I've looked up to ever since I turned eleven. As soon as I realize I've woken up, I open my eyes excitedly. With a single, swift movement, I escape from my blankets. I can't wait to get downstairs!

Just as I get to my closet, my mom enters the room. 'Happy birthday,' she says, trying to sound as excited as possible. The smile on her face is obviously fake, but it's still bright and pretty. Most people say I have that exact same smile, but I hope mine does at least seem real...

I move my eyes from her face to her hands, hoping to find some gifts in them, but someone distracts me on the way. My gaze instead goes right, freezing on her chest. On it, I see a big, bright timer. My eyes widen and I gasp. I rub my eyes once, twice, but the numbers are still there, slowly counting down.

'Ari?' My mom frowns.

It's probably best not to tell her. This might just be a dream, after all. 'Sorry mama, I'm still tired,' I respond, trying to reassure her with the same smile she gave me before. 'Let's go see papa.'

'Happy birthday, Ari!' My dad stands up and kisses me on my cheek, giving me a big hug. 'You're growing so fast, I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday...' he says, wiping away the tears that're welling up in his eyes.

My dad gives me a new video game. While I have wanted it for a long time, I can't find myself wanting to play it. As soon as I saw my dad, I was shocked. Unlike my mom, my dad doesn't have a timer. His chest is as empty as it was yesterday.

'Alright honey, I have to go to work. See you tonight.' My mom kisses me and my dad on the cheek and walks out. My dad managed to get a day off today, but my mom didn't. As she walks out the door, I ensure myself that when she comes back, the timer will be gone.

I truly believe it, until my family shows up a while later. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, they all came to celebrate my birthday. Everywhere around me are timers. It seems so random. My grandma doesn't have one, but my grandpa does. My dad doesn't have one, but my mom does. All of my cousins have one, except the youngest. What does it mean? Are they real? I want to cry...

Then I realized that I hadn't looked down at my own chest yet. I was scared to, honestly. Slowly but surely I look down. I shriek, unaware that I am still in a room full of people. On my own chest there is a timer. Though I can't see it clearly from this angle, I can see that there's at least a few years left.

'Hey, are you okay?!' A cousin of mine, the one sitting closest to me, grabs me by the shoulders.

I can feel my hands shaking, but I manage to calm down my voice and fake a smile. 'Yes, there was a bug, and...'

Without letting me finishing my sentence, my cousin screams. 'A BUG? A BUG!'

Just a second after, pretty much everybody is yelling and standing on tables (like the bugs will not get up there). My dad and aunt are looking for the non-existent bug. It's the perfect time to sneak away and take a good look at my chest.

Silently, I go to my room. The mirror, standing right next to my closet, has never made me nervous before. But it does now. With my heart beating fast, I approach it. As I feared, it shows me a timer, counting down. Over six years left.

Tears start welling up in my eyes. The timers scare me. I don't know what they count down to, I don't know why I can see them, I don't know why some people have them and some don't. Even not knowing if I want the answers to those questions or not makes me want to cry.

Just then, my dad enters my room. 'Ari? Are you in-- hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?'

I feel my cheeks getting wet. Though I need comfort more than ever right now, I know I can't tell my dad the truth; he'll probably just laugh at me. So, instead, I make up a lie. 'I miss mama,' I tell him.

'Oh honey,' he sighs. 'I miss her too. But she'll be here later today, and you have years to come to spend with her, you know?'

I bury my head in his chest. finding comfort in the fact that there is no timer on it. While my dad tells me how much she loves me, I can only think about the fact that her timer will run out in three days.

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