The First to Die at the End

by Adam Silvera

“It happens,” Dalma says with a shrug. “Unfortunately, it happened to me.”

Life doesn’t care how young you are. It forces you to grow up anyway.

I’m not trying to die, but death by compliment sounds nice.

If not, it would be a waste of a tragic moment.

In a new world where we know when someone is going to die, we still don’t know how long someone will live.

How many of those thoughts will I have before I fully accept dying? Hopefully a ton. That means I’m still alive.

Death makes people pay attention that way.

The loneliness of becoming an only child has already begun.