Ellie did live a strange life, no doubt about that. The only problem was, no one knew. To her best friends, Carli and Hallie, and to her boyfriend, Brady, she was just another normal person. But she knew things no one else did. She could see people’s life spans.
It normally appeared over their heads, slightly translucent. And it normally consisted of numbers. Carli’s lifespan was 86 years while Brady’s lifespan was 77 years. You might be thinking this would be cool, to be able to see people’s lifespans.
It wasn’t. Hallie’s lifespan was 23 years, and she was 22 at the time. Knowing all these secrets but not being able to spill them almost drove Ellie crazy. She began feeling depressed; that’s why she’d decided to begin seeing Dr. J. Dunadd every week for therapy. She knew it wouldn’t help, though. She couldn’t tell him what she saw, just like she couldn’t tell her best friend that she’d die within a year. But her family insisted on therapy.
She sat in the waiting room of Dr. Dunadd’s office, dreading the meeting. The office seemed familiar. Had she been there before? No, she hadn’t. She knew she hadn’t. But it still felt strange. The secretary opened the door to the waiting room.
“Miss Ellie Koll,” called the secretary. Ellie slowly left her seat and followed the secretary into an empty office. “Dr. Dunadd, Ellie is here to see you.” Then the secretary left.
“Ah hello,” he called from a corner of the room, frightening Ellie. “So nice to meet you.” He took her hand and shook it. “Won’t you sit down?”
But Ellie couldn’t sit down. She couldn’t move. She was so surprised at what she saw floating above his head where his lifespan should have been. It was an infinity sign.
“Miss Ellie, are you okay?” asked Dr. Dunadd, sitting on his chair and placing his fingertips together, elbows on his desk.
Before she even realized it, she had blurted, “You have an infinity sign where your lifespan should be.”
Dr. Dunadd smiled, his blue eyes sparkling. “Ah, so you are a special client. You see others’ lifespans, correct?”
She nodded. She didn’t know why, though. Could she trust this man?
Dr. Dunadd nodded. “Oh yes, you can trust me.”
Ellie’s eyes grew wide.
Dr. Dunadd smiled again. “Tell me, Ellie. You have come to therapy because you are disturbed by the young lifespan of your best friend, Hallie, right? And the pressure increases because you can’t tell anyone about it, right?”
Ellie nodded again. She was still standing opposite the desk, hugging her small frame. She had been here before, hadn’t she?
“Can you see your own lifespan?”
Ellie shook her head. It was true. She couldn’t see her own lifespan, even when she looked in the mirror.
“This says here you are twenty-two years old?”
Ellie nodded once more.
Dr. Dunadd looked thoughtful. “I knew a girl like you once. We were good friends. We fell in love, eventually. She knew my secret too. But, sadly, she isn’t here anymore.”
“What happened to her?” asked Ellie meekly. Deja-vu had almost completely engulfed her.
His face became angry. “I killed her.” He pulled out a knife, and in one scream, Ellie was no more. He dragged the body into his office closet. There were countless bodies stored at his home.
“I’m sorry, dear, that it has to be this way for all eternity. I’m sorry I killed you the first time, and I’m truly sorry I fell in love with you the second time. I wish I could be with you, but I know I’d spill my secret eventually. I don’t want to go to jail for eternity because I murdered you countless times. I trust no one, so from now until forever, you shall never reach beyond the age of twenty-two.”
***
So, this story turned out a little dark. Whoops. I wrote a variation of this story about a year ago, and today I decided it should be revised and put on the blog. I hope you liked it; I really hope it wasn’t confusing to anyone. If you have any questions about it, place it in the comments and I’ll get back to you. This story has so much content and possibility, it could probably be a novel. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
Love from the Library,
Aria
P. S. – I’ve decided on a pen name! My pen name will be Ari D., and that’s the name I’ll be using here from now on 🙂
Ari D. 