Wednesday November 6th, 2019

The day starts like any regular day. Light from between the curtains shines on Andrew's face, waking him. Shortly after, the alarm clock goes off. Andrew gets out of bed and crosses out Tuesday on his calendar. It's 7:30 in the morning. Andrew puts on his clothes, washes his face and the does the regular, and goes downstairs.

"Hey, Andrew." His father is already at the table eating breakfast. "Will you go with me to the docks in a bit? I need some help setting up a fishing path for a friend of mine."

[He knows that I have the morning free on Wednesday, but never directly confronts me with it.]

"Sure thing, I don't have class until 12:30 anyway." Andrew replies.

"That's nice, I hope you don't mind me taking your free time away?"

[I already said I'll help.]

"No, it's fine."

His father stands up from the table and takes his plate, bowl and glass to the kitchen.

"I'll see you there at around 8:30 then, if that's fine with you. I'm going on ahead to just, well you know, start the day there."

"Fine by me." Andrew tells him. His father collects his stuff and goes outside. He runs the local fishing company, unoriginally called Hillton Fishing Co. The company has been run by the Hillton's for over sixty years, and a sizable group of the locals of Periwinkle work there. After breakfast, Andrew puts on a coat puts his phone in the pocket. He tells his mother where he is going and leaves home. After driving down the hill their house resides on, with plenty of turns to make the road less steep, he parks his bike near the docks, located almost directly below their house. He proceeds to enter a small building near the water.

"I'm here!" He yells. His father emerges from behind the counter. On the front of the counter is a sign that reads: Hillton Fishing Co. brought to you by Ben Hillton.

"What do ya think of this new sign?" His father points at it with his finger.

"It's a bit plain, but better than nothing." Andrew responds.

[Now people will at least be able to call your name when they enter here.]

"Yeah, I had about the same idea. But it wes cheap and's good enough its purpose." Ben's voice changes when he is at his shop, making him sound almost like a pirate. He believes that it will attract customers, so he forced himself to talk like that at first, and eventually it became the norm for him. Luckily for his family, his voice is normal everywhere else.

"Me friend Kees from Holland 'ill be here in about 'n hour, let's get everything set up by then." He opens up a thick book, and folds open a page to about four times its original size. On the page is a large map, and on his desktop he opens a website with the same map, which excludes a lot of information, like names and elevation numbers. Ben sets markers on the a few spots on the online map.

"These're good fishing spots. If you can connect them into a reasonable route then that's enough. I'll go outside 'n get the ship ready." Ben stands up. "And don't forget to print it out."

"I won't." Andrew answers, and Ben leaves the building and walks towards a small cruiser. Andrew draws lines on the map, which is on a website he built himself, just for making maps like these. He avoids places marked as 'Risky' on the bigger map, and after he's done he prints it the map on standard A4 paper, and gives it to his dad. He goes home, gets his stuff together and proceeds to go to school.

Just like any Wednesday, he arrives right before lunch break at around 11:50, and claims a table for himself and his friends. Sarah is a bit earlier than the others, because she has the same schedule as Andrew. The bell rings, and the cafeteria floods with students.

"Man I hate this."

[There they are, Keil at least.]

Keil, May and Lin arrive slightly later than usual. Keil continues talking.

"Why does she always keep me after the bell rings? I don't get it, no, she doesn't get it. We have homework for literally the next day, because of our schedule, and there is no way I can finish it on time." Keil rants about his previous class, Economics.

"We get it Keil, we get it. You know miss Zeppeli doesn't listen, ever, but give the old woman a break." While Lin says this, she makes signals with her hands to tell Keil to calm down a little.

"She should give me a break. It's like this every week where she just dumps heaps of homework on us for the next day." Keil still continues.

"Keil please." May says.

Keil sits down and opens his lunchbox. "Ah, I'm sorry. I just feel..." There is a pause "Overwhelmed I guess."

[I guess I'm lucky I don't have her class, although I'm not that busy with homework anyway.]

"I get where you're coming from," May puts a hand on Keil's shoulder. "but just bear with it for a little longer, I heard Zeppeli is going to retire next year."

"She really needs it too." Lin adds.

Without anything unnatural occurring, they have their lunch and get up from the table once the bell rings again. All five of them proceed to A14, for homeroom.

"What do you want others to do to your body, after you die?" Lin reads aloud. "What kind of question is that?" The class was given a questionnaire with questions about their lifestyle.

"All of these questions are a bit odd." Keil says. "I don't really see what the purpose of these are."

"It's for us to see where we can still help you the next few years." Mister Ridswood, their homeroom teacher, says to Keil. Mister Ridswood is a slim, middle-aged man with brown curly hair. He has been the homeroom teacher of this class three years. "But," he continues "I get where Lin is coming from. That question is one of the truly odd ones. The only interesting answer on that question I've seen so far is Andrew's." Lin looks at Andrew. May and Keil already know about it, so they don't bother. Sarah is not participating in this conversation, and only looks at her own questions.

[Oh, I forgot I never told Lin about Hulive.]

Lin stands up, grabs her chair and moves it next to Andrew's table.

"Feels like you've got something to tell me." Lin says with a grin on her face.

"Don't expect like, a super interesting long story or something like it." Andrew turns his head to Mister Ridswood. "Wait, sir, what do you mean with 'only interesting answer'? What are the others?" Mister Ridswood looks up from his laptop.

"All the others basically fell under cremation or burial. There were some odd ones too, but I can't tell them to you because of privacy reasons." He tells Andrew.

"Ah, I see." Andrew looks back at Lin. "So basically, I've signed myself up to be cryogenically preserved after I die."

Lin has a confused look on her face, but she signals that he should continue.

"I'll make it short." Andrew continues his story. "Once we, the doctors and my family, were aware of my heart condition, my personal doctor, Doctor Mirad, made a proposal. He told us they could sign me up to the Hulive Foundation, a cryogenics centre near London. My parents didn't want to follow through, but I made the decision myself."

Lin looks at Andrew with hazy eyes. "And what does this have to do with you dying?" Lin asks.

"Well, if my death is a 'clean' death, they will freeze me in there until there is some technology to revive me later. I did tell them that once I turn sixty, I will resign from Hulive. There wouldn't be any point to live somewhere in the future at that age, in my opinion."

"Okay, I think I get it." Lin still looks a bit questioned. "Well, at least you don't have to go there anytime soon."

With the questionnaire filled in, they return it and leave the classroom for the third and final break. It is crowded in the halls with students, everyone looking for a spot to sit down. When Andrew, May, Keil, Sarah and Lin arrive in the cafeteria, all the chairs have already been taken. They stand near an empty table, and Andrew gets water and some cookies from his bag.

"Anyone want one? I have enough and I'm not that hungry." Andrew asks to all of them. Sarah nods and Andrew gives one to her. She nods again as a way to thank him. Keil also takes one, but May and Lin refuse his offer. He proceeds to eat the other cookies for himself.

[I get May, she doesn't like chocolate.]

He takes a sip of his water.

[But Lin? I've only seen her take a single apple during lunch. I should have a strong talk about it with her soon, because it's going in the wrong direction it seems.]

Lin notices him. "You okay, Andrew?"

"What? Yeah I was just thinki…" Andrew abruptly stops his sentence. A painful sting goes through his chest while he was talking. A complete surprise, without any build-up. His right hand drops his capped water bottle as he grabs his chest. May turns around.

"Andrew!" She cried out in shock.

[It's not like two days ago, I am still aware, conscious, I am not passing out.]

Andrew replants his feet to the ground and raises his left arm a bit. May and Keil are standing around him, Lin is a bit further back and is in shock. Her shock is even further emphasised because of the things Andrew told her. Sarah is soothing Lin, with a neutral expression on her face.

Andrew slams his left hand on the table. May and Keil were startled, but with that the sting disappears. He raises his head towards them.

"I'm good, I wasn't passing out." He says.

Andrew lets out a heavy sigh. He reaches for his bottle, grabs it, and sits down on the table. Other people were watching them, but now that it seems to have calmed down they return to their conversations.

"Man you really gave us a scare." Keil is the first to say something after a minute. "What happened? Was it an act or something?"

Andrew is still breathing heavily. May and Sarah are now both with Lin while they are all looking at Andrew, awaiting an answer.

"I just felt an agonising sting in my heart."

[Agonising is probably the best word to use here.]

"I couldn't talk because of it, but after slamming the table it seemed to have disappeared."

"So, it's completely gone now, right?" Keil asks him.

"I think so, I don't feel any pain anymore." His breathing calms as he says that.

"Fuck, you worried me." May sounds angry and sad at the same time. Lin is nearly crying and sits down on a chair that she got from a classmate.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no it's not your fault." May seems to force herself to calm down. "You can't really help it either, but you don't know how frightening that was for bystanders."

"It looked a bit over dramatic to me." Keil adds.

Andrew looks at Keil. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't really have control over that movement. Sorry."

"Andrew stop apologising, it's not your fault." Lin says.

[I almost said sorry again.]

"Can you stand?" May asks, while holding a hand out. Andrew grabs her hand and stands up. "This is the second time this week, maybe you should go home and take a break from school." May proposes to Andrew.

"I can't and I don't need to." He answers. "The test week is getting closer, and I can quickly recover from these instances, just like Monday."

He lets go of May's hand, and puts the bottle in his bag. Sarah walks towards him and stops next to him.

"Are you going home?" She asks in a full sentence.

Andrew smiles. "No." He answers. "Chemistry comes first."

The bell rings and they proceed to their classes. Andrew and Sarah go to Chemistry, while Lin and May have Geography. Keil is already free and goes home. While he could've gone when the break started, he likes to hang out with his friends, so he stays for a bit.

Andrew and Sarah enter C17 for Chemistry. On the classroom door is a picture of a bottle of chlorine. It has probably hung there for years, as almost all the colours have faded. They sit down next to each other in the front, and unpack their bags. The class starts, but Andrew isn't paying much attention. The time passes in silence, for Andrew that is.

"Andrew." Unexpectedly, Sarah begins talking. Andrew is startled.

[She never begins conversations, let alone by saying my name.]

"Are you actually okay?" Sarah asks.

['Actually', I don't remember her making full sentences like that, using those words. It was like that during break too.]

"Yeah, I'm okay. It wasn't as bad as Monday, and I think I've had stings like these a few times before."

[I haven't.]

Sarah nods, but she doesn't return to her work. She stares at Andrew's book, as if she were reading it.

"If you can't, or don't want to go home, you can always come to me." Sarah says. She returns to her work without awaiting an answer from Andrew.

[Wait, what does she mean with that, it feels like there is some hidden meaning to it. No, don't overthink it, she just means she'll help me out if something like this happens again.]

"Well, thank you." And Andrew returns to his work. The class continues and Andrew is actually able to get some work done. He parts ways with Sarah and bikes home.

"Where's Andrew?" Keil asks Sarah.

"Home." She answers.

"He already went home? Without even saying goodbye to us?" May jumps in. "I would've wanted to say something to him, and maybe ride home together for a bit."

Sarah does a step back to tell them she doesn't know why he went home earlier.

"So you don't know." Keil says. "Well, I hope it hasn't gotten into his head."

"What do you mean?" Lin asks.

"Like..." Keil starts, but hasn't thought of a sentence yet. "Like, maybe, he thinks were mad at him or something, or like he thinks that we think it's his fault." He is unable to explain exactly what he meant, but it got through.

"I don't think Andrew thinks that way, I've known him for a while and he wouldn't just leave us under normal circumstances." May is sure about what she said, and on that note they stop the discussion and go home. Andrew is still cycling through the barren landscape, which looks like a scene out of a monochromic movie, which is further emphasised by the grey sky.

Andrew parks his bike and enters his house. His mother is sitting in the living room, watching winter sports like snowboarding and ice skating. His father and sister are still at work and Connor is upstairs making homework.

He walks into the living room and sits down next to his mother.

"How was your day sweetie?" His mother says in a lovely voice.

Shortly after saying that, she notices the grim look on his face.

"What happened?"

"It happened, kind of." Andrew tells her. "I didn't pass out, but I felt that painful sting again."

"We're going to doctor Mirad tomorrow." She decided. "This is the second time this week, I don't believe it's all 'okay' like he said last month."

"That's alright." He sits down next to her on the couch. "In the morning? I don't really want to skip school, but this is getting ever more important."

"I'm making an appointment right now, 10 a.m." His mother says as she stands up, and walks to the house phone. While she is making the appointment, Andrew tells her that he's going upstairs. In his room Andrew puts his bag down and drops himself on his bed.

[Why does it have to be me. If a God existed he wouldn't do this to me. He wouldn't make my life end so soon.]

He lets out a sigh and puts his head in the pillow.

[What am I even thinking? My life isn't ending at all, not for the next seventy something years, maybe more.]

He gets up, and sits down at his desk. He grabs some books from his bag and starts doing homework.

[I guess I'll do some work for tomorrow then. I should also tell them about the appointment.]

He gets his phone, sends a message to a group chat with Keil, May, Sarah and Lin, and goes back to work. Shortly after dinner, he goes to bed. The day has been tiring, and Andrew hopes for good news from doctor Mirad.