[ WP ] Everyone dies on their birthday , but no one knows at which age it will occur .

I awoke at precisely midnight on instinct alone and began fumbling around my night stand for the light switch on my lamp. Then, my brain abruptly remembered why I was roused before the nightmare my subconscious had scheduled for my R.E.M. sleep enjoyment began. I might possibly die today... 
 
 I rapidly clambered out of my bed and flicked on the room lights. As I stood there blinking furiously and adjusting to the unforgiving new glare, my thoughts gravitated towards the announcement made so many years ago... 
 
 They were ethereal, seemingly omnipotent spheres of luminescence that suddenly appeared in every sky around the world. They proceeded to boom their message into the collective consciousnesses of all of Earth's population. `` Everyone will now expire on the same day as they were birthed to greater facilitate the unavoidable destiny of the universe, for better or for worse. However, your species is not deemed progressed enough to be informed of the exact year you shall perish. That is all.'' 
 
 They disappeared in an instant and the globe erupted into chaos the next. Almost a million people died the first day, 5 times the daily average. Markets all over the world plummeted. Public services came screeching to a halt and government almost followed suite. Everyone in and out of the media had a different theory to explain what it all meant. 
 
 However, it all came to a standstill on the second day when we realized what the all-powerful beings had announced was true. Everyone was dying on their birthday, with no exceptions. Even in the face of near death experiences, people would survive if it meant the laws of physics had to bend to their breaking point. As it were, war & strife suddenly did n't make as much sense in this new world. 
 
 Fifteen years later, violent crime is at almost zero and volatile areas across the world have steadily become more and more stable. Outside of the hit that the insurance market took initially, the global economy has reached a new all time high almost every single day. The mortality rate has remained unchanged and life expectancy is progressing as predicted so people find no reason to worry that they will die young on account of this bizarre situation. 
 
 Not me... 
 
 As I finally grew accustomed to the light in my bedroom and got my bearings down, I abandoned my brief ruminations and promptly had my first anxiety attack of the day. I sprinted to my drawers and pulled out a bag. As I stood there gasping for air through a brown lunch bag, a million panicked thoughts streamed through my mind like an unstoppable river. `` What if this is my year? What if someone lives longer because I die young?'' On some birthdays, I even feel like running outside and going on a killing spree purely to see the writhing shock and the eventual horrifying acceptance on their faces. Who would expect to get massacred on their birthday in what is practically a post-crime society? 
 
 Finally, my ragged breath evened out and I began to soothe myself to maintain composure. I banished all of the dark musings my other half brought forth and I thought of the actual likelihood that I would die today. I told myself that with a little extra precaution, I was just as safe as I was on any other day. After a stern look to myself in the mirror and a firm slap to my own face, I got ready for work and prepared to go in 5 hours early to kill time. 
 
 As I left my building, I heard the oddest noise a little farther down the street towards the train station. It was a loud popping sound reminiscent of fireworks. It was strange to me because the Fourth was a few weeks ago. As I rationalized how some drunk revelers might be using up their remaining stores at 3am it hit me. 
 
 The pain was immediate despite my astonishment as the bullet cleared out a cavity in my chest previously occupied by one of my lungs. As I slid to the pavement heaving blood and once again choking for air, a disheveled man ran up out of the corner of my quickly narrowing periphery. His wild eyes rolled around their sockets as he somehow grimaced and smiled at the same time. He finally looked at me long enough to triumphantly cackle, `` It's MY birthday today!'' 
 
 I painfully turned up to him and stammered with my last breath, `` M-m-m-ine too.'' His face went blank for a moment before he grinned and pointed his pistol straight at my head. It rested there for a second before he threw his head to the sky and began shrieking with laughter again as he bolted off. As I started slipping into the darkness of the all encompassing void, all I could think was that my breathing was slowing back down and maybe that meant everything would be alright... 
 

