New Year, New Person: New Number
January 1: Day 1 of L.C. Schäfer's A-Story-a-Day for 2024
844111289941501.241665-146.860133 is the number I've been given.
It is my number. It is shiny and new — never used before by anyone. It is the sum of my birth and death numbers.
For the day I was born: 51200109550729.951065-90.071533
- 51 for the year;
- 20 for the century;
- o1 for the month;
- 09 for the hour;
- 55 for the minute;
- 07 for the time zone;
- 29.951065 for the longitude; and
- 90.071533 for the latitude.
For day I will die: 33211019390771.2906-56.7886
- 33 for the year;
- 21 for the century;
- 10 for the month;
- 19 for the hour;
- 39 for the minute;
- 07 for the time zone;
- 71.2906 for the longitude; and
- 56.7886 for the latitude.
It's all in the numbers, my friend. Numbers are finite, and so shall I be. Numbers don't lie.
844111289941501.241665-146.860133 is a good number. In fact, an excellent number. I am very lucky to have it. Although I don't know for the life of me how I'm ever going to ever end up in that God-forsaken frozen wasteland.
The Aurora are spectacular, and so they shall be for me, celebrating both ends of my number. But polar bears are not especially accommodating when they're hungry, so I should avoid that place when the time comes. But I have lots of time to just visit, for now. (However, I should still consult my diary just to check those numbers one more time.)
About the Creator
Gerard DiLeo
Retired, not tired. Hippocampus, behave!
Make me rich! https://www.amazon.com/Gerard-DiLeo/e/B00JE6LL2W/
My substrack at https://substack.com/@drdileo
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More stories from Gerard DiLeo and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Chain of Fools
The poor thing was so very dead. She was Ms. Abigail Lawless, her real name. When she was alive, just recently, as it turns out, she used to always emphasize the trailing /z/ in "Ms." to fiercely emphasize that she wasn't married or, as she would point out, was no longer married.
By Gerard DiLeo2 years ago in Fiction
Comments (3)
And he bursts into 2024 with a stunner! I thought I'd read number 1 but I read number 2. My youngest constantly asks me if I want to live forever to which I state "No." But to know when I am going to die and where? I do not like that. I want that polar bear graphic on a birthday card. Any way to make that happen?
This was an interesting little read. Loved the preciseness of those numbers...there was a built-in terror to that. I think knowing the specifics of your death would haunt you. Well done on getting out the starting block with a very inventive little piece of fiction, Gerard! Loved it!
I'm so sorry Gerald, but it seems that I'm too dumb to understand your story 😅