Expiration Date | ✓

Four

Voice over

That night I dreamt something.
I've never had a dream before.
Could it have been real?

Mae woke up from the darkness into the harsh sunlight that made her turn over, burring her face into the pillow.

Suddenly everything came flooding back and she snapped her body up, breathing heavily.

Maybe I'm still in my dream?

She pinches herself then curses at the pain.

I feel real, I feel alive. This isn't right.

Why aren't I dead?

Why am I still here?

She looked at the ink on her arm, the date hasn't changed.
It's still the date of yesterday.

She turned on her phone, seeing the date of today, different to the one on her arm.

It's impossible. Completely and utterly impossible.

This can't happen.

Without thinking, She went online, to see if it was all real. For any kind of proof that she had expired.
Then Mae turns off her phone as quickly as possible once She realises she had made a mistake.

"Shit."

Now they will know.

She ran out to the kitchen to find her father, almost seeing a hint of a smile.
But She don't pay attention, instead Mae furiously asks questions that even he doesn't know the answers to.

This has never happened before.

Why am I alive? Why aren't I dead? I should be... what is happening!?"

"Before I can tell you anything," my father says, holding his hands on both of my shoulders trying to calm me down. "Did you go on any social media?"

"Y-yes, only for a second, it was an accident. I wanted to know if it was real." I say not wanting to make him angry.

"This isn't good."

"Why is this happening?" I repeat.

"They will be here any second."

"Who?" I say frightened.

Her father takes his hands off her shoulders, slowly standing up straight in worry as he walks past her to the front door.
He glances out onto the street, Mae stands and watches him, still confused.

"Dad, who?"
She pushes, sounding like the innocent girl she used to be. What's changed now, she wasn't innocent, she was frightened and she demanded to know answers that society should never ask.

He glanced back at her from the window.

"The government."