525,600 Minutes

Prologue - 'Carpe Diem'

Day 1 - August 11th 2025

Have you ever had one of those moments in life, when everything just seems to stop?

When all noise seems to just fade and it feels like the oxygen has been sucked right out of your lungs? When time comes to an utter standstill?

Because that's what shock feels like.

A split second that changes your life forever.

******

I felt my heart plummet as I tried desperately to absorb the words I had just heard.

"I'm sorry Montana. You have a year to live."

That's how my doctor had said it - just as plainly as that. I couldn't digest what he was saying.

It was too utterly surreal.

As I absentmindedly combed my fingers through my wavy, pink locks, the ticking of the clock became deafeningly loud.

Ironic isn't it? That the clock was all I could hear, now that I, myself had became a ticking time bomb?

Perhaps this day was always going to be inevitable, I thought to myself in a bitter sombreness.

You see, as a cancer patient, I always knew my days were limited.

It's always just been a matter of time and the odd thing is: I'm not scared about it. I never have been. I mean, as melancholic as it sounds, we all die eventually. It doesn't matter how many advancements in medicine we make, we all have an expiration date. And now, thanks to recent technological breakthroughs, scientists and doctors are able to map exactly when that date will be.

Mine just so happens to be in exactly one year.

365 days.

525,600 minutes.

I was determined to make every one count.

You see, the way I saw things was that, I had two options:
1. Wallow in my own self pity for the rest of my days.
2. Live life as normally as possible.

I definitely preferred the latter option. Montana Winters was definitely a 'glass half-full' kind of girl. Why should anything have to change I thought to myself. In fact, why can't I live life even better than before and use this year to do everything I've always dreamed of?

A sudden fire ignited within me and for the first time in my life - I felt really alive.

What if it takes being told that you're dying, before you truly start living?

I let out a small smile, as I pledged to not let this news dictate the way I lived. I just had to live life to the full and seize the day I thought to myself.

'Carpe diem' as they say.

____________________________________________________________
Unedited - needs improvements and mistakes possible.

Author's notes
Thanks so much for reading. All the following chapters will be much longer, this was just to introduce the plot. Please don't forget to vote and comment any suggestions or thoughts you may have.

Also, this story contains upsetting topics, so I'll try to be as sensitive as possible.

I've completely re-written this prologue and I'm not sure if this is better or not, so please let me know your thoughts.

Skylar xo
Question of the chapter: thoughts so far??