Forty-Eight Hours

Jane is a bright and witty woman, who’s enjoying her mid twenties. She had no immediate plans to date or get married. She figured she had the rest of her life to embark on that journey. For now, she enjoyed her quiet time alone. As she strolled down the beach, watching the sunrise, she felt calm. The beach was her happy place. She loved the sounds of the ocean splashing against the sand. With her eyes closed, she stretched her arms out wide to embrace the warm sunlight beaming on her body. She lived for moments like this. That is until the wind blew a crumpled piece of paper right in the middle of her face. She spit out the sand that blew in her mouth from the paper. When she reached to remove the paper, she noticed there was message written on it. The message read: 

Jane, 

Enjoy the sunshine and other wonders of the earth. You will not have such luxuries very soon. Forty-eight hours from now will be your time of death. I suggest you live, love and experience all that you can before your time is up. 

That’s it? That’s all the note said? Jane thought to herself. There’s no name, no signature, no reasoning on the note. Jane thought it was a joke. After all, it had to be a joke right? Who sent this note? How did it get directed to her simply by the wind? 

Jane looked around to see if anyone was around who could answer these questions. It was still early. There were not to many people on the beach this time of day. All she could see was a lady walking her dog and an older couple walking together. They were all far from her and couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the note. Was someone playing a cruel joke on her? Was her life really over in 48 hours? She’d never get married or finish her masters degree. She wanted her time alone but had she known her life was almost over, she would’ve dated more. Why didn’t she party more or have more fun? She’s always wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Was this it for her? A million questions and thoughts ran through Jane’s mind. She didn’t realized she was still standing in the exact same spot as before. Paralyzed with fear. She couldn’t go forward or backward. Jane had no idea what to do next. 

Finally , she allowed her feet to move. She walked toward the pier. People were starting to gather on the beach and the pier was getting crowded. 

“I have to find who sent this note. Someone must know something.” 

Jane walked through the gathering of people on the pier. Taking extra time to look as many people in the eyes as she could. Hoping to catch an indication of someone looking her way. If she can find the person who sent the note maybe she can confirm if it’s true or not. She walked slowly without getting a single glimpse from anyone. Jane started getting desperate. She was no longer waiting for someone to notice her confusion. Instead, she was boldly asking random people if they had sent the note. 

Jane asked a man sitting on the bench reading the newspaper, “Was it you? Did you send this to me?” The man looked puzzled and walked away. A bike rider past her and she yelled the same question to him. A mother nursing her baby quickly gathered her things and ran away from Jane. A policeman was in the vicinity ,but Jane feared he wouldn’t believe her. He would probably think she was crazy. Especially considering the way she harassing people in the area. Jane had no friends. She preferred to be alone, and felt that other people brought a lot of unnecessary drama. A feeling that now she wished she hadn’t felt. She wished she had more friends to call on during times like these. She sat on a nearby bench, put her hands over face and cried. She felt defeated, confused, and angry. She then wondered if she would prefer to know when she was going to die or to not know. At this point, knowing was the worst. Then she thought, why not do as much as she could before time ran out. Without even thinking, she pulled out her cellphone and booked a flight to Egypt. Dead or alive she was going to see the pyramids. She didn’t even bother to go home and pack a bag. What’s the point? Considering she’d be dead in 48 hours anyway. Less stuff the mortician has to discard. She headed to airport. Even though her flight was not for another two hours. 

Once boarded, Jane immediately started enjoying all the pleasures of her first class flight. Since this may be her last flight, she opted to upgrade. It was well worth it. She sipped on glass after glass of champagne. Replaying the events of the day. Finally the champagne kicked in and she fell asleep. 

Jane woke up to the flight attendant on the intercom asking everyone to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts. They were landing soon in Egypt. She looked in the overhead bin for her bags, then remembered that she opted not to bring any. The plane landed and everyone slowly got off the plane. Jane took a cab to the nearest hotel, hoping they had an available room. As luck would have it, another guest just canceled. Jane was able to book the room. She sat on the bed and marveled at how nice the room was. The decor, lighting and the views were amazing. She wished she had someone there with her to share these last moments with. The quiet time that she’d loved before is now too quiet and too loud at the same time. 

She ran downstairs to get some shorts and a t-shirt from the hotel gift shop. She wanted to shower and needed some fresh clothes. Afterwards, she joined a tour bus leaving the hotel going to the pyramids. Once they arrived, she stared in amazement. The pyramids were breathtaking. She wanted to know everything and asked the tour guide a million questions. The tour guide was a young handsome guy. Probably about her age. He’d smile at her whenever she asked a question. Jane ignored that part. After all, she may not even be alive after tomorrow. She didn’t see the need to find love at this point. As the tour continued, the wind started to blow. Sand blew in her eyes, making it hard to see. Once the dust cleared and her vision returned, Jane noticed a note blew across the tour guides face. She snatched the note really quickly and it read: 

Jane, 

Enjoy the sunshine and other wonders of the earth. You will not have such luxuries very soon. Forty-eight hours from now will be your time of death. I suggest you live, love and experience all that you can before your time is up. 

Jane dropped the note in complete shock. When Tad, the tour guide, asked her if she was okay, she stood frozen. She didn’t answer at first. A few minutes later, she spoke. Jane explained to Tad that she got the same note in America yesterday. How could it have happened again here too. Tad laughed and told her that the notes were apart of a marketing project. A lot of notes were printed but the plane they were carried on had issues mid flight. The plan had to drop the cargo to prevent a plane crash. People have been finding the notes all over the place.

“So I’m not dying?” Jane asked. 

“I don’t know the answer to that question. But I can say that if you think you’re dying because of this note, then that’s probably not the case. Didn’t you Google any of this after it happened,” 

“Shit!” Jane yelled to herself. Googling the note was the one thing she didn’t think to do.

“Maybe the note was trying to tell you that life is short. You should live every day as if it’s your last. If I’m not mistaken, I think that was what the marketing project was about. The name Jane was used as a generic name to represent everyone. But it’s hilarious though that you thought this random note predicted your death.” 

The end.