Contest is by 0PicturePerfect0
Word count: 224

What do you think of when I say zero? Do you think of nothingness? Empty? Vacant?

Do you know what the number zero really means? Do you want to know what the number zero means?

I knew what the number zero meant. It was the most important number for me.

Think of a calendar, the days are numbered, but have you ever saw a calendar with the number zero listed anywhere? No. But maybe, in my case, there was a reason for that.

To me, zero meant the day my life would cease to exist. It was the day I no longer could wake up and do the things I love. It was the day my sickness took my precious time, right from underneath me. It was the day I was going to die.

I had 26 days to live. The doctor gave me a "calendar" of the days I had left, but technically it wasn't a calendar. There was one number that stood out from the rest.

The bright red zero at the bottom.

It wasn't until the day I was diagnosed had I realized the reason no one wanted to count zero. It meant things people didn't want to think about, didn't want to understand.

Yet for me, I have to accept Counting Zero.

~KennyandEmo~