The Counting-Downers

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Authors: A. J. Compton

BOOK: The Counting-Downers
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The Counting-Downers

Copyright © 2015 A.J. Compton www.ajcompton.com

 

Cover Design by Clarise Tan at CT Cover Creations Editing by Peggy Frese at Hot Tree Editing Formatting by JT Formatting

ISBN: 978-0-9933309-1-9

 

All rights reserved.

 

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

 

 

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Part One

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Part Two

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Epilogue

A Note from the Author

About the Author

Acknowledgements

 

 

IN 11 DAYS, 4 hours, 23 minutes, and 17 seconds, my father, the most important man in my life, is going to die.

He doesn’t know how much time he has left.

But I do.

My mother, his childhood sweetheart, who still has 36 years, 8 months, 12 days, 16 hours, 19 minutes, and 4 seconds left on earth, knows it, too.

And so will my four-year-old brother, Oscar, who’ll be alive for the next 69 years, 5 months, 41 days, 22 hours, 8 minutes, and 12 seconds.

Though he’s too young to understand the cursed gift of the knowledge he will one day possess.

For him, numbers are not yet associated with feelings. His blissful ignorance protects him from grasping what he’s about to lose.

I am not so lucky. Or maybe I am.

For in just under a fortnight, I am all too aware that we will lose the foundation of our family.

The glue will evaporate, the strength will crumble, the backbone will snap, and the heartbeat will fall silent.

We live in a beautiful house, in a beautiful corner of the world. But it is not our home.

Our home
is
my father, and I don’t know what we will do, or who we will be, without him.

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