99 Bottles
Jimmy was counting down to the destruction of the world, and he was on 99. He had started more than twenty years ago, at 6,593. Whenever he saw something bad happen on the television mounted in the corner, or an orderly didn’t treat him with respect, he announced the newer, lower number. His psychiatrist Dr. Lee believed in the power of the mind, and was certain that Jimmy would kill himself once he counted down to zero. Dr. Lee shared the theory with Jimmy, because it still might not be too late to break the psychosis. “That does make sense,” Jimmy admitted, “but it’s not true. We’ll all die, not just me.” What was the countdown about? “Bad things happen when realities die. There were 6,593 realities, and they’ve died one by one. Nuclear winter, famine, asteroid, earthquake, plague, war. When one dies, a bad thing happens in all the remaining realities.” Dr. Lee told him that Jimmy’s parents had consented to putting Jimmy in a locked private room for the next few weeks, so he wouldn’t disturb the other residents with his countdown. Lee looked to Jimmy for a response. “Ninety-eight,” Jimmy replied.