" Make a wish!” she says, gesturing toward the candles. I stare into the glowing flecks of fire and wish: I wish that I find something distracting enough to occupy my mind with thoughts unrelated to the futility of my existence, or that I die in the least disruptive way possible for my family. I blow out the candles. “Now don’t tell us!” my mom says. “Or it won’t come true! "

― Emily R. Austin , Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead