Lili grips the piano, coughing. Bloody notes splatter her half-composed score.

She must finish. Barely twenty-four, her life a semi-quaver in history’s melody, but her music will live forever.

Breathless, she plays.

Death hesitates, his skeletal hand on her shoulder, ivory fingers tapping along, obsessed with knowing how it ends.

Lucy Mac writes short stories, flash fiction, and microfiction. She won the New Writers 100-word competition 2025 and has been longlisted for New York Midnight, Bath Flash Fiction, Yeovil Literary Prize, and Not Quite Write. Find her on Instagram/Bluesky at @lucymacwrites.