The Reaper's Assistant

*1*

    "I keep having these nightmares," I began, "I sitting in a field, surrounded by all sorts of flowers. Pretty flowers that all glisten with early morning dew. I can see every detail. Like the shadow and contrast of everything." I pause and figet with the charm on the chord braclet around my wrist. My brain feels fuzzy with sleep. I grasped the energy drink in my other hand and sipped it lightly.
 
   "And how does it continue?" The young blonde behind the desk asked, jotting notes on her clipboard.

    I sighed and grunted taking another sip of my drink. "I'm not repeating ot again miss. I tell you the same thing every week and I dispise repeating myself. I don't need to tell you I don't want to be here, you already know."

   I stood, grabbing my bag. "Now if you'll please write my pass back, I'll be going. I don't need to fall behind again because of this."  

   The young woman sighed and scribbled oit a neat hall pass back to my homeroom class, handing it me while I stood in the open door.

   I left and went down the hall to the front office that led out to the bus loop and main plaza of the school. I chugged the last of my drink and threw the can in the recycling bin while I dug in my bag for another. I had recently found myself craving the 16oz drinks during my school days and now drank up to 4 every day.

   I guess most would call me a caffiene junky, but i don't really care. I'm happy aside from therapy interupting my daily school routine. The sessions were knocking me off my rythmn and it was starting to bother me, what with my "therapist's" indifference to my current predicament.

  I've been having strange dreams every so often and now almost every night. It was making me lose sleep, the images of decay. I was having trouble staying awake even with caffiene to help out.

  I shook myself out of my thoughts and adjusted my bag around my shoulders. I made my way through the grass and across the walkway towards the main plaza. My homeroom was on the other side of campus, across the plaza and through the lunch areas.

   I kept up a steady pace, opening the doors infront of me that led past the library building and into the plaza.

   Because my homeroom was across the plaza and I had to come in early for therapy I decided quickly to stop at the vemding machines and get some breakfast snacks before the school opened and the first busses let out their floods of students.

  My wallet was light in my fingertipa as I aproached the machines and swiped my card. I scanned the items and chose a quick but filling rice treat that would keep me full till I could get lunch. 11th grade, 17 and already paying for everything myself. What a world we live in.

   I took my snack and proceeded to my homeroom class where my teacher was waiting for my gentle knocking. My footsteps bounced off the freshly painted white walls, decorated with bobcats, the school's mascot. Micky they said his name was. Pointless I always reply. I opened my breakfast and took slow bites as to not upset my stomach.

   The door to the art studio was closed but the lights inside were on. I knocked on the door and listened to the footsteps behind the door and then it opened.

   I smiled at the older woman who smiled at me and opened the door for me. "Morning Mrs. G." I followed her inside the studio as I finshed my breakfast and threw away the wrapper.

   Yes, today would be okay.