Of Life and Death

three

My alarm sounds in my bedroom, signaling six am. I force myself off my couch only to fall back into my nest. I don't bother to try again. I pick up my phone and call in sick. I get yelled at for missing of course, but also get told to get well soon.

Instead of waitressing, the day will be spent reaping. I text Mackenzie real quick to tell her not to expect me at the coffee shop and duck into my closet for a change of clothes. I put on a long white dress and check my list. Peter Ross is first. I teleport to him and find him in a busy mall food court.

He's chowing down on a salad. Then he clutches his chest. I move closer so I can reap him when the time is right. People being to notice him and rush over to help. He falls to the ground. I bend down beside him and press my middle and index finger tips against his forehead. He dies and his soul leaves his body.

" What happened?" He says from beside me. I turn to face the man." You died." I tell him, not at all sugarcoating." No that can't be right. I was working on my health. I was exercising and eating better." He argues." You died. That is the truth. Now you need to move on." I insist

" Move on to where?" He asks." That is for the Council to decide." I inform him. The white door appears to my right and I lead him towards it. I open it and push him through." Look for the little girl. She'll take you to where you need to be." I order and close the door behind him. I leave, walking past people who have no idea I'm here.

I move on to the next one, a woman named Maria Aguilar. I find her and make my way to her. She lives in a two story house. I pass through the door and hear a woman screaming." I said no! I refuse to let my daughter date a boy like that!" She screams.

" He's not that bad, and he cares about me, unlike you!" A girl screams back." I care about you. That's why I'm trying to keep you away from him. He'll only hurt you. Please just listen to me. I know how teenage boys can be." The woman replies." I hate you! You're ruining my life! Just let me live!" The girl yells at her and storms away. A door upstairs slams.

I head to the kitchen where the screaming originated from. A woman stands in the room with a hand covering her face. She sighs and starts  cooking. She grabs a large pot and fills it with water. As she moves it from the sink to the stove a little water sloshes out.

She sighs again and sets the pot on the stove before turning to clean up the water. As she steps forward to grab a towel, her foot slips. She hits her head on the edge of the counter. Her hand hits a plate and it falls with her. Blood leaks from the gash on her head.

I lean down and place two fingers on her forehead." Oh my gosh. That's me." A voice whispers. I face the woman." Yes, you died." I state. She looks at me with tears in her eyes." What about my daughter? Her father was never around. I'm the only one she has."

" Your daughter will be fine. She will move on just as you must." I assure her." Move on how? And why did I die?" The woman asks." I don't know why you died, I just know you did. And you will move on to the Council. From there you will go to either Heaven or Hell." I explain.

The woman's daughter marches down the stairs. She heads into the kitchen and sees a plate shard that skidded away from the others. She has yet to see her mom." Are you just not going to clean this up?" She sighs. The girl moves around the counter to get to the mess and sees her mom.

" Mom! Are you okay? Mom! Wake up!" The girl cries. She shakes her mother and begs her to wake up. The girls checks for a pulse, sobbing when she can't find one. I have to hold back tears as the girls mother cries with her." Mom, I'm so sorry. I never meant what I said. I don't hate you. I love you. Just come back." The girl sobs.

" Oh baby, I love you too. I know you didn't mean it. But I can't come back." The woman tells her daughter through tears. I lay a hand on her shoulder." It's time. You can't stay much longer. I'm sorry." I tell her. She gets up from kneeling by her daughter and allows me to guide her to the white door.

" Find the little girl. She'll take you to where you need to be." I tell her and close the door behind her. I leave the house just as the girl calls 911. I look at the next name on my list. Trevor Baker. I track him down and teleport to the nearby park where he is.

I see him right away. A ten year old boy running around the park with his friends. Some part of me demands I let him live while another points out that someone else will die in his place. One of his friends throws a ball and it flies into the grassy area across the street. Trevor volunteers to retrieve it.

He jogs to the road. His mom looks up and sees her son by the road." Trevor! Don't cross the street!" She shouts to him. He ignores her and dashes across the street to the ball. He safely makes it to the other side and grabs the ball. He looks both ways and starts running back.

" Trevor!" His mom screams as a black pick up speeds towards him. Brakes squeal, the rubber leaving black marks on the asphalt. The truck doesn't stop in time and Trevor gets hit. He smashes into the ground, his head smacking against the pavement.

" Trevor!" His mom wails and runs towards her son. The driver of the truck climbs out of the vehicle and checks on the boy. I move in as well, with completely different motives. I touch two fingers on the boy's forehead. I watch the boy beside me to see how he will react.

" Mom! Mom! Listen to me!" He screams." She can't hear you Trevor." I tell him. He whirls around to face me." Who are you? How do you know me? What's going on?" He demands." I'm the Grim Reaper. You died. And now you need to move on." I tell him. He glares at me." Why did you kill me?" He accuses." I didn't kill you. I just reaped your soul." I explain.

" Why didn't you let me live?" He demands to know." Because if I let you live someone else would have died that wasn't meant to." I tell him. Kids usually have a harder time understanding that. I don't know why though." You're a monster!" He screams at me before running away. He runs towards the white door, opens it, the slams it as he leaves for the Council.

I move away from the crowd that has developed. I can still hear the mom crying for her lost child. No other sound brings such heavy sadness to my heart. I sit on a nearby bench and try to work up the nerve to reap another soul.

A man sits down beside me on the bench. I don't look up and assume he is normal until he begins to speak to me when I should be invisible to all humans." Sad isn't it. It's such a shame you have to do that to people." He says without looking at me. I jump up and glare at the man.

" Leave me alone. It's your fault I have to do this. You're the one who makes the list." I spit. He looks at me." But how would the world be without death?" He says." But you don't have to make me kill children." I argue. He dips his head in acknowledgement." I suppose, but the world works as it must. I simply indulge it." He tells me.

" No you're just sick. Now leave me alone and let me work." I growl." I told you all those years ago that I didn't want us to work on bad terms." He continues." And I told you that we always would." I point out. He sighs and looks at the ground." Grim, don't do this. We should get along. This job isn't easy for either of us." He says​ tiredly.

" It's not hard for you. You have no emotion. It's wouldn't kill you to feel once in awhile!" I screech at him." No but it just might drive me mad, just as it's doing to you." He says." The only thing driving me mad is you. Now leave. I don't wish to speak with you anymore." I say in a low voice. He stands up and gives me a nod.

" Goodbye. I hope we cross paths again." He says and walks away." I hope I never see you again, Life." I say to his back. I head back to my apartment, done with in person reaping. All because of some stupid man with black hair and black eyes that still thinks it's cool to dress in all black.

If only people knew the truth. I may kill people but I'm not the one who marks them for death and decides how they die. The say death is the monster but life is the one that takes everything from them. Only a reaper knows the truth, and it drives them to insanity. Maybe it's best that people think the way they do. I'd hate to see any insane because they knew how the world really was.