Eve of Reaping

Will

Today is Eve's Birthday

Will gives his father a list of three names scribbled in crayon; Will, Linda, and Eve. It's meant to remind him that after he finishes his day at work, he needs to pick Will and Linda up from school to go to Eve's party.

He works a dead-end job as a bartender. His employer is starting to lose money, and Will's father, nicknamed "The Reaper" for his ever-stoic and distant expression, is next in line to be laid off. He feels good that Will's birthday is in January and his income didn't take a hit until June, but inside he's paranoid. Something had to be wrong, but he didn't think it was his mind.

The Reaper has a costume of a thick black cloak with an oversized hood and a scythe. He used to use a plastic scythe, but ever since his home got broken into, he traded it out for a real one that he could use to stop a thief. To make sure Will doesn't accidentally knock it over and hurt himself, he keeps the costume on top of his dresser. The scythe blade even has a plastic cover, just in case Will knocked the scythe to the ground.

That day, after his mother takes him to school, he becomes sick at lunch time. He is brought back home, and unlike what she normally does when Will is sick, his mother lets him rest in her room... his parents' room.

Being a curious child, he notices the cloak and scythe up there for the first time. He's seen his dad wear the costume on halloween - he wanted to try it. He could pretend to be the scary Grim Reaper in all of those stories he'd read, and this thought made him, for a moment, forget his sickness.

He jumped on his parents' bed, higher and higher until he could finally get high enough to touch the cloak — boun-ce, boun-ce, boun-ce, boun-ce — and a few jumps later, he grabbed at the cloak, pulling it down and knocking the scythe onto the edge of the dresser.

Will, giggling, put the cloak on. It was a bit heavy and it felt like a blanket, but it was hard to see out of. He felt a bit like a ghost, masked by his father's cloak. In one of the sleeves, he found what felt like some kind of plastic beak. It didn't have a string, so it couldn't be a mask, but it had to serve some kind of purpose. It was long, though, and as he tried to push it out of the sleeve it got caught up. Will tried to shove it the rest of the way out, but this caused him to tumble off the bed, landing with a thud.

Pained, Will reeled back—back into his father's dresser.

Will's mother called to ask if he was okay.

The scythe fell off the dresser, giving Will a quick death.

His mother fainted at the sight as she entered to check on him.

-----

The Reaper gets a call from his wife, who's all up in tears, "He's dead," She sobs, "He's dead..."

A bit of red wine splashes onto his jacket. This riles him up even more. Bad timing.

"Please, come home... come home," She begs.

He hangs up, saying nothing. He pulls out his list, with a red stain covering Will's name.

His mind races. He's lost everything.

"Blame. There must be blame. This can't be an accident. I kept the cover on. He killed himself," The Reaper thinks, hyperventilating, "What did I do to make him do this?"

He believes in the Afterlife, in heaven. He worries that Will might get lonely. His mind quickly shifts from the tragedy of an accident to a murderous plot.

"Linda, Eve... they must be Will's friends. He would play with them more if they were his age, I bet," He thinks on the way home, "I let him down here, somehow. I don't want to fail him again."

He pulls up to the driveway, stepping around his wife who is being hopelessly comforted by Linda and Eve's parents.

Will's father removes the scythe from his son's body, suddenly determined.

"Maybe they can still be friends in the Afterlife..."