ONE

3079 Words
"It's the end of the road, sir" I said as I stopped behind the soul of a policeman who died doing his duty. He's been a good man all through his life, except for one thing. He abandoned his child even if it had not yet been born. He was young at that time and afraid of responsibility. He left his known to be "girlfriend" pregnant and he never came back to check or take them. I must say that no mortal is perfect. Even the kindest man can't get away with sins. "So, is it time already?" "Yes, sir. You need to go to the afterlife and move on" "B-but..." I saw him stepping back and hesitating. Well, this is not new to me. All of the humans that I've encountered don't want to go to the afterlife. They still want to live, or wander. "Why, sir?" "I'm not yet ready" I heard this line again. I think I've heard it a million times already. All through the period that I have to deal with souls and ferry them to the afterlife, I've heard those lines with a million versions. I've been the grim reaper for a thousand years now, and it's somewhat tiring. I have guided human souls for a very long time but I haven't even heard a "Thank you" from them or appreciate my efforts. They are undoubtedly afraid to see me in particular. I'm not even looking like a skeleton walking around here! I adapt their human figure so that they won't be scared at me but just by saying my name, they automatically move away. I don't understand why they see me as dark and merciless, while all I do is to help them cross this long road to go to the other side which is afterlife. Maybe because I always wear black clothes? Some humans also wear all black, why am I still an exemption? "But sir, you need to be ready." I said to him lowering my voice while I'm holding my black hat. "I...want to see my child. I want to say sorry for abandoning her" This is what I don't understand with mortals, they will be wanting to right their mistakes, wanting to ask forgiveness to someone , or wanting to do something that they've never done while they are still living. I don't really understand, why just now? They have a lot of seconds, hours, days, or years to live and they didn't get a chance to do that there? Now that they're gone already, they wanted to extend their life just to do that? "I'm sorry sir, but you already took your one wish which is to see your mom for the last time" "Can't I have another one?" "I'm very sorry, we only take one wish for granted" "You really are merciless" WHAT? AFTER ALL THAT I HAVE DONE I'M MERCILESS? REALLY HUMANS? I GRANT YOUR LAST WISH AND BECAUSE I DIDN'T GRANT THE OTHER ONE I'M MERCILESS ALREADY?! "I'm just doing my duty and following the rules. One last wish for a soul before they go to the afterlife" "Fine." That is the last word I heard from him before he ran forward and disappeared. Nice, another frustrated soul who went to the afterlife. "*sigh* What a day" I said as I turned around and started walking back that long empty road. I brush off my black coat and wear the black hat that I am holding earlier. "Hi, how are you my friend" and suddenly, I heard a very familiar feminine voice. This spectral entity pops up beside me. "Doing the same thing, Nemesis" Nemesis, my very old but young looking friend. She measures the happiness and unhappiness of human beings. For her, happiness should not be too frequent or too excessive. If this happened, she could bring about losses and suffering. Well, I can say that she has a very tough duty compared to mine. I don't even know how she does it but she's really good at fulfilling her job. "Hmmm, let me guess. The soul is frustrated because of you?" "Shut up, Nemesis" Here we go again, she's going to tease me. She's really good at annoying me. "You should bring them peace of mind before they go, you slip the chance again? You always make them scared, sad, or frustrated" "Nemesis stop" Oh God, why did you bring me a friend like her? Can I also wish for myself? To change a friend? "Tsk, tsk, oh boy. When are you going to learn?" "Nemesis I said st--" I didn't even finish my sentence because I was surprised to see a small envelope pop out in front of my eyes. It's another letter from above. "Oohh, your work is not yet done. Open the letter, let's see whose soul are you going to take" I grab the envelope and open it. I pull out the paper inside it only to see the name of the soul that I am going to guide. "Mara...Delavega" "Oh, it's her" "Wait, you know her?" "Of course, duh. Good luck! I still have work to be done" And with that, Nemesis left me right away. She's gone by the wind, poof, I'm alone again. I still want to ask her about this 'Mara' but, never mind. I just need to go fetch this soul. *snap* And I'm here on Earth already. With one snap of my fingers I can go wherever I want to immediately. I looked around and I saw a lot of people piling up around this old house. They are all walking past me. They can't see me. In here, I can be invisible to humans. But not with the souls, they can see me of course. I can hear the sound of a police siren. I think something hideous happened here. I started walking towards a pile of people and saw a bloody body lying on the ground. She's what they are looking at. I don't even understand why humans like to watch and look at a dead body even if they don't know who it is. I am astonished by their curiosity. The body is definitely dead, and based on what I see, she fell from the terrace of this old house. I think this is Mara, she's the one that I need to take. "Where's your soul?" I said as I turned around to find it. That body has no soul already, so definitely it's wandering somewhere around here. I walked away from the crowd and saw a woman wearing the same clothes as the dead body of Mara. She’s standing in front of a police mobile, somehow looking at the person inside. I saw a kid walk straight through her. She’s not definitely a human being, she is the soul that I’m looking for. “Mara, that’s you right?” I went near her and she calmly turned her head at me. I can’t explain what she’s feeling right now based on the emotion on her face. It’s the first time that I cannot figure out the feeling of the soul that I am going to take. She’s now looking neat, not bloody. I can now fully see her appearance. She looks young. She has short wavy hair, and a beautiful face. It’s just that, she’s dead already. She was not able to at least bear a child, be a mom, or even reach her dreams. All humans have their dreams, and as I look at her she seems to be the one who’s just starting to strive for her dreams to come true. Now it’s gone. “Uhm… I know you’re terrified but… I’m gonn--” What.. Wait , I was surprised. She hugged me. Why.. Why did she do that? It is the first time so I don’t know what to do! I just pat her back to show that I don’t feel awkward about it, but the truth is I really feel awkward about it. For me being the grim reaper for a thousand years, it’s my first time to be hugged by someone, by a lady soul. I am used to humans being afraid, being far from me, or avoiding me and now, what’s this. What a very strange human she is. When she removed her hug to me, she looked at me straight into my eyes. “You’re here to take me, right?” I just don’t know what to do! Why is she looking at me like that? After hugging me, she can still look at me straight in the face like that? really? “Y-yes, yes Mara.” Why did I stutter? What’s happening to me? I’m the grim reaper, why do I look and sound so stupid right now? I tried to compose myself and act so confident like what I really was. “I’m the grim reaper. I’m gonna take your soul to the afterlife” “What’s your name?*smiles*” Did she hear me? I’m gonna take her to the afterlife. Why isn’t she afraid? Now she’s asking me my name? This woman is really very peculiar. I can’t even explain how peculiar she is. “Wh-what? Again? I’m the grim reaper” “I mean...what’s your name? Your true name” My eyes widened. She’s asking for my true name. It’s been a very long time since I used my true name. I’m known by many as the grim reaper and that’s all. But now this girl wants to know my true identity and it seems like she’s not afraid of me! “Thanatos” or also known as death, yes, that’s my name. I’m the death. I’m the end of life. “That’s nice! Hello Thanatos, let’s be friends before I go to the afterlife” It gives me chills when she calls me by my name. We’re not even close but she’s trying to be close to me. I don’t even know who she is, I only know her by her name. She hung her arms to my arms and I felt really awkward. I never expected this from her. What is her agenda? I held her hand and took it away from me. I saw her smile go away when I did that. “I’m sorry, Thanatos. I just want to have a friend before I go.” “Why? Don’t you have friends while you’re still living?” With that, it took her a few seconds of silence. What’s wrong with my question? A woman like her usually has friends. “I don’t” I saw her looking at the ground right now as she said that. Oh great, I’m really good at making souls sad even at their last moments. I never expected that she has no friends! I never intend to make her sad. “Anyways, Thanatos uhm… do you have friends?” Okay what? I’M CONFUSED. She looks fine so quickly. She’s good at converting and hiding her emotions. There really is something with this woman that I can’t even explain. “I have one,” I said as I scratched the back of my head. I’m referring to Nemesis, my oh so annoying friend. “Great! I have one too, it’s you!” “Who said that I’m your friend?” “Don’t you want me to be your friend?” This woman is really very odd. She’s also good at making this conversation agree with her. I’m the one who’s asking her but now, I am the one being asked! It seems like I can’t win this. I feel different around her. The way she talks to me, she seems very comfortable and not afraid. She even wanted me to be her friend! Is she crazy? “Follow me” Instead of answering her question, I just ignore it and walk. She immediately follows me behind. “You didn’t answer my question” I stopped from walking and I looked at her. “Just shut your mouth before I get annoyed” I now saw her face turning red. Her lips formed a curve. My eyes widened when I saw tears crawling out of her eyes! Great Thanatos, you made her cry! I made a soul cry! Now what should I do? It should not be like this. I awkwardly start to pat her back. I bit my lips thinking of ways to stop her from crying. In my entire life, it’s my first time to encounter a soul like her. “Fine, let’s be friends. Just don’t cry” I might regret this one later on but I have to do this. A soul should feel better before they go. If not it will be hard for them to go to the afterlife. “REALLY?!THANK YOU” Once again… she hugged me. Her feelings and emotions can be changed easily. I don’t like that she’s hugging me so I move away immediately and untangle her arms on my body. She’s being too close to me which is unusual. No one dared to be close to me as much as her. I’m just thankful that she’s not crying anymore, at least she is not upset. I can say that she looks like a child trapped inside the body of a lady. Maybe if I gave her a lollipop she’ll jump all over this place because of happiness. I can imagine how stupid she would be. “Why are you smiling, Thanatos? Are you happy to be my friend?” I’M SMILING? I DIDN’T KNOW THAT I’M SMILING! “What? No. Will you please don’t look at me like that and move far far away” She’s too close to me and her face is almost touching my face. What’s the matter with her? She’s so weird and acting so crazy. “I like the color of your hair, grey. You know what? I also wanted to dye my hair but my step father didn’t allow me. I want my hair to be pink” now she’s being very talkative. My goodness, I think it’ll be a very tiring day for me. “I also like your eyes, that’s hazel right? I also wanted to try wearing contact lenses but my step father didn’t want me to. I want to have green eyes” “I didn’t dye my hair or even wear contact lenses, okay? It’s all natural because I am not a human. I’m a spectral entity so please can you just shut your mouth just for a while?!” And I was being carried away. I raised my voice to her. Oh no, I hope she doesn’t cry again. Why am I being so ill tempered around her? Well it’s her fault, she’s being so naive and unpredictable. I don’t know what to do when she’s doing something that I never expected or something that no one else does to me before. She just looked at me and she didn’t speak for a few seconds. I can see that she was shocked by my actions. She scratched her head and sighed a few times. “I’m sorry, Thanatos. I didn’t mean to annoy you. It’s my first time to have a friend and… I can’t help but to talk. I’m actually glad because of you. At least before I go, I experienced to have a friend” When she told me that, I didn't even know what to respond. So it is really her first time to have a friend. How pathetic is her life for not having any friends around her? I cleared my throat. “Let’s go” I said as if I didn’t hear what she said. I’ll just try to convert the conversation because I don’t really know how to sympathize. I snapped my fingers. In a flash, we are now in a different place. I brought her here to a small abandoned cafe. “Wow! I didn’t know you have the powers to do that” She looks so amazed at what I did. I am really not surprised if I gave her a lollipop and she’ll jump because of joy. Oh no I remembered it again. I try my best not to smile in front of her. She might think of a lot of different reasons why I’m smiling. “By the way, what are we doing here?” “Before we take the long road to the afterlife, I just want to inform you that all souls are given a privilege to have their one and final wish to be granted.” I started, before I sat in one of the rusty stools of this cafe. “You can wish for anything, except for bringing you back again to life, it’s a no no.” “Oh, so there’s a privilege like that? I’m glad to know” And now I saw her smiling widely. Most of the souls really smile when they hear that from me. Most of the time I’m saying it when they are not looking at me, or when I’m just behind them or far from them because all of them are afraid of me. Afraid to see, afraid to touch, afraid to get close to me. Mara is very different. Maybe she really is crazy. “Good. That’s the real purpose why there’s such privilege like that, to at least make all the souls feel better before they go. Now tell me, what is your wish?” “My wish…” She thinks deeply. She became serious and not as childish as before. She even sat on the stool in front of me while touching her chin. I give her time to think. It’s better to think about it thoroughly because it is just one and only wish and it should not be wasted. I wonder what her wish could be? I guess maybe she wants to see one of her loved ones or go to the places that she cherishes the most for the last time. Most of the souls wish that. After a couple of minutes, she stood up and walked straight, close to me. It seems like she already knows her wish. “What is your wish Mara?” I’m shocked when she kneeled in front of me and touched both of my hands. What’s happening? What is she doing?! “Marry me, Thanatos”
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