As sung by Death

The ragged shirt I wore danced in the wind, though I felt nothing on my skin. I stared around the burning empty clearing. Ruins decorated the field. A once proud tower now reduced to a heaping pile of scorched concrete. Desolation screamed in every corner, every crevice; but the devastation could not hold me gaze. My attention was turned forward to a woman who stood in black.

Her entire body was covered in a fluid silky black material that appeared to be constantly flowing, like water made into cloth. I couldn’t tell her figure because even though she was still, her body seemed to be in dancing on spot; or maybe my eyes couldn’t focus on her. She was robed from head to toe, covered completely save for her eyes. Her eyes.  It was like staring at the full moon in the dead of night. Round, rich and beautiful. They held mystery, allure and danger. One glance was enough to tell me who she was.

“Am I dead?” I whispered in a voice softer than non-existent breeze.

She seemed to deliberating on whether or not to answer. She cocked her head to the side and seemed to size me up, looking at me from top to bottom. Her eyes her sly, calculating.

“No” she purred.

Her voice was like music; Violins singing a melody that would wreak havoc on any heart.

“But you will be” she continued.

There was no threat in her sentence. No malice. It was a fact. I inhaled sharply at her comment but felt no pull of air. My lungs were empty. I stared down at my body and realised that I was burning. No, not burning. Burned. My skin was ragged and bleeding, flesh and bone exposed. Blisters and purple bruises blossomed on me. The effect was actually quite artistic, if not somewhat macabre. Despite the chaos that was my being, I felt nothing.

“I’m dying” I said, feeling the gravity of the words as they held new meaning to me.

I couldn’t remember how I got in this state, or my name for that matter. I had no past, nor would it seem a future. Nothing held importance but the now.

“Who are you?” I asked, willing my voice more strength. The answer was on the tip of my tongue. I knew exactly who she was, but fear forced me to feign ignorance.

She stared at me with a shrewd expression. Her eyes twinkling as she looked on. She was waiting for me to answer.

“Death”

Neither of us said the word, but I knew it to be true. Had I gone insane? Was this really happening. Nothing made sense, yet I didn’t seem to care. I knew why she was here and that was all that mattered.

“You know” she sung in her voice, as if she was responding to my thoughts.

“A deal” I said curtly, losing all my fear. I knew now what she was here for, and that after we were done I would be dead. There was no point in fretting over the inevitable.

“I wonder” Death said, as she moved fluidly to the side, her body seemed to be made of the same watery black material. “What would you surrender to return back to the living?”

“Return?”    

“Walk among life once more” Death explained with a soft murmur. Her words rolled of her like honey.

I pictured it then, but I knew why I was dead…or dying.

“No.”

“No?”

Her word seemed to linger in the air. Sweet and seductive. Every fibre of my being screamed to protest, but I had to hold fast.

“No” I repeated, forcing out the word with conviction.

“How noble” Death teased, her eyes scorching with both danger and allure. “What if then, you could save another?”

“You soul is mine!” Death explained coldly. I felt a chill that had nothing to do with weather. “But your body cannot follow”

I didn’t get where she was going with this.

“How far does your nobility extend? What if I could lessen your…ordeal…on the other side? For a trade.”

“What would I be trading?” I asked hesitantly. What left did I have to offer?

“Your body is just a house for your soul, but it needn’t be that specific.”

My brain was finally clicking into place. “You want to put another soul in my body?” The whole idea seemed pointless.

“Do not try to fathom death.” She said in a voice barely louder than a murmur, but it rung with the solid clarity of thunder.

“ A father of four died in the same explosion that took you” Death explained “But his time can be extended if you allow it”

“No”

“An orphan on a field trip” She continued like she hadn’t heard my answer “ Her life cut short by cruelty…or saved by compassion”

“No” I repeated, the word felt wrong in my mouth.

“A brother!” Death said with a flash, the sky seemed to mirror her excitement. I hadn’t noticed it before but now that I did I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Black heavy clouds bled into the red sky. It looked like the gold of a sunrise but angrier, more vengeful.

“A brother” Death repeated “Whose only crime was to have the good intention to surprise a loved one on their birthday”

My still heart leapt to my throat.

“Picture a man being called into work on a weekend; His birthday no less. Frustrated and angry, his brother decides to surprise him at work. But behind the scenes, death was bubbling to the surface. Who could honestly say what it was? A faulty gas line? A flash of lighting? A terrorist? In that moment, hundreds died”

The scene was very easy to picture. I could still hear the phone ringing. I could still feel the resentment as I trudged my way to work. The flash of light still burned my eyes. The taste of ash and blood still filled my mouth. All of it was so fresh, so vivid.

“Why are you doing this?” I croaked; my voice hoarse with pain I would never feel.

“His body was ruined beyond recognition, but yours is still so full of life” Death said, ignoring my question. “He can walk back into life if you allow it.”

“All he needs is your yes” Death said in a hiss. The words ran through me like electricity.

My brain felt numb with stress, but no pain followed. It was odd to have so many emotions running through me, without my body to feel them. My heart should’ve been pounding with such ferocity that it threatened to explode out of my chest, yet it was as still a rock.

I could picture him; Fragile, human and so full of life. Wave after wave of grief rocked my body to the core. It pained me that I would never get the time to mourn over him; but maybe, I could offer him the courtesy that was denied to me.

I stared into Death; watching the black fire that was her eyes. Her body so fluid and ever shifting, yet perfectly still.  Was all of this true?

“You said you would lessen my ordeal?” I asked, remembering her proposition. “How?”

Suddenly her face was serene. All the malice that it once held was gone. There was no beauty, no allure and no danger. All emotion was erased; save for one, tranquillity.

“Peace of mind”

Her answer was wordless; but I heard it echo all around me.

Knowing that my brother would be saved; that he would get to live again. The thought was beyond comfort. It was a bliss. Whatever I had to endure on the other side, I felt that I would be able to bear it.

My lips parted and I forced the air out, making sure that I articulated the word perfectly so no mistake could be made.

“No”

Thunder and lightning broke the sky. The earth exploded with a deafening roar. The winds screamed and howled with an unnatural fury.

Death stood there in the midst of the chaos; her face still perfectly serene. The juxtaposition was frightening.

“Why?” Death asked softly, but we both already knew the answer.

“How could I face myself knowing that I robbed my brother of a deed so selfless…If the tables were turned; I wouldn’t be grateful for what he did, I would be heartbroken; living in a world where meaning lost all gravity.”

I listened to myself make the speech. All around me the world seemed to quiet down; giving me the silence to think.

“Do you think he would see me as selfless…or selfish?” I asked, wondering more to myself than to Death.

Death walked forward. Her body was more graceful, more fluid in motion. She held out her arms and pulled me into a hug. Her embrace was warm and light; like the one my mother used to give me before going to work.

“You can ask him yourself”