FicWad

Well, hello there. I wasn't expecting to see you anytime soon. It's not quite your time yet, now, is it? By my guess, you've still got at least, oh, say... but that'd be telling, wouldn't it? And I probably shouldn't say, should I? It might spoil everything if you knew how much time you had left.

Who am I? Didn't I say already? I didn't? Oh, gosh, where're my manners? Sorry about that. I'm Death. Death of the Endless.

Oh, come on; don't look at me like that. I can't stand it when people are afraid of me and look at me like I'm something awful. I did that, once upon a time. I used to scare people just by showing up. They thought it was bad luck or something, having Death at their party, or whatever. Just goes to show you how stupid some people can be, I guess. I expected better from you, though. I've heard such good things about you, after all.

Who've I heard from?

Have you ever known someone who died? Were you close to that person at all? Oh, your... Um. If it's any comfort, I'm sorry. I met them once, you know. If you don't mind me asking, were you there with them, at the end? Well, even if you weren't, I was.

I was with them.

I'm with everyone, when it's their turn to go.

Sometimes, people are happy to see me. They're the people who've lived a good life, usually, only as long or as short as it should've been, and now they're ready to move on. They've taken what life's given them, and they accept whatever comes their way. And now it just happens to be that it's time for them to go. Those sorts of people are always the easiest to deal with.

Not everyone's happy to see me, though. Like I said, some people are afraid of me. They try to run away or hide from me. Never works, though. I always catch up with them, in the end.

A lot of people are angry to see me, too. They'll rage and argue and plead. They'll say that they should've had more time, so why didn't they? They wonder, "How this can be, when I've still got so much left I wanted to do?" Some of these people try to make deals with me. Ever heard the story about the guy who plays chess with Death to try to make me go away and give him more time? Yeah, like that. Sometimes that helps; I like a good game as much as anyone. Doesn't usually work, though. When your time's up, your time's up and there's nothing you can do about it.

And some people just resign themselves to death. These sorts of people really get me down. I mean, they go through life pretty much bleah, just doing whatever, then their time comes, and they just sort of shrug and move on. Like it's just one more boring thing for them to do.

Listen, you guys don't really live very long, as it is, compared to stars or gods or other people. So that's all the more reason for you to really enjoy life while you've got it, and then make the best of it when it's over.

In the end, though, I guess it doesn't really matter to me how you lived, though, does it? I'm there for you after you die; I'm there for everyone, no matter what. We get a chance to chat a while, and so on. Some people think that after they've died, they get to see their life flash before their eyes. Those people are right... sort of. You do get to see your life before you die. It's called living, and after that's done, you move on, and whatever happens then is entirely up to you.

Hey, listen, I gotta get going, okay? Lots of stuff to do, people to see. You know how it is. It's been fun talking with you, though. Don't worry; I'll be back again someday, when it's your turn. We'll have another chat, and then... we'll see. But that won't happen for another... oh, but I already said I wouldn't tell you, didn't I? Oh well.

See you around, then.

Have a nice life.