The Friendly Face of Death

The job never ends and yet I always seem to have an abundance of time. People die quite literally constantly and yet I can always give them the time they need, whether that time is minutes, hours or even days. It rarely takes longer than that for people to finally make their choice. It's always kind of fun to see how they all take the final shared experience of all mankind.

"Who are you?! How did you get in my house?!" the widowed Mrs. Vivian Michaels yells at me as her spirit rises from her bed.

"Same way I get into most everyone's house, the door." I say playfully as I give her the best smile I can to try and ease this whole process for her.

"Don't get clever with me, girlie. Do you have any idea who I am?" she growls as she storms towards me.

I keep smiling because I know she's not a bad person deep down, she just has a temper. Everyone reacts to the event and to my presence in different ways and anger is just as valid as anything else. I actually quite prefer it compared to the people who become overwhelmed in grief.

"Vivian Michaels, age 81 at your time of death. Married twice, widowed once, divorced once. No children but lots of friends." I say to her calmly as I point behind her at the body she left behind.

Her glare dies the moment she spots her body and, like most do, she whips her head back and forth between her body and me. I can't help the small chuckle at the display. I don't mean to be mean but it does remind me of cartoons and I adore cartoons. She tries to go back to her body but her spirit can't touch it. She isn't material anymore and doesn't keep trying after the second time her hands pass through.

"No..." she moans out quietly as she stumbles backwards, "No this can't be. I wasn't ready!"

"Very few people are when the time comes, Mrs. Michaels." I tell her sympathetically as I offer my hand.

"But why?" she cries out as tears stream from her eyes.

"It's just the way of things." I explain, happy as she takes my offered hand to get back up.

"So... if I'm dead, does that make you...?" she asks as she tries to wipe the endless stream of tears away.

"Disappointed I'm not a freakishly tall cartoon skeleton in a robe?" I joke with a big grin.

She gives me a loud laugh and I watch her spirits lift until her soul literally grows young again. In just a moment, she looks like the same woman she was back in her mid-40s. She hasn't noticed yet and I don't plan on telling her. The return of youth is one of the few upsides of the great trauma and it always seems to help them a little when they get to see it for themselves.

"So what happens now?" she asks as her tears finally begin to subside.

"Now we talk, walk around and then, whenever you're ready, you make a choice." I tell her softly as I lead her out of the room where she died.

"A choice?" she wonders, obviously confused.

"A choice." I softly confirm with a nod of my head, "You can move on to whatever comes next immediately, if you'd like, or you can choose to linger around here for a while as a spirit. Some spirits choose to wander the Earth for ages but everyone decides to move on eventually. If you're curious, the record holder for wandering as a spirit is held by Jules Verne."

"The author?" Vivian asks.

"Yep. He really wanted to see what the future he couldn't live to see had in store. Didn't finally move on until after he watched the moon landing. I still remember that so vividly. He was crying, talking about how beautiful it was compared to the story he wrote and how happy he was that something he wrote about had become a reality. I actually cried along with him for a while, his words were so beautiful." I share as I shed a few happy, nostalgic tears.

"It's surprising to see that Death can cry." she says softly with a slight smile on her face.

"Humanity's rubbed off on me in a lot of wonderful ways." I tell her as we leave her home and head down the street towards a park.

"That's... oddly comforting, actually."

Those are the last words she says for a while as we walk side-by-side down the road. She looks around at all her neighbors and I can practically hear her thoughts as she wonders how they'll react to her passing. We see a few other spirits who decided to linger behind after their death, looking over loved ones or just enjoying the world without the needs of survival tearing them away.

Of course, I know each and every one of them. I was there for them the same way I'm helping Vivian right now. I learned everything there was to know about them the moment they enter my realm, the stopgap between the mortal realm and the realms hereafter. Not that I have any idea what the realms hereafter are, I only know that they exist and that it's where everyone goes when they leave my plane.

"Lady Death?" Vivian tentatively calls out.

"Just Dee, please. I've never really been big on formality. It's why I hated the medieval periods so much. Nobody understood that everyone's equal once life is over. Peasants would grovel and nobles would demand carriages and servitude. It sucked. So hard." I tell her with a loud groan.

She giggles at my little show of drama and I join her for a chuckle after a moment.

"Okay, Dee it is then." she confirms gently, "So can I ask what comes after this? After my choice, I mean."

"You may most certainly ask but I don't know the answer. I have knowledge of Earth and of my own realm, that's it." I explain.

"So you don't know if I'm going to heaven or...?" she worriedly wonders.

"You're a good person, Vivian, temper or no temper. Try to have faith in that fact, alright?" I assure her as best I can.

She nods at me but her unease is all too easy to see. Even in death, humans can't help but be afraid of the unknown and the afterlife is the final great mystery. One that's supposed to be unknowable but given all they've done over the centuries, it wouldn't surprise me at all if humanity one day found the answer. I hope they do. It would certainly make my job much easier.

"Are you this kind and patient with everyone who dies?" Vivian asks after a few more moments of silence.

"Not at all. There have been truly evil people throughout history and I've had to be there for their deaths as well. I was a lot less cordial and a lot more blunt in their cases. I just wanted to be rid of them." I explain with a scowl.

It's not the whole truth but I don't want to scare her. Especially now that we've finally arrived at the park. I see her face light up, half in sadness and half in joy as she sees the park's sign. I know every one of the bittersweet memories she has here but those memories aren't all that have been waiting for her here.

"I didn't think I'd ever come back to this place. Why didn't I realize this was where you were leading me?" she wonders as she looks around at the living people who wander around.

"I'm very good at keeping people preoccupied." I answer playfully.

"So, taking me anywhere specific here?" she asks, half curious and half afraid.

"I'm keeping a promise I made quite a few years ago. So yes, we're heading somewhere specific."

Vivian opens her mouth to ask another question but the words die on her tongue as we finally arrive. The place is unremarkable on its own, just a worn-out wooden bench in a park that was full of them, but it's the most important place in the world to Vivian. It's where she had her final date with her last spouse. It's where her heart shattered into a million pieces and now, where those pieces finally knit themselves back together.

"Pearl..." Vivian whispers reverently as she stares with wide, teary eyes at the woman waiting for us on the bench.

"Vivian!" Vivian's late wife states happily as her own tears stream gently down her face.

I wipe a few of my own joyful tears away as I watch Vivian launch towards the love of her life like a rocket. Pearl catches her easily and the two spin around happily laughing for a moment before they kiss in that extremely passionate way only reunited lovers can. Moments like this have always been my favorite part of my chosen profession.

"I've been waiting so long for you, baby. Why'd you have to be so healthy?" Pearl teases when they finally break apart.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." Vivian replies as she sobs and heaves.

"I've been right here, Viv." Pearl says as she gently pats her wife's back.

"Like I said, some spirits linger. Pearl's choice was to wait for you. She's been keeping an eye on you until your spark of life finally started to fade. At that point, she asked me to promise to bring you here and just sat at the bench until I could." I explain.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" Vivian says as both women come over and crush me in a hug.

"You're welcome." I reply as I pat both their backs, "So, have you made a choice yet?"

Vivian looks at me confused for a moment before she remembers what I told her when she first died. She looks at Pearl, almost as if asking for permission.

"Baby, we're finally together again. If you're ready to go, then let's go. If you want to stick around for a while longer, I'm happy to make a long date out of it." Pearl says softly as she plants another gentle kiss on her wife.

"No. I don't need anything else here. Too many memories, too much pain." Vivian says to Pearl before she turns back to me, "We can stay together when we move on, right?"

"Absolutely. Life may not be fair but death is nothing but fair. Whatever happens next, you two get to stay together." I say happily.

They look at each other in silent conversation for a few moments, nod, share one more kiss and turn to me together.

"I think we're ready. Thank you for everything." Vivian says to me with a soft smile on her face.

"You're welcome. Have a good afterlife, you two. Okay?" I say as I wave goodbye to them.

They both look surprised as they slowly fade into a soft light together and vanish to whatever happens next. I take a deep breath, satisfied as the form I used to interact with them ceases to exist along with them.

It's time for my next appointment.