Have
you have wondered what is to be on the edge? What is it to be literally one
step away from death? To have your whole life before you and decide that until
that very moment you did nothing that could carry any significance. It is the
biggest decision you have to make. And then it hits you. What had happened
means nothing; it is in the past. It doesn’t matter anymore.
You
can change everything and even if you fail, well, at least you tried. You can
accomplish anything; you just saw what really matters. You will twist your life
around and make this moment the one that will define your new life. Nothing
will bring you on the edge again because you now know that nothing if
permanent. Except that one step you were about to make over the edge.
So
walk back, turn around and never come back.
But
you slip. You lost your footing and now you’re falling. And boy, that’s a lot
to think of when you have to fall for twenty seconds. If it happens that you
manage to turn around and look at the place you fell from you may see me. But
that is not a thing you should wish for. Because it means that you will die.
It’s the end. If you had a chance of surviving the fall, but seeing me is the
proof and the seal that you’re on a one way trip.
That’s
because I am the angel of death; a modern Thanatos. Though to be precise I am
not “the angel” but rather one of
them. And do not try to imagine me as a human with white or black wings,
dressed in a robe. That’s actually very insulting toward us. What would you
feel like if I were to portray you as a pig? You may feel insulted. Then, what
would you think if I add wings. Funny, am I right? But you are still a pig. I
do not like being portrayed as a human.
But
for your sake it may be easier if you imagine me like a human. Your imagination
may fail if you have to hear something about a protagonist you can’t visualise.
So I’ll allow it. Think a little about what do you want the main character look
like? Should I be tall, well built, blond or black haired? Black hair, because
I am the angel of death? And wear trench coat? Whoa, that’s pretty badass!
Except that I won’t be doing any shooting. What do you think about wearing a
black suit? Let’s keep it classy.
Okay.
Enough with that! It is not important. Not even for the sake of the story.
So
I am an angel of death. My job was taking people lives. It was. Now is just a
hobby. It is something that I do out of pure boredom. You humans are doing a
great job killing each other without any help. Then why am I doing this? Well,
as I said, I am very bored. Not such a long time ago, achieving a certain
number of deaths was actually quite a problem. But now you are so many and it
is so easy to meet the quotas. If someone would have told me that I will have
time to spare millennia ago I would probably just have sent him ahead.
It
was such a hard process. We were told that we only had to kill a certain number
of people. Not too many, or we would remain jobless. So we had to be careful
when we chose those we should send away. I think you call it survival of the fittest. I guess you are
right in a way. Only that we were the ones taking them. Like a farmer that
chooses from two apples on a branch. He must cut one down so the other can grow
bigger.
Once
in a while we would start a war or a plague so that we could get a break. And
then we would take it from where we left it. But hey! You did very well. Look
where you are right now. You reached a point I would have never imagined you
would. I fear that will come a moment when meeting the quotas will become a job
again. It may be even harder than before. But at the moment I am not worried.
Famine, war, greed are still doing well.
So,
let me tell you about my hobby! Obviously I can’t simply go sky jumping or
growing bonsai. It’s still related to death. But now the focus is on the way in
which it is done. Not the quantity, but the quality. What? The quality of death
is a touchy matter for you? And what would you do? Are you going to stop listening?
Okay. You do that! How sensible we are. You know, your turn will be coming too.
No one lives forever. Not even me, except that I haven’t discovered what kills
me yet. Maybe this boredom will do it.
Mais revenons à nos
moutons! Yes. I know French. Shame on
you if you don’t! As I said my hobby is bringing a certain twist to my job. Not
in an obscene way. I do it with little intervention by changing one little
detail. In the example above I simply made his feet slip. I agree. It is not
something very complicated. But this is just something I did between jobs. I
have seen him standing there and I don’t like missing an opportunity.
I must confess. I have this one
addiction. I love to see look in their eyes when they see me just before they
die. I told you that I couldn't imagine that you would reach this point as
humans. That’s because we can’t see the future. So it is as much of a surprise
for us as well because we do not know what you see in that moment. Well, it’s
my addiction but it has nothing to do with my hobby.
Now that you had a paragraph of time
to think about my hobby you may think that is not such a big deal. I mean
imagine a heart surgeon doing an open cord intervention. A less than a
millimetre mistake and the patient will die. But that is not really much of an
achievement. I mean, hell, the man is with his chest open. Obviously it doesn’t
take much more for him to die.
I prefer to take a healthy man, maybe
at the peak of his existence, and by changing one little insignificant detail I
would make him suitable for a date with the last lady. It is not easy. I fail
way too often. But it is expected as I choose only the ones that have only a
small change to die. If I succeed I see always the same kind of reactions: “It was his fate!”, “A tragedy” or “Bad luck!” That is the absurdity of
life and death. If I fail, I leave him alone. I won’t intervene in his life
again and let him die of old age. Would you take this chance? It is a small
chance of death against a long life. I guess you probably would take it.
I am not the only one with such hobby.
I met one angel one, let’s name him Greg. I have no reason to hide his real
name, but I don’t know how to pronounce it, less so write it, so you can
understand it. He was certainly an odd one. He did his job by letting other
people live or what he liked to call No
good deed goes unpunished. Maybe his most notable example was when he
spared a certain soldier from another, during World War One. He made him look
like he was wounded and the one who had him in sights got merciful and let the
second leave the war alive. What followed probably put us all on break. Even
Greg did not expect that result. Since then is trying to replicate the result,
but with only minor successes.
Then there is Drew. This guy has no
sense of finesse. I guess I could call him a sadistic bastard. He told me that
his favourite method for doing his job (I would call it otherwise but in his
case would be a lack of respect) is keeping the victim in front of otherwise
avoidable death. Like one time he bragged for keeping someone at the bottom of
a pool despite the fact that one was a good swimmer. No one could explain his
death. Or in another situation he would keep someone on the train tracks until
the train hit him.
He was truly a sadistic bastard. But
one thing remains from my discussion with him. Apparently when he was holding
these people before their deaths they were able to see him. I really wonder how
we look through your eyes. I would certainly like to have a discussion with one
of you. He was also pretty interested in this. But I guess no one is in the
mood for a talk when impeding death is coming his way.
Oh! And another thing! When he held
that guy on the tracks, the guy was able to interact with him, like in trying
to push away from Drew. I wonder if you would be able to kill us this way. I
bet you would like to try it. Although there is one little grandfather paradox:
You can interact with us only when death is unavoidable.
Well I guess this is all for tonight.
It is almost dawn and I most go. I still have something to do, something
related with my job. So sleep well. I will return in the evening and I will
tell you more. And maybe you will also talk to me. Sleep well!
