A bright light blinded her as she opened her eyes, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted, a white sky greeted her, void of detail. there were no light sources no sun nor moon yet everything was so bright, the air filled with the sound of a gentle creaking of wood and splashing of water, at that moment Alex realized she was laying on her back, turning her head to the edge of the old wooden boat, she was at sea as it seems, lifting her head she gazed upon a sea of grey, where waves seemed darker and darker, she stared at this world she was in devoid of colour, another splash of water caught her attention, she turned her eyes to the tall figure slowly paddling their movement slow and gentle, first terrified she couldn’t move her body yet the figure who was double her size didn’t give much attention to her, thinking to her self ‘this must be a dream, right? ‘ as she couldn’t make any sense of her situation, she stared at her companion, he? She? Alex had no idea what to even call them, a black veil hung over their figure, and almost no details were visible even though the veil was slightly transparent,
Alex stood up shaking still getting used to the rocking of the boat slowly made her way to the dark figure, sensing her movement the figure turned around, Alex stood petrified as she saw what hid behind that veil, darkness seemed to emit from under the fabric she saw bones wrapped in cloth gently moving along the body as if a small breeze just passed by,
They had no legs yet could stand their eyes were nothing but an empty darkness but she knew they were looking directly at her, the figure seemed to not have a body at first yet the fabric moved as if it was following one
The figure sensing her fear spoke though it had no mouth ‘ You are early ‘ a male voice echoed, he sounded calm, gentle, and caring somehow, Alex remembered her old grandpa as he used to say the same thing to her,
Still stunned she stuttered ‘w-who are you’.
The boatman echoed again ‘Sit you might fall’
Again in a quiet tone as he turned around and continued to paddle.
Alex sat down and began to think, somehow she wasn’t scared of the giant being, he seemed harmless in a way, so she gazed at the endless sea and waited not that she had any other option.
An island slowly appeared behind the horizon
The boat drifting slowly to shore Alex spoke again ‘ Where are we going ‘.
‘visiting an old man ‘ spoke the figure
Farmer
As they reached the shoreline it slowly faded to a grass-filled field, the night sky black again and filled with stars, the figures left the boat and started walking towards the small cabin uphill
Alex didn’t seem very surprised at the sudden shift in her surroundings, she still couldn’t understand what was happening and just accepted the weirdness of it,
She follows her dark companions hoping to find answers.
Reaching the cabin the door was open, it was quite a small cabin ao she was amused seeing the boatman bend his head trying to get in
Inside on a rocking chair sat an old man with a white beard and grey hair the room was dark only lit by the moonlight from the window, the boatman seemed to reach into his cloak to retrieve something
He pulled out a small bag tied by twine and opened it
His bony fingers still covered by cloth took out a small glass marble from the bag
He slowly approached the old man, hearing the old wood floor creak the man opened his eyes, he looked the boatman up and down, and took a deep breath, a small smile drew on his face his eyes somber as if he was looking at an old friend ‘ so it’s time ‘ he said quietly
‘Yes’ replied the boatman, he doesn’t really say much, Alex thought to herself as she watched from the other side of the room, just before she was staring at herself in a mirror, her hazel eyes glistening in the moonlight,
Her hair puffy and untidy but that was not her concern, she noticed her body fading slightly at her outline as if her eyes were unfocusing ever so slightly,
Now with her attention on the old man, he reached out his hand to the boatman
From his finger, a sort of steam started flowing being trapped in the glass marble still in the hands of the boatman, as if a light fog filled the room white or slightly grey
Slowly it all flew in a vortex to the marble
As the last of the fog faded the man still in his chair closed his eyes again and sat still, too still maybe, Alex concerned, approached the man. She put her hand on his chest,
She waited but nothing..
The man was indeed gone
Alex’s eyes widened in a moment of anger she picked up a vase on the table next to the man and threw it at the boatman
The vase passed through him like he wasn’t there
The sound of it breaking filling the silent room
’ What the hell are you ‘ she screamed
’ You already know ‘ the boatman explained
Alex did know who he was.
A large man wearing a dark cloak covered in cloth
Peddling a boat in a grey sea and white sky
Why death himself stood in front of her, she didn’t want to believe it when she woke up in that boat, she tried to avoid it. But she was dead, just like the old man, but something was keeping her “alive” if she can even be called that
Her previous outlash wasn’t of concern for the old man
For Alex hated death, she hated what took so much away from her.
Now that she was certain of who the boatman was, death, the reaper, Charon, he did have many names but it was all the same to her,
She ran out the cabin in a random direction
She didn’t care where it took her but she didn’t want to spend a second with death again, she didn’t fear death yet she ran, after a couple of minutes she started feeling dizzy, and collapsed on the cold grass with eyes closing against all her efforts.
Alex awoke to a familiar white sky, with a look of anger, hatred, she looked at death paddling gently
Alex thought to herself, she couldn’t attack him, she couldn’t run from him, she was stuck with what she hated most, what she despised most,
She sat straight and stared at death, watching him, even with his large body and terrifying reputation he still hadn’t done anything to alarm her, she was unharmed
And to her, the old man seemed content with his fate
But she still watched, unblinking.
Cut short
A new island slowly emerged from the horizon
As they docked, again a dark alleyway had formed where there was sand just a moment ago. Death got out again and started walking,
Alex hesitant, followed, ‘if I can’t escape I won’t let him out of my sight’ she thought to herself.
When they reached the end of the alleyway, Alex could hear the slightest of cries, a small animal, a cat maybe a dog she thought
The alleyway was filled with rubble and trash
Barely lit by a small light from a second-floor window
Death silent as ever knelt down and picked up a large stone
Under which cried a small kitten, the kitten extremely hurn cried in feint meows dragging her body with her arms only, scared, yet she couldn’t move
Death reached his and to the small kitten, he began to gently pet her, the cloth hanging from his hand covering her,
The kitten now calm yet still in pain as evident by her continuing cries crawled into his hand, death picked her up under his cloak, the small kitten rubbed her head on his cloak.
Fog filled the air, this time white as snow, with it the kitten’s cries lessened.
With his other hand death pulled out the same bag. Fetching another marble and raising it in front of him,
The fog started collecting inside the marble.
And again with the last of the fog, the kitten made her last meow this time a lot more comfortably.
Alex stood in shock at what she had witnessed,
This wasn’t the death she knew, somehow it was gentle, caring
That kitten might have died but she did oh so peacefully, losing her pain and agony and finally being put to rest, her life cut short, but her suffering cut as well…
Death still holding the cat in one hand and a pure white marble in the other hand he turned around and started walking.
Alex still in shock didn’t move as death moved past her leaving the ally.
Who was death, was it the horrid killer that took what she loved, or was it the gentle boatman she was stuck with?
Unable to answer herself she left the ally looking down and thinking…
As she lifted her face she saw death kneeling upon a patch of dirt, she moved closer to see a small collar on the dirt.
She understood what death had done with the poor kitten’s body. Death stood up and placed the white marble in the bag.
He looked into Alex’s eyes then turned around and started walking back to the boat, Alex picked a small flower from a nearby bush and placed it on the small grave Death had dug a moment ago, she reflected on what had happened so far, and questioned her distaste for her companion,
maybe her hate was in the wrong place, for this was so different to what she had believed her entire life.
’ fear the reaper who comes at night ‘ a saying passed down in her village but the reaper walking down the street in front of her, so different…
she followed Death to his boat this time more relaxed she sat down as the world turned to white and grey again.
Endless shades
amid their voyage Alex noticed the bag Death had taken out placed on the wooden bench beside him, perhaps he had forgotten to hide it,
Alex snuck behind him trying to not make a noise.
her curiosity hidden before she wanted to know what these marbles meant, was it souls? she thought.
carefully she took the bag without death noticing and opened it, inside she saw infinity, marbles she couldn’t even count spread endlessly inside the bag.
every marble was unique, all in a different shade of grey. she recognized the white marble from the small kitten it was strikingly white more than any other marble ‘So pure’ she whispered, the light grey marble from the old man wasn’t as recognizable lost in the endless shades of marbles.
it was then that she looked up only to see death staring at her, she flinched and dropped the bag scattering a couple marbles on the boat floor.
she panicked and backed away, scared she was thinking she had done something terrible.
death dropped his laid his paddle calmly on the floor and got up, picking up the bag he started collecting the marbles one by one always taking a moment to look at each marble before returning it to his bag.
alex curled into a ball her knees between her hands. death moved closer to her picking up his marbles. standing right in front of her he leaned over. his shadow casting over her Alex hugged her knees tightly and hid her face between her thighs and waited.
but nothing happened, she slowly pulled her head back and opened her eyes, death was still looking over her, but this time she noticed his hand pointing at something beside her, it was a marble that had rolled next to her foot, she picked it up and shakingly lifted her hand giving it to the reaper. he took it between two of his fingers and examined it for a while again putting it in his bag. this time he hid the bag in his cloak, picked up his paddle, and started rowing gently.
The prisoner
Alex had fallen asleep during her time on the boat. she woke up to steel bars, she got up and scanned her environment, and she figured she was in a prison cell. death was nowhere to be found and Alex was left clueless about where to go, she noticed the cell door was open so she walked out and started roaming the prison. it was rather empty with no prisoners to be seen and abnormally clean, the moonlight shined through the small windows in each cell, she kept walking for a couple of minutes until she spotted something in the distance, a dark fog was growing in a faraway cell, she picked up her pace to reach the cell, reaching it the fog kept growing, this fog was dark so dark it ate up any moonlight that had slightly lit the area before, Alex found herself in complete darkness and he couldn’t see what was happening inside the cell, the fog as always vortexed into the marble, this time the marble was a deep black, so dark it made death look bright, in that room the moonlight shining on his cloak death stood unmoving on the floor behind him lay a prisoner with a large scar on his face, time hadn’t been kind to him or maybe it was deserved after all …
alex saw how dark that marble was, she saw the content of Death’s bag of marbles, almost all of them in similar shades of grey, maybe death was a judge more than a killer, the darker your marble the more corrupt you had been, the old man lived an unassuming life in his cabin near his farm, he seemed to have a kind heart, his marble a light grey, of course, he had his faults no one is perfect after all but he was what you would describe a good person. the kitten, that poor kitten only a couple weeks old had gone through hell, so pure, she hadn’t even lived enough to see corruption her life cut short, her marble a pure glistening white.
what thing stood in front of her she couldn’t call human, that darkness could only come from the most corrupt the most evil, she was glad death arrived before her, for she didn’t want to meet that disgusting prisoner. death placed the marble into his bag and walked out the cell in his usual quiet self.
alex followed along until they reached the boat.
Hospital
the grey sea flowed as usual, Alex dangling her hand from the boat played with the monochrome water.
this time their trip was short, they reached the sandy shore rather quickly the air around them filled with the smell of cleaners, above a similar bright light to the white sky they sailed across, a hospital room surrounded Alex no one else in that room but her and death, Alex took a walk around the room checking out the medical equipment, she looked into a mirror in the corner of the room, this time she wore a hospital gown, her eyes tired and missing their flare, her hair still puffy.
her reflection was a lot more convincing than the one she saw in the old man’s cabin.
she sat on the bed covered in white sheets, death turned to look at her and took a step forward.
‘I thought I had more time ‘ Alex said while laughing quietly.
’ it was up to you ‘ Death replied.
’ how so?’ Alex questioned.
’ you weren’t afraid of death ‘ Death stated.
’ no ‘ Alex said puzzled.
’ then, what changed in your time with me? ‘ he asked
Alex thought to herself, she hated death at first but now she didn’t think he was so bad.
‘I don’t hate you ?’ she said in an unconvinced manner.
’ you accepted death ‘ he replied.
’ you asked for me not out of fear but out of desperation, you weren’t scared of death but you were terrified of living, you asked for me early way before your time. ‘
’ oh … ‘ Alex replied
‘I did it didn’t I’ she said with a tear running across her face.
death stepped closer.
’ yes,’ he answered bluntly.
Alex smiled, tears filling her eyes.
‘I don’t answer every call ‘ Death explained
’ but you changed ‘
’ you can’t take back what you did -‘
’ but I accept it ‘ she cut him off
’ yes ‘ he replied
’ I’m ready ‘ she exclaimed
death nodded and took out his bag, he took out a clear marble as fog filled the room.
’ thank you ‘ Alex said with a smile.
the fog dissipated around the marble.
death examined the grey marble left in his hand, it was similar to most marbles but he always remembered, death always remembered every marble, every soul he held in his bag.
he will especially remember this one.
for his travels are always lonely, it was nice to have a companion for once.
Even if it was harder to say goodbye.