Mixpov

Why must we die? This question echoed in my mind occasionally throughout my life: during idle moments, while exercising, or thinking of someone deceased. I even remember the first time I realized I would die, sitting on the church bench next to my mother while the priest finished the Sunday sermon. I have to admit that my initial reaction then was panic, but I was very young, and the mere idea of crossing a dark door into the «unknown» terrified me at the time.

As I grew older, during these moments of leisure, I tried to answer the question instead of just asking it. It seemed like a better approach; when you’re old, the idea of an end becomes more tangible.

One day, a bit tired from walking through a park on a beautiful April afternoon, I decided to sit on a bench facing a lake. A duck stayed near the shore, and two swans crossed in the distance. In the background, there was a café shaped like a large greenhouse, which looked quite full for the time and day. Absorbed in the scene, these thoughts returned to me.

«Beautiful afternoon,» I tried to disguise it, but the startle was so great that my glasses got dislodged. «Oh, I’m sorry, did I scare you?» said the young woman sitting next to me. She had a petite frame and long hair reaching halfway down her back, very light brown. Her face was angular but small, with large, light eyes—not green or blue, but like a caramel sheen, perhaps due to the afternoon sun. She wore a white T-shirt, a long beige wool coat open, jeans, and worn black sneakers.

«Just a little, dear, no worries, I just didn’t hear you coming,» I lied, as I was about to fall off the bench. «I apologize, it’s a reaction I get from some people, I can’t help it,» she had a very serene voice, not matching the age she seemed to be.

«About what you’re asking, it’s really all a game,» the young woman said. I quickly reviewed my last five minutes and tried to remember if I had spoken out loud. At my age, it was entirely possible, but before I could understand what she was saying, she continued, «Again, I must apologize, I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Death.» I tried to react but was stunned.

«No need to introduce yourself, I’ve been thinking about you so much that it feels like we already know each other. That’s exactly why I’m here, to give you some clarity,» she finished with a smile, her teeth white and even. «A good chat is fine, it’s just about that, or will I end up going with you?» We both laughed… but there was no answer.

«As I was saying, it’s a game, like cat and mouse. You know you’ll be caught, there’s no escape. If that seems macabre, you can see it as a flirtation where, in the end, you’ll be captivated, a push and pull; however you see it, the end is always the same. You’ll be freed from the vessel; that’s more or less my job,» she finished the sentence with an ironic tone.

«I understand, but that doesn’t answer my question,» I said. «I know,» she replied almost in unison with me, «You’ve always been like this, ‘the big picture,’» she winked at me. «The years have taught me that everything depends on context,» I returned the gesture with a smile.

«The only real position in this plane is your body, it’s not even life itself because, in the end, it’s just a loan for a defined time, so it’s not entirely yours. But that body is; it’s a simple yet wonderful container of a piece of divinity. In the end, that’s what happens, I strip you of the vessel,» she finished speaking, and we remained in silence, watching the duck struggling to get out of the pond with some difficulty but much grace.

«What if a very small part stays here just to see what happens, maybe just a tiny part, I like to think about that,» I said, and she laughed.

«You’re a hopeless case. Do you still fear dark doors?» she said with a mischievous look. She stood up and stretched her arms. Standing in front of me, her small figure cast a shadow big enough to cover me, and I noticed the afternoon was getting cold.

She looked at me intently, as if analyzing me. «The problem with fear is that it’s the hardest feeling to overcome because it takes hold of you, even without you realizing it. The best ally of fear is ignorance, and from my perspective, that’s a flaw in the design,» she paused briefly and, in a somewhat more solemn tone, continued, «If you had a cup of coffee that never ran out, no matter how exquisite, you wouldn’t enjoy it because it would always be there. The expiration date helps us value what’s in the vessel.» We looked at each other in silence for a few seconds.

Then she turned halfway around. «I’m going for a coffee.» She took three steps and stopped, turned back to me, and said, «I think you should come with me.» I smiled at her, hesitated for a moment, but decided to go with her.