I am Death. I mean whoever hears those words outside of a play, or now in this future most only dreamed of in 1515, movies. NO ONE! Well that is what I thought as well until I came back to my home and found a man who was about five seven or five eight with a dark tan and graying brown hair and the bluest eyes in the world sitting with my black green eye cat in my chair. My mistake was asking him who he was. Man do I regret that question. His answer was just that. “I am Death.” And to make matters worse it was followed by “and I am your father.” And that it was time for me to come home. That is how I ended up here. And where is here? Good question. Here is about five hundred years after that fateful date and I am waiting for this drunk to get into his car. I thought this day would be a total bust, after all I had twenty souls to collect that day and I was only on number five. That was until I saw his daughter. Then those human feelings I left behind five hundred years ago came rushing back. And I knew she was the one who could save my soul. But how do I convince this angel from heaven itself, when I just took her father’s life force? This is my journey to salvation, join me if you dare.
Maybe I should explain, when you are a child of death, you became a reaper yourself. It is not as cool as you think. Father was quite the ladies’ man, so to say. I have about a thousand half brothers and sisters all over the world doing the same thing. Now we are not evil or good. We are neither. We are neutral. We walk this Earth, taking the souls of the dead to judgment. But we never are judged. Each reaper has one soul that can save theirs. Our souls are in a limbo state, we could go either way. Good or bad, or stay neutral. Most of us stay reapers forever, I mean forever! There are reapers that have been here since the dawn of humans. Before there were six plus billion humans, it was just my father. He was the angel chosen to be death. It was decided by both God and Lucifer, so that way the angel would be neutral.
Well it was like that until about five thousand years ago, then my ‘father’, to use the term loosely, was tempted by Lucifer with a ‘fair maiden’ well my father fell. She had a child and when the child came of age that child became a reaper. To punish my father and to make sure he remained neutral, God came down with a punishment. That my father would never see heaven again unless his true soul mate saves his soul, the same punishment was dished out to his children. He has yet to find his soul mate. When he does a new death is chosen from the reapers who have not been saved. Which to date is all but five.
A reaper was given a gift though, to know when their soul mate enters their life. Just great that I had to be collecting her father’s soul at the time I meet her. Well not meet her but see her. For my soul to be saved I have to tell her I am a reaper and she has to accept that. That is why only five of my half siblings have been saved and allowed to live a normal life and death. People have issues dealing with the fact we are the ones who take the souls of their loved ones. How we do it would take more time then I have to explain, but basically it works like this: everybody has a certain amount of time on earth, they have to fulfill their goal, which they may not know, and they die. For example an infant, they are put on this earth to remind people how fragile life is, or for other reasons. God is not very good at giving reasons. Or a father may be taken early so that his children can go on to meet their goal. Sometimes I feel that the humans we take are God’s pawns in the war against Lucifer.
Before I thought I would just keep on reaping until the end of time and spend my time in limbo for eternity, that would be better then this life. Now I have a choice. Now I can choose to go after this woman.
After a few days of thinking, and waiting for the funeral, I went up to her and introduced myself. “Hello my name is Dylan. So sorry for your loss.”
“Did you know my father? By the way I am Suzanna.”
“In a way I did.”
“What does that mean?”
“I was there for an important event in his life.”
“Oh.” Before she could say more she was swept up by the next round of guests.
I watched her for the whole night and for the following few weeks. Making a point to bump into her when she was getting coffee or at the grocery store, of course I also had to perform my job, so I couldn’t be too much of a stalker. Which was what I was turning into. One day I took the chance to ask her out. “Hi.”
“Hi! Dylan right?” She turned to look at me, as we waited in line for coffee.
“Yes. Suzanna right?” I pretended to ask with a smile.
“Yes.” She smiled right back.
“Would you like to have dinner?” I stopped and waited, holding my breath.
She smiled and said “yes, that would be great!” So we made plans to meet up that night. That was six months ago.
We have been going strong and no I have to tell her who I am. So as we lay there watching her favorite film, I look down at her. “We have to talk.”
“What is wrong?” She looks up with me in worry.
“I have something to tell you.”
“You are breaking up with me aren’t you?”
“No. But you may leave me.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Here what I have to say first.” I move to sit in front of her, to look her in the eye.
“I am a Reaper. That is my job. You asked but I never really told you.”
“What is a Reaper?” She asked.
And I told her. Everything. About my father. How I found out. How the first time I saw her I was claiming her father’s soul. Taking him to his judgment, then making sure his judgment was carried out. It seemed like forever. I spoke and spoke never really listening to my words, just watching her face. Watching her go though hatred, revulsion, sadness, and the final one I could not name. I had never seen that look. “There is everything.” I hung my head and waited for her to leave, waited for my soul to be crushed.
“I understand. I am okay with this. Do you always have to stay a Reaper?”
“No.”
“Well what did you do before you were a Reaper?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was she really accepting me? “I was a carpenter.”
“What do you do for money now?”
“I own a lot of furniture businesses.”
“Okay. I love you. No matter what I love you.”
I just kissed her. I couldn’t believe it. I was going to be saved. All of a sudden I saw this flash of light. My father stood inside of it and smiled. I knew that I was released from my curse. I could really have a life with Suzanna. “Suzanna, marry me?”
“Yes.” She smiled. And in that smile I knew heaven.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
all rights reserved
Everything, unless otherwise noted, is copyrighted by Katherine Rochholz various years of course depending on the post all rights reserved.... unless they are songs but all the poems and short stories are mine.
Breaking Point By Katherine Rochholz Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
Everybody has a breaking point. Everybody. Even I do. Mine may be higher then most, but they are about to push me to my point. When that point is reached, stay out of my way. My advice? HIDE. RUN. DIE.
The day started out like any other, well like any other these last twelve months. I came back from my latest tour of duty, and my husband celebrated in true style the night I came back. We had gorgeous twins, named after our parents. I just had a doctor’s appointment giving me the okay to go back to work if wanted too and was at home cooking dinner, waiting for my family to come home when the phone rang.
The chills ran down my back. It was my cell phone that was ringing. The number of people that know that number, I could count on one hand, the reasons they would call that number needed only two fingers. And I know we hadn’t declared war. So it meant I had lost someone. I picked up the phone that was never more than a few inches from me, and said “hello.” I listened to what seemed forever, though it was only moments. In moments my world fell apart.
My husband, brother, and my children were killed; the message left with their bodies was to me. Telling me I killed their family they killed mine, and I was next. Well I was not going to allow that to happen. I went to my study, I went right up to the wall, were there was a keypad, I put in my code and the wall opened. Revealing my weapons,
I knew if I didn’t kill this team of killers then they wouldn’t stop until I was dead. They already took my life. They didn’t realize they also made the biggest mistake of theirs. I called my contact back and asked for all the information we had on the team. I was told they had always left the country going into South America . I knew I would follow.
I grabbed all I needed and jumped into my truck and was off before my cell phone rang again, with my boss telling me to stay put. Just twenty four later the hunt was on, as I stepped of the plane in Brasilia
For the night I just stared at the building that I knew held the people that had destroyed my soul. That had caused me to reach my breaking point. I knew if I did what I did, I might be facing some really serious charges, regardless of the fact I was a jarhead, but I might be in more trouble by being who I was, then if I had been a normal civilian. I also knew that I had a five hour window. I had five hours to make it out of Brazil
I walked right into the warehouse with my guns pulled, within moments there was nothing but the sounds of guns shooting and the flash of the bullets leaving the guns. I felt them miss me, and I could see mine hitting my targets. I was down to the last guy when a bullet got me in my left shoulder, and I knew it was bad. I continued searching for him, when I heard babies crying.
“LEAVE! Or I kill them.” The man, whose eyes were blacker then his soul with hair to match, stepped out from behind the shadows and I felt my heart stop. My babies, they were alive.
“Put them down and I will allow you to walk away.” I stated knowing even as the words left my mouth they were a lie.
“I want you guns on the floor.”
“Fine.” I stated putting all my guns on the ground.
“I know with that wound you won’t get far!” He put the children on the ground and started running to the door.
I looked at my children, knowing that they allowed me to think them dead; they had killed my husband and my brother. I pulled a knife from my sleeve and threw it. It seemed like time stopped, even for just that moment it did, as I watched my knife hit him in the back of the neck. He fell to the ground and struggled to take his last breaths. All too soon the silence filled the warehouse. The only sounds were the breathing of my children and the heavy breathing of myself. And I knew I had a serious wound that would need immediate attention, but I didn’t have that luxury. I needed to get my children and myself out of Brazil
I pulled another knife out of my sleeve and as I started the fire that would burn the warehouse down I put the knife in the flame then touched it to my wound, feeling the pain of the burn, knowing it was my only real chance of making sure my children made it out of Brazil
It didn’t take me long to get home, after all I had left the weapons I had brought in the warehouse. As soon as I landed in Dallas
“Gunny, only you could bring down who you did. Now off to the hospital with you and your children. Next time pick up the phone. You would have known your children were alive. We were going after them.”
“There will be no next time sure.” I stated as they loaded me and my children into the ambulance. “No there won’t be a next time.” I laid back and smiled at the only two people in my life that could save my soul. Or cause me to break and lose it.
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