Death: A Lovely Tale

Death: A Lovely Tale

PRELUDE:

"I am here to reap your soul." The Grim Reaper said in a menacing voice. He raised his scythe over his cloak, and I saw his skeleton hands. He was like a giant, standing as high as a building. His face was hidden by a white-colored mask, with two holes for eyes and a crooked smile. I was a tiny little insect compared to him. My face was filled with terror, and I began to scream in a girlish voice. I braced myself for impact with my hands, and closed my eyes. As I sensed a shadow about to strike at me, but it all disappeared- by a strong, loud blaring sound.

"Ughh.....I have to wake up for school." I said. I slammed the alarm clock, the very source of my awakening. I started my daily routine. I rubbed my eyes, and stood up from my bed. I picked up my glasses, and saw a figure in front of my bedroom door. It was a reaper, standing- or floating, by my door. The reaper was exactly like the one in my dream! I made a small "eep" out of fear.

"I am here to reap your soul." The reaper said, in a girly voice.

Heh, pretty interesting. I'm quite curious.

Chapter 1: Death Comes Soon

"...Or, at least, I will soon." The reaper finished. I breathed a sigh of relief, but more odd would be the fact that it was a girl's voice speaking.

"So I'm not going to die?" I asked.

"Well, is your name Doug B. Swanderhosen?" She began to giggle. "Your last name is hilarious!"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that a million times." I sighed. "Y' know, I've never heard or seen a Grim Reaper, much less a female laughing version."

"Well, you've obviously never seen a Grim Reaper before." She replied. I nodded. Of course, NO ONE's ever seen a Grim Reaper and lived to speak about it before.

It was hard to tell if she was human or skeleton, or even the same reaper I saw in my dream. I could see the scythe she was holding, and she that same white mask was on her face. However, the "he" I saw in my dream was now a "she", and her cloak seemed way too big for her, as it went past her hands and her feet- if she had any. I was certain she was floating, though.

"Anyway, what do you mean by 'soon'? If you're here, doesn't that mean I would die now?" I reasoned. Why else would she be here?

"That's not how it works....There's rules to this, you know." She answered.

"There are?" I questioned further.

"Of course. I'm only watching over you until you die." She stated.

I gulped. ".....What will I die of?"

"I dunno." She said. "Accidents will happen, and then you die."

"Uh...nice to know." I remarked. "Any way I could...prevent myself from dying?"

She shrugged. "It's always possible to prevent yourself from dying. That's what makes a reaper's job all the more interesting, after all. Though..."

I grinned and interrupted. "So I don't have to die! That's great!"

"You will always face another incident until you finally die. Then, I take your soul!" She exclaimed, in a giddy voice.

"That....just....fantastic." I made a facepalm.

"Sorry, but you've been listed. That's how it works!" She acknowledged.

"Fine.... I'll just have to-" A yell suddenly came from down the stairs.

"Douggy- poo! Time to wake up and get ready for school!" My mother called. The reaper burst into full- fledged laughter. I made a scowl.

"I'll just have to live." I confidently replied. "Coming, mom!"

"Good answer," The reaper answered. "You're interesting. I'll be watching to see what happens."

Hmm, quite interesting. Doug seems to be taking this pretty well.

Chapter 2: Awareness of Accidents

I finally finished changing and brushing my teeth, making my way down the stairs. The reaper was behind me, following me the entire time. I was a bit creeped out, but I tried to go throughout my day normally.

"Morning, mom!" I exclaimed proudly.

"Morning, Douggy- poo!" My mom greeted. The reaper made a small chortle. I gritted my teeth, trying to change it to a smile. "Breakfast is on the table."

"Thanks, mom!" I yelled. I quickly ran to the table, realizing I had fifteen minutes before the bus came, and I was a slow eater. However, I almost slipped on my way......over nothing. I thought that was odd, but I swiftly regained stability and sat on one of the chairs on the far side of our long table; the nearest spot.

I stared at my plate, under the chandelier light of the dining table. "Accidents will happen", she said before. I made a gulp.What kind of "accidents" would happen? Like the one before? I continued staring at my plate: two blueberry pancakes, with butter on top and syrup layering the entire thing. I also had milk; they "build strong bones and white teeth".....supposedly.

"You okay, Douggy? You haven't touched your favorite pancakes yet!" My mother ran to the dining room from the kitchen. She was right; I hadn't even touched the utensils. Then, I heard a giggle coming from behind me: the reaper was still watching me. I made a small grimace on my face, but hid it by continuously nodding.

"Alright then, I'll leave you to your breakfast." My mom returned to the kitchen, preparing breakfast for my dad, my big sister, and my little brother, who were still getting ready for work and school. The reaper, still behind me, burst into a loud cackle.

"That's such a funny nickname for you!" The reaper snickered.

"You know, I think I've heard enough of that for a lifetime." I complained. "Anyways, can you be more specific on what you said before? About accidents?"

"Sure!" The reaper answered. "Well, in all actuality, when you're put on the list, you are now severely accident- prone. This way, we don't have to kill you by force, and break the laws of nature with a death of a human by a reaper. And we can still reap your soul!~"

"That's it!?" I eagerly asked. "Just that?!"

"Yep." She replied.

"Woo- hoo!" I yelled in excitement! "I can live without being dying this easily!"

....Or so I thought. The ceiling began to rumble. The chandelier's normally tight locks broke off, and the chandelier itself fell onto the dining table! Luckily, my breakfast was safe on the far side of the table, while the chandelier fell dead center.

"What happened?!" My mom ran into the dining room. As soon as she saw the table, she gasped. "The chandelier fell!?"

"I didn't do it, mom! Honest!" I exclaimed.

"I guess it was just a loose lock, then...I'll call the repair man as soon as you leave for school, which starts in thirty minutes! Hurry and finish up your food, it's getting cold!" My mom was always calm and collected in a situation like this.

Phew, at least I didn't get in trouble. It was just an accident, after all....Wait.....An accident!?" I realized what really happened.

The reaper laughed. "You get it? That was because of you!"

"Oh.....well, I don't think so! Maybe the lock was just loose!" I refuted. I was in denial. I quickly gobbled up my pancakes and milk, and rushed out of the door, saying good- bye to everyone in a quick and hurried fashion.

"Bye, my little hosenbaby!" My mom yelled from behind me. The reaper sniggered, and I made a grunt. I ran out of our big mansion, and made a swift run to the bus stop with my bookbag on.

"This is going to be a loooooong day." The reaper chuckled.

Chapter 3: Horrible Day

I was quickly running to my bus stop, barely making it there in time. I stepped in a wet puddle for the fourth time. It was fall, so it was quite the rainy season.

I huffed and huffed, trying to regain breath. I finally made it to the bus stop, and 2 minutes before it came! At that time, someone came up to me. "Hey, Doug!" They greeted. I looked up. It was my childhood best friend, Bill Yojokoko Poopskiburger. Funny thing was, for having such an odd name, he was the son of the owner of a McSausages fast- food place.

"Hey, Burger." I greeted back. It was my nickname for him.

"Pwwoh....Pff.....His name is Burger?" The reaper, who was still following me, asked.

"Yep. Bill Yojokoko Poopskiburger." I answered.

She fell to the ground, laughing incessantly. "....Who are you talking to?" Burger questioned.

"You can't see her?" I asked. I thought my mom didn't see her only because she was too busy to notice, and no one else noticed because I was running so fast, and she caught up. It seems like she was invisible to everyone but me.

"Nope....who are you talking about?" Bill wanted to know. "Did you have too many egg rolls again?"

"No! They may be good, but I don't hallucinate!" I yelled. Everyone at the bus stop looked at me. I made a small nervous grin. "Umm.....joke?" They believed me(Somehow. Stories like these work that way.), and went back to their own conversations.

I sighed. "Well.......maybe I was hallucinating. But it's gone now, so I'll be fine."

"Alrighty then......Oh look, bus is here." Bill observed. He was right. It was coming around the corner of the street. He brought out a pop- tart from his pocket to eat on the bus(It was wrapped).

Bill and I went in, reaper following. We sat next to each other on the right side of the front of the bus, as was our assigned seats. We were a few stops away from the bus when it happened. The bus had hit a pretty deep wet puddle and the bus driver began to lose control. The bus flipped sideways to the right, and we fell.


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It was a while before I woke up. I was in a lot of pain, though it was slowly disappearing for some reason. Once I had enough strength, I tried moving, but I couldn't. I looked around, and found out: Burger was on top of me, to my dismay. "Burger....Burger! Get offa me!" I yelled. I managed to push him off me. I heard a laugh coming from above me. There she was, the reaper, floating above me. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"You're very interesting. You're still alive. Normally, the average person would've died after a bus falls." She answered.

"What do you mean? Everyone's still alive." I commented.

"Not always. You and all of them were dead a few minutes ago." She said. I trembled. She was right. My injuries were fading. I looked at where Bill was.

I was still there. On the ground. But I was here. Standing. Then, everything began moving. Eyes; they were opening. Injuries; they were fading. Bodies; they were coming back onto their seats. I blinked, and I appeared at my seat again. Bill was still next to me, eating his usual pop- tart in the morning.

"That.....was odd." I said. I rubbed my chin. What just happened?

"Time went backwards. And yet another accident happened." The reaper replied to my thought. I gasped.
She sighed. "Well, if I will reap your soul, I may as well know what you're thinking. Plus, people will think you're crazy if you speak to me instead. I mean, look at before."

I sighed. Now she can reap my soul AND my thoughts!

However, I was still in a daze. Who turned back time?

"I don't know, but obviously they wanted you or someone else on this bus alive." She replied. I grunted. She was still replying to my thoughts. "I can hear you in there." She said. I made a smirk. She heard me.

The bus had apparently never hit the puddle, and we got to the end of the road peacefully. However, that was when the second accident happened.

We were going into a forest road that was a 10 minutes away from school, and suddenly, a man appeared from the forest. He went in the front of the road, making the bus stopped abruptly, and I smacked my head on the window.

"Ow! What's going on?" I asked.

"I don't know....." Bill replied. He was a bit shakened up.

The man suddenly went into the bus, as the bus driver let him in. I saw her have a frightened face, and I wondered why. The man came in. I could see him clearly now. He wore a ski mask and a brown leather jacket, with some nice shoes and pants to boot. I was about to ask why he was wearing a ski mask when he pulled a gun from his coat. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP! THIS IS A ROBBERY!" He shouted.

We all put our hands up, frightened and scared. "CRY, AND YOU DIE!" He yelled.

Why would he do this? I was thinking.

"It's because most of the rich kids live here, and what better to do than steal from the rich kids?" The reaper answered. "He probably pointed the gun at the bus driver too, scaring her to open the door."

"GIVE US ALL YOUR VALUABLES AND MONEY!" He screamed.

"By the way, this counts as an accident if he 'accidentally' shoots you." The reaper commented.

"Really? This is all because of me?" I made a facepalm. "Today is a horrible day."