Echoes

24 Hours Left - Afternoon

A few hours later I found myself sitting on my couch hugging a pillow and staring at the tv, not quite watching it. I had so many questions and worries weighing on my mind, but I felt utterly lost, where did I go from here? Do I just go about my daily life knowing what was waiting for me in less than fifteen hours? What happened after that, what happened to Matt? The thought made my heart clench, more than anything I wanted to talk to him again. Go back to normal where he made me breakfast in the mornings, and I complained about him encroaching on my space. The jokes and biting comments made in jest, his deep laughter filling the room. All those years we spent together, gone in a single second, a single conversation. I wipe the wetness from my cheeks and hug the pillow tighter to my chest. Seeking comfort from the only thing I had left, myself.

"How painfully quiet it is here." The grim reaper sits next to me, leaning into the sofa. "What plagues your mind, child?"

I look at him, laying my cheek on the pillow. "I don't know what to do. It feels weird to go around like it's just another day. So, I feel somewhat lost and.... scared." My voice trails off.

He gives me a small smile. "I don't have an answer to that, but I feel you've grown some. I don't think the person I met three days ago would have admitted to that fear." I roll my eyes at his statement. "Do you regret your actions from those years ago? If you went back, would you do it again?"

"I do regret it, and I wish I did something, but I can't say I would do anything differently. Its hard to say because the what ifs still linger. What if I helped her and we both died, what if I helped her and it changed nothing. Those odds would still make me hesitate." I take a deep breath and add quickly. "I probably wouldn't have admitted to being scared. Probably."

He huffs and shakes his head. "At least you are honest about your answer."

"Will matt be okay?" I blurt out.

"I'm sure he will be, he has a strong energy about him. The kind of energy that can alter fate, I'd say." He answers with a wistful expression. The answer made me feel a glimmer of hope, but I smothered it. I knew Matt wouldn't get my letter until it was too late; and getting my hopes up would only hurt worse.

After a moment of silence, I summon up the courage and ask the cliché question that's been weighing on my mind. "Is there a heaven, or hell? Even just an afterlife?"

Laughter roars out of him. "I was waiting for this question; at some point everyone asks it. Unfortunately, even I do not know the answer to that, I am merely a gate keeper. Collecting and sending off lost souls to wherever they go." He shrugs. "Though I send the souls somewhere, so maybe there is something on the other side." In a moment of humanity, he reaches over and pats my head. "Don't think to much about it, you'll be fine, you won't go to hell." He finishes with a wink, and I scowl at him.

I look away and shudder. "You're assuming I was worried in the first place."

He chuckles again and goes silent, settling into the sofa next to me. Talking to him and having him here made me feel relieved. The pressure crushing me seemed to get a bit lighter as we sat there in companionable silence. I leaned back and got comfortable, flipping through the channels before settling on a silly Hallmark movie. Letting myself believe, even for just a few hours, that life is okay, and this is just another day.