Road To The Moon [one-minute stories]

Conversation with Death

Death snatches like a thief. Hannah knew that. But even the most rotten of thieves would be appalled by death's current greed. Caring not for youth, nor religion or status. He took everyone he touched.

His hooded vale hangs over the world, stretching from the ports of Calais to the golden gates of Constantinople, draining the land of all life and hope.
Still, it had never touched Hannah. Death had ripped away parts of her, it took all she held dear, all she loved, but never her life. But what is life worth if you have nothing to live for?

When she closed her eyes at night Hannah could see the faces of the past. Ishmael, her beloved.
Rachella, her precious angel.
Aron, little baby Aron, her last hope. One by one she had witnessed how the plague overtook their body, contouring it to blistering monstrosity. How the life drained from their eyes as their sunken faces fell cold. And now their faces haunted her at night, forcing her to saunter through the streets, pondering on how this city seemed to become more like her by the day. A cold and vacant shell of its former self.

Streets were empty, buildings abandoned and in ruin. What remained of the Constantinople's monumental columns, statues and pedestals were now wallowing in mud and mire.

As she turned the corner, the stench of a plague pit nearly knocked her off her feet. Avoiding the stench Hannah made her way down a narrow alleyway just down the darkened stairs.

At the bottom she was greeted by another victim of the plague, sitting by a small fire. The young boy's face was sunken and covered in black spots. On his collarbone, the light showed a tumour, the size of an appel. Turning the poor boy a blind eye was all Hannah could do, he was already beyond healing and was no doubt left by whatever family he had. But she couldn't bring herself to turn away.

Approaching the boy carefully, she reached for a loaf of bread in her bundle and broke it in two. "Here, you must be hungry."

Hellish grey-blue eyes shot up, staring at her in amazement. "Thank you, Hannah."

Goosebumps covered her arms as Hannah heard the boy mention her by name. She observed him a bit closer, but couldn't remember ever meeting this boy. Still, there was something strangely familiar about him.

"Who are you?"

His eyes shifted between her and the fire, "the devil is a name some have called me, but it is not my name. Other's refer to me as an angel or salvation, but very few call me by my given name."

Brows knitted in confusion as Hannah pondered the meaning of his words until clarity shot her like an arrow. "You're death."

His lips curled up in amusement, "I always knew you were clever."

Seeing death smile so gleefully made her blood boil. How could such a selfish thief of life smile so carelessly when his victims covered the streets?
"Why are you doing this?"

His eyes widened in surprise, "what is it I'm doing?"

"Taking all these lives!" Hannah screamed out, her voice echoing through the night.

"I don't decide who lives. Life is like a mountain stream. No matter how thick the stone may be eventually the water will carve its way through and join the river."

"Not if you end all life."

"What is an end, but the beginning of the new."

With a heavy sigh, Hannah sat down on the log beside the fire.
"Life will go on," death whispered calmly, "there will be times of prosperity and of famine. Even after humanity has reached the stars, the world will still be in peril."

Humans who reach the stars, how preposterous. Although the thought alone made her giggle, she wondered if humans would ever be capable of such miracles when they can't even find a cure for this plague.

"Is there a cure for the plague," Hannah wondered out loud.

"This plague doesn't have one cause, nor does it have one source. So, no single cure could ever be the solution."

Starring into the fire Hannah could feel her anger simmer down to defeat when she couldn't think of a counterargument. "Why do you give these riddling answers?"

"Because you ask these ridiculous questions, to which you already know the answer," hellish eyes shoot up to stare straight at her, "don't you, Hannah?"

Those piercing eyes seemed to look straight into her soul. They were cold and calculating, but not without a glimmer of light. Now, that she saw death in the dim moonlight he didn't look so threatening either. His features were delicate, his body slender as he slummed his shoulders, reaching his hands out to the warmth of the flames.

"Why are you talking to me?"

A hint of a smile graced his lips. "Because I admire you. Your selflessness and love for humankind is endless." In his enthusiasm he scoots a bit closer, "even now, you were willing to share your food with a plague victim. Even though you know what it does."

Hannah lowers her gaze, swallowing a lump at the mention of her loved ones.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Death apologizes before scooting even closer, meeting her gaze. "I could bring them back to you if that is what you want?"

In a moment of intense happiness, Hannah nearly screams yes, but the word waivers on her tongue. Will their return make it all better?
The plague will still be there and without a cure who is to say that they won't die again.

"No," she whimpered, "I want you to take me to them."

Silence fell between them as death held her with cold caress. Closing her eyes she gave into him.

At the break of dawn, people found a woman's body lying next to a smouldering fire. Her finger rotten black, spots covering her face and on her lips a content smile.

Word count: 998 words