The Man lay with his head in his hands and his eyes shut tight against the chaos surrounding him, not noticing the bright light that suddenly flashed in front of him.
The Angel raised a wing to the Man's face, wiping away a single tear rolling down the Man's cheek. He jumped at the touch but, upon opening his eyes, the Man found himself calm rather than fearful.
"Who are you?" the Man asked. "I am Death," the Angel answered. The Man was confused. This is not how he imagined Death. This Angel was neither cruel nor frightening, but instead comforting and beautiful.
Immediately the Man began noticing his surroundings. Rather than the bang of gunshots and the screams of battle, he heard songbirds and cheerful conversation. He looked around and saw that the dirt and blood previously caking the battlefield had been replaced by grass and wildflowers. The bodies of the men so violently taken from the Earth were gone, and the field now contained tens of colorful masses of light, which the Man immediately understood to be Souls.
The Man turned to face Death once more. "What about my family? My wife, and my daughter?" the Man asked. "They will come when it is their time. Until then, their lives will continue," Death told him. "I was supposed to go home to them in three weeks," the Man continued, "to celebrate my daughter's birthday." Death laughed. "Humans. You understand so little about the workings of the Universe."
Death walked to the Man and put two fingers to the Man's temple. Suddenly they were back on the battlefield, but this time it was different. Each man left a trail of silvery light behind him, following like ducklings follow their mother.
"That light is Fate. Every laugh, tear, breath, all the ups and downs of human life," Death told the Man, "it all leads to the final moment. There's room for small variables here and there but the end is set from the beginning. You were never 'supposed' to go home. In fact, if you would have, your daughter would never go to counseling, meaning she would never meet the boy who would grow to be her husband. Everything happens for a reason, soldier."
Death placed his fingers on the Man's temples again and, in the blink of an eye, the blood was gone once more. "Now I must leave you," Death said. "You'll be safe here." "Wait," the Man began, "just tell me one thing." "And what is that?" Death asked. "How does it all end? How does Humanity finally fall?" "I do not know," said Death to the Man, "but it does, and why waste time worrying about the inevitable?" And with a warm smile, Death was gone.
Author's note
So I woke up from a nap and the first thing in my mind was "And the Angel raised a wing to wipe away the tear falling down the Man's cheek." And I built on it and finally put it to paper (or screen?) At like 11 pm so that's where this story came from.
What do you think?
Thanks for reading x
