Short Storys/Kurzgeschichten (Eng/Deu)

The Reaper (English)

Every human has his own reaper. He sometimes appears during ones childhood and accompanies you your whole life. Sometimes he's far away and sometimes very close. The decisions you make in your life decide whether he will come closer or stay afar. And the closer he gets to you, the closer you are to death.

The first time I got to see him was during my childhood when I was playing with a ball that rolled to the street. As a naive child that didn't know much about life, I wanted to run and catch the ball. But in the moment my feet touched the street the black creature without a face appeared in front of me and I stumpled to the ground. The ball got run over by a car and bursted into shreds. And within seconds the black creature vanished into nothing. My reaper.

From that day onward the reaper started to show himself from time to time. Sometimes closer, sometimes further away. But never as close as that time I almost ran onto the street for the ball.

Sometimes I could see him nearby when I was about to make a decision. And after my experience as a child I let the reaper guide me through my life. I avoided certain people when he would suddenly appear. I didn't go out at night when I would see him through the window. And in the end I even moved out from home when my mother got married to a new man and my reaper started showing himself more often and getting within reach. Every decision in my life was based on the reapers appearance. I used him to avoid an early death.

When I met the love of my life and decided to marry him, I was overjoyed to see that the black creature was nowhere to be found. It meant a good future with the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We had some carefree years together before he made a proposal that I accepted. The preparations for the wedding went well, the invitations were sent and the big day was coming closer. I was happy.

But that happiness didn't last long. It happened two weeks before the wedding. My fiance came back from work and suddenly the reaper appeared in the corner of the living room. Because of that I asked my fiance about his day at work and wanted to know every little detail. Something must have happened or else the reaper wouldn't appear. But nothing that he told me was suspicious. He went to work as usual, talked to his friends and came back without interruptions. Nothing irregular. Nothing extraordinary. And because I didn't want to scare him, I didn't tell him anything about the black creature that started following us from that day onward.

I couldn't keep calm, couldn't sleep and just saw the reaper in front of me. I didn't see him for so many years and already expected a long and good future and now he showed up out of nowhere. There was no explanation for that. Did my future husband hide something from me? Something that could cost me my life? Could it be possible that he wasn't the charming and great man that I saw in him? But maybe it didn't have anything to do with him. That's what I constantly told myself. But the day of the wedding came closer and so did the reaper.

I didn't know what to do in this situation. I couldn't tell anybody about it and I couldn't escape the wedding anymore. My fiance loved me and I loved him. We planned our future together. He wouldn't do anything to shorten this future! Nothing made sense. If my fiance would be the reason for my death then the reaper would have shown himself at our first meeting. That means that something must have happened recently. But my fiance was never the aggressive type. That's at least what I believed in...

Two days before the wedding I eavesdropped on a conversation on his mobile. He started shouting, throwing things to the ground and his face was red from anger. I'ver never seen him like that. The doubts started to stress me. There were things about him that I didn't know. Perhaps things that could harm me in the future? I really didn't know what to do. My trust in this person was unconditional, but my reaper would never lie to me. So who should I trust?

On the wedding day I decided to trust my future husband. I wanted to risk it because I was sure there was another reason for the reapers appearance. A reason I still had to find and avoid. But my fiance was not the reason. That's what I constantly told myself as I saw the reaper behind me in the mirror. My fiance would never harm me and surely not kill me.

So with the reaper following my every step I went to my wedding. I looked at the people sitting on either side of the aisle as I made my way to my future husband. Some of the faces were familiar and some not, they were the relatives of my fiance. But I couldn't concentrate on them since the nervousness was eating me alive. My reaper was coming closer. Just an hour ago he was metres away from me and now there were only some steps between us.

I wouldn't die on my wedding day, right? This should be the most beautiful day of my life, but would it be also the day my life ends? Nobody could give me an answer to that question. Not even my reaper.

„Yes, I do.", my fiance said. And then it was my turn.

„Yes, I do.", I said as well. Now there was no turning back. I chose this path for myself and I would walk along this path. My mind was telling me to run away, but my heart refused to let go of the hand of my husband and convinced me that I would find the real perpetrator. My husband would never kill me. Definitely not.

The wedding ceremony ended and the party started. We gathered in the big hall and ate. The reaper was still close to me. After eating, my husband and I danced together, but I couldn't enjoy the moment since the reaper didn't leave us for even a second. Later on my husband introduced me to some of his relatives and we talked and laughed. In front of the guests I pretended to have fun, but inside of me there was a storm of emotions.

„Hey I want to introduce you to my brother.", my husband said and put his arm around my shoulder. „We had some difficulties in the past, but he apologized and now everything is fine."

I turned and my heart stopped for a second. The reaper was standing right in front of me and just two steps behind him the brother of my husband.

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