The Grim Reaper's Girl

The Death

It was dark. A small, pinprick of light appeared, as Mindy tried to force her eyes open. What had happened, she wondered. She was hiking, and about to take a photo of the waterfall, when... "OH MY GOD!" Mindy's eyes flew wide open and she bolted upright. Her head turned left and right, and affirmed that she was indeed, in the valley at the bottom of the mountain. 

"But how... I fell..." Mindy's thoughts struggled to keep up with her. 

A small cough echoed behind her, causing her to jump and turn. There was an incredibly tall man some way at her back, dressed in the most depressing long hoodie in all of history, standing in a strict military pose. "At ease," she muttered. 

"Er, thank you." The tall man unfolded his hands from behind him and started walking towards her. Mindy blushed. Her inner voice must have been louder than she thought it was.

She quickly dusted her hands on her shirt and stood up to meet this stranger. Even when standing, she only reached up to his chest. He must have giant in his lineage. Either that, or the rest of us are just shortchanged. Short-changed. Get it? Mindy thought to herself. The corners of the stranger's lips twitched upwards slightly, as if he heard her again.

"Hi Mindy. I am here to help you." The stranger said, monotonous and yet strangely calming. 

"Thanks! I have no idea how I fell down here... Wait, how did you know my name?" Mindy's mind went from mildly curious to suddenly wary of this stranger. Her mother had always warned her of stranger-danger. Good-looking ones are the worst, stay away from them, her mother's reverberated in her mind. If that was true, then this stranger would be the most dangerous criminal she had ever seen. 

The stranger's steps faltered and he tugged his hood lower to cover his face. "Mindy, you are dead, but please do not be alarmed. I am here to help."

"Alright, you know, that has to be one of the worst pick-up lines I've ever heard. Don't come any closer, I got mace." Mindy warned. Then, she almost rolled her eyes at what she just said, as she realised it was obvious she was not carrying any bag and her loose shorts were obviously pocket-less.  

"Look behind you," the stranger intoned. 

Yeah right, as if I am gonna fall for that. Mindy's mind raced to think what options she had - she could find a rock and try to fulfill her dream of being a professional rock slinger, she could try to outrun this man whose legs are longer than half of her body, or she could try to mimic the kungfu moves she once saw in a Jackie Chan movie when she was a kid and hope she had a natural inborn talent for martial arts. 

As she stumbled away from the stranger who was now advancing towards her slowly, a flash of colour to her right caught her attention. You know, I would congratulate you for having such great peripheral vision, if you weren't right now busy trying to escape from a serial killer. Mindy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her inner voice. Not the right time. She took a few more steps backwards, then quickly glanced at her right. 

Wait... That does look like me. In my clothes. On the ground. Mindy's steps paused. Narrowing her eyes at the stranger, who very politely also paused his advance, Mindy started walking sideways towards the body on the ground while still facing the tall stranger. She reached the body and knelt down. Only then, she took her eyes off the stranger and looked. 

It was her. Splayed in an unnatural position, with her left arm twisted under her torso, and bleeding from her head. Her neck already started showing signs of discoloration and she could see bone from an ankle. 

Mindy was unable to take her eyes off her body. Her dead body. It didn't make sense, she was still here, she was able to walk, talk, feel. How was this possible?

"Mindy." The stranger was now beside her, with one hand extended towards her, offering to help her stand. The voice seemed to cut through her daze, and Mindy looked up at the stranger. Of course, he is an angel of death or something. 

"Not quite. I am the Grim Reaper. And I'm here to help you."