Strange Visitor

Man experiences a pleasant visit with Death

Strange Visitor

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he angrily asked the oddly clad stranger standing in the middle of his family room.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Well look around, besides me you're the only one here.  Of course I'm talking to you!  How in the world did you get in here?"  His patience with this uninvited visitor was already growing short.

"I seem to be disturbing you.  Is there something important I'm taking you away from?  I'm use to coming at all hours of the day and night and most people have no qualms about it."

I find that difficult to believe!  You mean to tell me that you drop in unannounced

on people at all hours of the day or night and they don't find it disturbing.  I'm not

especially busy with anything in particular at the moment, but I still find you an

unwanted intrusion."

"Usually I drop in on them only one time.  Most of those I call upon are asleep when I come.  Many others have been seriously ill or just recently involved in a serious accident.  I seldom have conversations with them.  I simply go to them and take them with me."

"Oh come on now!  Who do you think you are anyway, death?  All the conditions you just described for meeting those people could only be because that is who you are."

"I'm not denying it.  The fact of the matter is, that's exactly who I am."

"That can't be!  That's not the way I've been told it happens.  I mean here I am actually having a conversation with you.  I've never ever heard of that happening."

"Who could have told you if it had happened and would you have believed them if they did?"

"I don't know."

"Of course not!  To tell you the truth I don't recall it ever happening before either. Then again I'm still in training."

"In training, you're Death and you're in training!  This is incredible!  I can't believe it!"

"Well just think for a moment.  Everyday millions of people die, do you suppose that Death visits each and every one of them individually?  It'd be impossible that's why there are millions of us, many still in training to help with the task."

"How do you know which people to visit?  You say there are millions each day I would think that must be very confusing."

"Sometimes it is.  For example, do you know how many Smiths there are just in the United States alone?  Thank goodness they resolved that problem ages ago."

"How was that?"

"Digitizing!  It was done by digitizing everyone who's ever been born.  It's internal of course so you don't see anything, but for us it's easy to pick up on.  Of course we've been doing this for thousands of year and there are very seldom any mistakes."

"You say thousands of year, that's impossible!  Digitizing is a relatively new tern tied in with computers.  Computers haven't been around any where's near that long.  How could you have been using them for over a thousand years?"

"Are you serious?  People here on Earth haven't even begun to tap in on all the resources that are available on their computers.  We've had computers long before cavemen began writing on the walls of their caves."

"So there are never any mistakes made?"

"Never,well almost never."  Death replied sheepishly.

"First you tell me that there aren't any mistakes made and then you say, almost never.  You can't have it both ways!"

"Listen they are computers after all.  Don't tell me that you have never had your own computer screw up on you occasionally.  In fact it's probably more than just occasionally, I'd bet it happens all the time."

"Yes it does, but my computer isn't in Heaven being watched over by angels or whoever it is who's responsible for taking care of them.  Besides yours is in Heaven where everything is supposed to be perfect, ideal, infallible."

"Well as incredulous as it may seem, on very rare instances ours sometimes do foul up."

"Really?"

"Really, as a matter of fact that's why I'm here now conversing with you."

"So you don't ordinarily talk with the people you come for?"

"In all the times I've done this, this is the first time I've ever had to do this.  I've never before talked with any of my victims, excuse me, I mean recipients of my services."

"Services, so now this a service you are providing?  I don't suppose I could refuse this "service" can I?"

"Everything about your case is unique.  Just for starters it seems the computer has made an error in selecting you."

"Oh my God!"

"Please don't refer to Him like that.  You must understand He gets very upset when mistakes like this occur."

"I thought you said they rarely happen."

"They don't, but time is a relative thing.  For those of us in Heaven time is eternal.  If something like this were to happen just once in a million years that would still be too often."

"Oh my God-ness!"  he said quickly correcting himself.

"Thank you, I saw where you were going with that."

"You're welcome.  I wouldn't want to upset Him any more than He may be already.  Tell me though is He really that sensitive?  This seems to be pretty petty stuff compared to what is going on all over the Earth."

"I may have exaggerated a bit.  In all the eons that I have seen him there have only been a few times when he was uncontrollably upset.  The ones that stand out in my mind are the incident with Noah and later the death of His sons."

"You mean Jesus?"

"Yes, Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha all of their deaths greatly upset Him.  Of course Jesus was the only one of them actually killed.  I think after that He resigned Himself to the fact that redemption was beyond those here on Earth."

"You mean He's given up on us?  Is He going to do us all in again like He did to the people back at Noah's time." 

"The gossip I hear, when I get up there is, He isn't going to do anything that disastrous.  I get the impression that He would see that as a tremendous failure.  Even though He's God failure is something He does not easily abide." 

"So what's the consensus on what will happen?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing, you mean we'll just continue on our bumbling way, destroying the environment, starving millions, killing off millions more and He'll do nothing about it!  That doesn't sound like a loving caring God to me."

"Don't forget He gave humans "free choice".  I might be wrong, but I think He is just waiting to see if people can finally work out the problems of getting along with each other on their own.  He has certainly sent enough amazing people here to set good examples.  From what I understand, there are still quite a few here even now that are trying to show you all how to do it."

"But look at all the terrible people who are doing the opposite.  It seems to me that they far outnumber the "do-gooders."

"I know it must seem that way, but the reality is the "do-gooders", as you call them, far outnumber the evil ones.  They don't get the attention of the media and they seldom, if ever make it into the television news.  For example think of all the times you've heard people decrying today's teenagers.  Of course they're referring to the ones that have managed to get into some form of trouble that made

them newsworthy.  There are a far larger number of boys and girls in things such as Boy Scouts and  Girl Scouts and a myriad of other service organizations doing wonderful things in their communities getting little or no recognition.  I'm sure that on the basis of this much larger group that He decided to let you all go your separate ways and trust that you'll eventually find the "right way."

"For a person that deals so much with death you seem to be very knowledgeable about life.  It would seem to me that you'd have some difficulty doing your job."

"How do you mean?"

"I would think there must be quite a few times when you have become emotionally involved.  The death of a baby or a child, a beloved mother or some other family member, doesn't it bother you?  I know it would bother me quite a bit.  I remember when I was a young boy and my dog was hit by a car and killed.

It took me quite a while to get over that.  I'm ashamed to admit that I was more upset over that than when my 92 year grandmother died."

"It must seem cold, perhaps even heartless, but we are trained not to have any emotions with regard to the people we are to visit.  Don't forget, it is very rare that any of them are even aware of our presence."

"Let me make sure I have this straight.  You and the others providing this "service" just go and tap the recipient and they quietly leave their life behind.  Is that all it takes is a tap, a nudge, anything as long as you touch them in some way?  I can understand now why none of you would get emotionally involved, is it still easy for you?"

"Except for situations like this, yes it's very easy.  We don't get involved with the right or wrong of the decision making process.  All we do is see to it that the people selected are terminated.  Other than whatever pain they suffered as a result of their illness or accident it's a painless process.  In fact within that short expanse of time all their pain and suffering is ended."

"Okay, let's get down to particulars, what about me?  Am I going or am I staying?  You must know I haven't been seriously ill.  Obviously I haven't been involved in a serious accident.  You can see that I'm not very old, so again I have to ask what are you going to do with me?"

"You know that Heaven is a very pleasant place and if I take you now that is where you'll go.  I don't want to sound like a travel brochure, but there are many things other than the fantastic climate that makes Heaven an ideal place to spend all of eternity."

"What if I stayed here, what would happen then?"

"I'm not privileged to that information.  Even if I were I don't think it would be fair to tell you.  All I can tell you is that as of right now, at this moment in time, you would go straight to Heaven.  The choice is yours."

"You sure don't make it easy to choose!  It's not that I have the grandest of lives here, but I have many friends and family that I'm sure would miss me.  Thankfully I'm still very healthy and enjoy a good social life.  Even though I don't think I'll ever become a millionaire at my job, I like what I do.  I especially like the people I work with.  I think best of all there is my girlfriend Louise that I love and hope to become engaged to this Christmas."

"All that you say is true, but still you are willing to gamble the assurance of Heaven against all the things that could go wrong in your stable life?  I find that fascinating, indeed more and more I can understand why He is so willing to let you people struggle among yourselves in the hope that you'll eventually figure it out."

"But you said He has and still is, sending people to help us find the way to live and work with each other."

"True, true.  He wants you all to succeed, and He is ever faithful in sending you whoever or whatever it takes to see that happen."

"If I were to go now with you to Heaven I wouldn't get to see it all happen except as a spectator."

"That's true also."

"Look I have faith in God.  Even though it might not happen in my lifetime, I want to be here if it happens I really don't like spectator sports, I like to be in on the action.  If it doesn't happen during my life time I figure I'll get to see it later on."

"So you're telling me that you don't want to go with me?"

"I guess that's what I'm telling you.  Look I appreciate your kindness, but I'm now, more than ever, looking forward to the rest of my life."

"I wish you the very best.  I must tell you though that when I leave, you'll have no recollection of any of this having taken place."

"What about you?"

"Oh I'll remember it alright.  In fact when I get back I'll have a ton of paper work to fill out."

"You're not mad at me then?"

"Oh my goodness no!  Don't forget I'm a citizen of Heaven, I'm not allowed to lie."

"I want to thank you again.  I'd shake your hand to say goodbye, but I don't think that would be a very good idea."

"Good thinking.  I appreciate the thought though."

"Again, best of luck to you in the future and I hope you get to see what we all hope for the Earth."

Reviews

[barleygirl]

This is an imaginative way to get some important life messages across while also being fun & a bit irreverent! *smile* You've carried this thru with realistic sounding dialogue & interesting flow of ideas, plus I'm catching some "attitude" that makes this back-and-forth fun & interesting.

There were only 3 bumps for me . . .

"I'm use to coming at all hours of the day and night and most people have no qualms about it."

"I find that difficult to believe! You mean to tell me that you drop in unannounced on people at all hours of the day or night . . . these two chunks of back-and-forth, taken together, feel repetitive.

"In all the times I've done this, this is the first time I've ever had to do this. I've never before talked with any of my victims . . . " the first sentence of this paragraph feels a little wordy & unnecessary.

"You sure don't make it easy to choose! It's not that I have the grandest of lives here, but . . . " in this paragraph, it doesn't seem likely to me that this guy would mention his girlfriend last, kinda like an afterthought . . .

Other than these things, the rest of your piece is very tight & logical & well-done! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[elle_c]

Wow! I love this. It's hilarious, but with a serious undertone. It kind of reminds me of when Dean talks to the Reapers in Supernatural, but a lot less serious. I don't know what I would do. I think I may choose Heaven if I was guaranteed it right then. hahahha

[Coyote Poetry]

Thank you for sharing the amazing story Dave. I enjoyed the tale.
Coyote

[Samuel Dickens]

Perhaps this rookie reaper wasn't at the height of his game yet, but at least his back and forth conversation gives us tremendous insight. Now we know to argue when he comes. A clever one, Dave.

[Great Aunt Astri]

I enjoyed reading this story. It is very clever of you to keep our attention in a conversation between only two. Your imagination has put a lighter side to the traditional concepts of 'The Grim Reaper.' I hope he is right, at the end of the story!