Life and Death

a short story about death

Life and Death

 

Death. Some say it is black and white; a natural process that happens to everyone and everything. Sometimes it makes its appearance too early. Stealing something precious and loved from the world. For some, Death hits like a truck. They never saw it coming, never believed, or even thought of something so terrible, so impossible, could claw its way into their perfectly constructed world. How could it? They never did anything wrong, never stole, never told lies, never took blood; they never did anything to justify something so horrible to come and disrupt their life. Death only happens to the bad, to the evil.

Death. No matter what religion someone devotes their years to, what ethnicity someone traces back through their roots, what social class they were raised into; Death is there, watching from the window, waiting, and tap, tap, tapping his finger, anticipating. Some think of Death as selfish. It takes and takes, no matter how gruesome the act, no matter how terrible the deed. Death takes what it wants. It does nothing but create despair, loneliness, hopelessness, every conceivable and inconceivable evil there is in the world, because it just does. It takes from us, the breathing, the survivors, to stay preoccupied. Death takes to live.

            Death is known for taking the good from the world, swallowing it up so no one but itself can see. But sometimes, death can be crafty, death can be different. If death can get to the good, what’s to say it can’t sneak up on the bad? Death sneaks up on its prey. Death has no preference, no penchant. Death sneaks up on anyone, including those who inflict their own evil on others. Sometimes Death does good by taking evil people, evil things, monsters, from our world.

            So is Death really evil? Death does its job; it has been since the beginning of time. Sometimes Death goes to those who least expect it, like a thief in the dead of night, surprising not only the alive inhabiting the world, but the person who’s life was stolen. Other times, it shows up after years of learning, loving, experiencing, living, and introduces itself as a friend, because after all, it has been waiting for them.

            Death. It’s inescapable. It’s certain. It’s all consuming. It leaves marks on the living, leaves them frightened for the unknown. Death leaves people questioning the world. How can there be such a thing as not living? What does it mean to be dead? How can someone just not be? But Death is also beautiful. It makes those of us who have the honor, the privilege, of still being here in this world thoughtful, compassionate, and devoted. It shows us what to do and who to do things with; it shows us what we’ve been too blind to see. Death can teach those of us still fortunate enough to breathe and inhale and see this world; how to live, so when the time comes, and Death is on our doorstep, we can greet it like an old friend.

Author's Note

this is my first time writing anything serious, and I hope it doesn't come off like I'm trying to hard, I was just rereading the last harry potter and I wanted to incorporate the deathly hallows story. tell me what you think!

Reviews

[Abeni]

Death sneaks up on anyone, including those who inflict their own evil on others. Sometimes Death does good by taking evil people, evil things, monsters, from our world.

Really good write up Brianna... I love how you portrayed "death" from different point of views, its the most inevitable thing in life

[Stacey]

Hey Brianna,

I really enjoyed reading your story. It was an interesting perspective on death. A lot of people are afraid of death, but I'm not. I work with spirits, so to me, death means killing the physical body. It can't kill me, I'm immortal. Because I am a spirit inside a body. The body dies and rots and decays, but the spirit lives on forever. It's just the death of the physical body. I've actually astral traveled before so I know what it's like in the spirit world. I can have out of body experiences and travel to the spirit world. Plus I've worked with spirits in the physical world as well. I'm very spiritual, and I have a different view of death than some people have. Only my body is dying. Think of it like a turtle. In order for the turtle to live, it has a protective shell. The physical body for me is like a shell to live on this plane. But the shell dies off and decays eventually, but you live on, just in the spirit world. Anyway, I'm rambling on. That's my view of death. Great story though. I enjoyed the read.

Cheers,

Staceyanna