Page 25 of Living with Death

“I do.”

I nod. “Okay, it's settled. A bucket list for Mabel and Azrael.” I cover my mouth when an unexpected yawn creeps up on me.

“Tired?” he asks.

“A little. Do you sleep?”

His eyes light. “I’m Death. I don’t need sleep.”

I shake my head, exhaling. “This is all… this is just crazy to me.” I rub my forehead.

“I can understand that. As you said, it's not every day a person has a conversation with Death.”

“You said you usually don't speak to people before they die, but do they speak to you?”

“Only one person has ever spoken to me.”

“Really?” I ask. “Out of all the humans you've taken souls from, only one?”

He nods, looking forlorn. He murmurs, “It shocked me, too.”

“Hmm,” I say thoughtfully. “Do you speak to others? I mean, others like you?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“So you're not entirely alone then.”

“I never said I was alone.”

“Right. There's a difference between being alone and being lonely.” Perhaps he means you can feel lonely even when surrounded by others, and that I do understand. I grab the pillow beside me, placing it on my lap as I rest my chin. “We have to come up with a story.”

“A story?” he questions.

“On how we met. Sam will be asking me many questions, and I need to be able to answer them, and you need to have something to tell people when they ask you.”

He thinks about this. “Do you have any suggestions?”

“I told her we grew up together, so I have to stick with that now,” I recall where her imagination went, and I feel myself smile.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing.”

“That smile isn't nothing. Tell me.”

My cheeks heat. “Sam thinks we were in love, and you broke my heart.”

The corner of his eyes crinkle. “I don't like that story.”

I shrug. “Okay. What are you thinking then?” I rub my fingers against the edge of the pillow.

“Let's say we grew up together, and I moved away.” He places his pizza slice down. “We lost touch, and I'm back in town to handle my father's death. My mother told me where you were living, I was coming to visit, and I found you on the side of the road.”

“Well, it's not all false. You were coming to handle death, and you were with me on the side of the road.”

He agrees, “And I'm the one who got you to the hospital.”

“I didn't know that.”

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