Page 52 of Living with Death

“Did you enjoy your time here?” It’s always a question I wish to ask before they go. I feel some did, and others, it’s tragic how much they wanted to leave this world.

He twirls the wedding band on his finger, studying it. It’s aged, the gold no longer shiny. He laughs lightly, but there’s a sadness there. “Would have done a few things differently if given a chance.” He lifts his chin, and there’s a shine in his eyes. “Many things.”

“You lived to be an old man. Some aren’t as lucky. What are you, eighty?”

“Yes. And how old are you?”

I smile. “Very old.” A photo catches my eye. “Who is that?”

He follows my gaze. “My granddaughter, Mabel. She’s the light of my life.”

I stand, walking over to the photo. It’s current––taken only weeks ago, considering how the man looks the same as he does now.

She is beautiful. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Fire-red hair and freckles sprinkled across her cheeks and nose. Behind black frames, I see vivid green eyes, the color of emeralds. Her smile is genuine, like she couldn’t fake it if she tried, causing an unfamiliar feeling to swarm in my chest and my veins to tingle.

How odd.

“Do me a favor,” the old man says. “After I’m gone, will you check in on her? Make sure she’s getting along okay?”

I turn to look at him, feeling the light in my eyes brighten. “Yes,” I whisper. I look back at the photo. “It will be my honor.”

I walk over to him. “Have you done everything you wished to do?”

He nods. “I guess so.”

I give him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fast and painless.”

He sits back in the chair, and I touch his arm. His spirit secedes from his body. A white light appears and, within moments, vanishes, taking him with it.

I look down at the older man's body before gazing back at the photo. A cell phone sits on the table. I pick it up, flipping it open. In the contacts, I find Mabel, and I press call. It rings several times before a young woman’s voice sounds on the other end. “Hello.”

Ah,hello, darling.

Chapter Sixteen

I scan a bag of Lay’s potato chips, and Jason tosses them into the recyclable tote. It’s been two days now since I’ve seen Azrael. Why would he disappear? I don’t understand. I’ve been saying that a lot since he showed up. What happened that made him leave?

“It does not make sense.”

“I know. That’s what I’ve been saying. Those chips shouldn’t be five dollars a bag,” the lady in front of me says.

I blink at her. Has she been talking to me this whole time? I look at the screen and see they rang up for that much.

“What’s on the screen is what they are,” I say.

She huffs, “I don’t want them.”

“Fine.” I turn around. “Robbie, can you void this out, please?”

He walks over, and I move out of the way.

“I can’t believe you are charging five dollars for a bag of chips.”

“Prices have gone up on everything, ma’am. Nothing we can do about it.”

“Well, I’ll just have to go somewhere else to get my groceries from now on.”

Did Azrael go back to the In-Between and hang out there? Is he working? Of course, he’s working. People don’t just stop dying.

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