Rendezvous with a Stranger
A man sat on the edge of a bed in a dark room, staring at nothing with an intense glare. It was a little past two in the morning and still he had gotten no rest. The man's name was William Bretz, as if that made a difference. He had an appointment with a stranger named Death, who did not care whether his name was William, Tyler, or Sue for that matter. The clock in the adjacent bathroom ticked, counting the countless seconds in a day, and still he stared at the wall. Waiting for Death is both a boring and intense stretch of time. As William stared at that wall, contemplating how Death would come for him, he heard silent whispers outside his door. He was here.
Deciding that it was probably best to give a good first impression, William buttoned up his dress shirt, smoothed back his hair, and walked to the door. He was surprised at what he found. At the door of apartment 206, there sat a great white wolf. Puzzled, William asked,''Sorry, but...are you Death?'' The wolf said nothing as it trotted past William and into his apartment. ''Excuse me, but I happen to have an appointment with him and it's very im-.''
The wolf snapped at him, ''Silence. Close the door.'' William did as he was told, still unsure of what to make of this situation.
The wolf jumped onto William's bed and laid down, looking at him with a pensive stare. After several minutes of this the great wolf broke the silence, ''It is I, Death. I apologize for my tardiness, but the Powers wanted an evaluation before we go through with the procedure.''
Leaping off the bed with grace, Death then circled William, who was still standing off by the door showing no emotions besides curiosity.
''No medical problems...You don't work at a hazardous job..and you're emotionally stable,'' Death glanced up at William,''What to do with you?'' Death stopped circling and grinned. It wasn't a menacing grin, but a friendly one. ''Do you like blood, William?''
He was thrown by the question. Never, in his 22 years has he ever been asked if he liked blood. ''Why...yes?''
Death nodded, satisfied. ''Good, then it's settled. In approximately thirty seconds a gang fight will break out across the street. In four minutes you will get shot in the heart. Give or take ten seconds you will be dead. Have a wonderful rest of your life.'' As Death sauntered toward the now open door, he stopped and glanced back. ''Oh, and management seems very eager to see you.'' A quick wag of the tail and Death was gone. This was the last thing William saw as a stray bullet pierced his heart.
I was thinking of writing more on this, following William through the afterlife and making it sort of a fantasy adventure. I won't be able to post more then this, since I will be busy for the next few weeks. Tell me what you guys think though.
