Member-only story
“I Forgive You,” She Said
He wasn’t ready for a life together with her, but maybe someday he would be.
“I’m sick of this,” Death said after one too many late nights in the office. His assistant Ola offered him a tight-lipped smile as he sorted through more bureaucratic paperwork. Stacks upon stacks looked ready to tip over at any moment. It was a wonder he himself had not suffocated from the sheer amount of dead trees in the room. “You’d think my job would get easier as people live longer.”
“Yes, well, it’s a necessary evil, sir,” Ola said. “If you don’t do your job, the earth will be overpopulated in no time. We’re already having trouble as it is with crowd control.”
“Crowd control,” Death said, sneering at the term. “When did we become so heartless? You’d think after a few thousand years we’d know how chaotic it becomes when we lose sight of what matters most.”
“And what matters most, sir?” Ola asked, curious.
“The heart,” he said softly, as if the words embarrassed him in just their need to be released out into the world like they were a bird being set free from a cage.
Ola sighed. “Fairy tales, sir. And you’d best be careful. What if the boss were to hear you?”
