When Death Ceases to Exist

And everything, why? Because someone is going to die? And that? We will all die; Death will also die.

The little man in the tile, Manuel Mujica Láinez

Death raises his white fingers and walks slowly around a mouse. There, in the whole universe, there is no more life than this. The mission is clear, and Death knows it, the little rodent has spent his time on earth, he has to disappear.

But it is difficult. Death walks slowly, leaving a trail of decomposition that springs with pestilence from his long and torn black robe. Not that he has a particular problem with killing the mouse, he has done it since the beginning of time, suffice to sink one of his long and dirty nails in the creature to stop the its heartbeat. But Death fears death, fears to die.

That tiny mammal is the only thing that keeps Death alive. Death needs life from other beings to exist, because life is his antithesis, what completes him. Without life, there is nothing that can die, if there is nothing that can die, there is no death. If he buries his finger in the creature, and does his work, he will cease to exist. The universe will again be a wide and empty stage, an infinite and cold space, where comets move, stars shine but none of that matters, because there would be no one to experience it.

So many centuries being the gatekeeper of nothingness did not prepare Death for this moment. He never really understood the crying of people, the suffering, the fear of the unknown. Never acknowledged the bitterness of his work until this moment, the moment when the cosmos will finally be silent, the moment when killing means to die.

Death began to fly slowly around the mouse, who didn't seem to understand what was happening, and just moved thoughtlessly his little feet through the grass. Death sought solutions, find another mate to perpetuate the species, to be able to continue working, but it was useless, his was not the gift of making, but of taking. The rodent was the only thing left standing, and there was no turning back.

He slowly descended to the animal and stretched his nail to the belly, but hesitated. The dread of non-existence overcame the dark executioner. He drew his finger in a jolt and jumped away from the creature, and began to cry bitterly, he did not want to stop thinking, he did not want to give up, it was not one more death, it was the death of all deaths ... the death of Death.

He sat down in a rock and observed how the mouse moved through the parched grass. He had decided not to claim his life. Death just remained there, scared and helpless while the years passed. Centuries and millennia went by, and he and the mouse were the unique witnesses of the eternal spectacle called the universe. The sobs of Death did not cease, he knew that sooner or later he would have to bury his nail, that everything would end forever.

Author Notes: Find me on twitter @Cristobalheiss

Recommend Write a ReviewReport