Another Day at Work

Within a large city made of brick and stone, a mild storm poured down, the nightly stars above hidden by the black clouds.

The streets were primitive, a mix of mud and feces. Horses and carriages moved to a fro through the dirty streets, while passerby's wearing wool robes shielded their heads with whatever was in their hands.

In one of the many dark alleys present in the city, a faint weak crying could be heard.

The alley was dark with various bits of trash on the muddy ground, the foul smell somewhat suppressed by the fresh rain.

Against the alley wall was a shivering figure in a hooded cloak holding a ball of cloth in their arms.

"There there, mommy is here.." A strained voice could be heard from the cloaked figure.

The extremely weak cry of a baby could be heard the ball of cloth.

"I'm here, it's okay.. " The cloaked figure muttered while holding back tears.

Inside the ball of cloth was a tightly wrapped baby. The small baby's eyes were red and it's skin was sallow and it's cheeks were sunken.

"Baby.. I'm sorry mommy is so useless.. " Wind blew against the hood of the cloaked figure revealing the face of a young woman.

Her face was devoid of any fat with hollow eyes, protruding cheek bones and thin dry lips. It seemed as if she hadn't eaten for weeks.

The cries of the baby grew weaker as the woman began to sob loudly.

"I'm sorry baby.."

Eventually the cries of the baby stopped and all that was left was the crying woman, alone in the dark alley.

As the woman cried, the rain began to slow it's fall, eventually stopping in mid air.

The woman had frozen in place with a grieving expression on her face, it seemed as if time had completely stopped.

From down the dark alley a hazy figure slowly appeared, it was a man wearing an old black business suit and a long grey over coat, with various small faces on it.

Grim walked towards the cloaked woman and stopped in front of her. His body vibrated and then several after images appeared by his side.

Those after images eventually turned solid, becoming complete copies of Grim.

Several of Grim's copies continued walking down the alleyway while others disappeared through the building walls.

As Grim stood over the cloaked woman, he let out a tired sigh. "For a newborn soul to be born into such circumstances.. truly unfortunate."

Grim reached towards the small baby and with his hands, he pulled a spectral baby from the it's corpse.

Grim held the baby gently while observing it with his pale glowing eyes.

The spectral baby was chubby and had eyes filled with curiosity, it cooed as it pulled against Grim's finger.

Grim smiled as he muttered. "I'll never get used to this."

Grim held the spectral baby closely and then his body shimmered before disappearing.

The rain continued pouring down and the cloaked woman's sobs could be heard clearly once again.

...

Grim reappeared in an old apartment room with the spectral baby in hand.

The room was warm and smelled of jasmine, the floor below was covered in an old 70's style carpet, on the yellow papered walls were several pictures of cats. The furniture looked old, and the two glass cases that leaned against the walls held various antiques.

In the center of the room was a lavish, comfy looking couch which a big television was playing in front of it. On the screen was what looked to be a drama show.

Sitting on the couch was a middle aged woman wearing pajamas and bunny slippers.

"Oh it's you again?" The woman said while waving her hand in the air lazily.

Grim faintly smiled and replied. "Sorry for the trouble."

"I don't mind, it's your soul points. In the end, I get payed.. though don't you find it a hassle Grim? It would be fine if those newborn souls get sent to oblivion, more will appear anyway. It's not like they're even that intelligent yet." The woman replied.

Grim shook his head and sighed. "You wouldn't understand Meng, anyway, I get so many soul points anyways so it doesn't bother me. There's never a moment that someone isn't dying or is in need of ferrying to the other side."

Meng grumbled. "Whatever, you know where it is. Make sure that you only take one cookie, I didn't bake them so you could eat them all." Before focusing on the television again.

Grim walked past the couch and through one of the archways finding a spotless kitchen.

The kitchen was modern with sleek, spotless design. The checkered tiles below made a crisp sound every time Grim's boots hit them. On the kitchen bench was a plate of freshly made cookies which made Grim's stomach rumble.

Beside the white refrigerator was a large 1980's vending machine. At the very top was a neon sign with the words, "Po's Premium Coffee" on it.

Grim looked at the vending machine's drink options which were all brightly lit with glowing white lights, their respective buttons all below the pictures.. Although the machine said coffee, it also included other beverages some of which were beer, coffee, tea, soup, warm milk etc.

Grim pressed the warm milk button after which the icon changed to a glass. He pressed the button several times until the glass turned into a baby's milk bottle.

Satisfied, Grim looked to the side where a glowing red hand print was. Above the hand print was the words. "Pay Here"

Grim put his hand against the hand print which fit perfectly and felt thousands of soul points leaving his body.

A loud "Ding" could be heard after which Grim removed his hand from the handprint. A rumbling sound came from the machine and then a thud.

Grim reached down, pulled back the plastic flap and reached into the machine.

Feeling something warm, Grim pulled his hand out and found a plastic baby bottle filled with warm milk.

The spectral baby in his arms became excited when it saw the bottle. It moved restlessly in his arms letting out cute sounds.

Grim chuckled and held the bottle to the baby's lips. The sucked greedily on the bottle with a blissful expression.

When the baby had emptied the milk bottle, it let out a giggle before disappearing in a flash of light. The botte Grim was holding also disappeared leaving Grim alone in the kitchen.

"Goodbye little one." Grim smiled. He then grabbed a couple cookies from the plate and disappeared.

...

Grim reappeared in a field of golden wheat. The sun was shining brightly in the skies with brilliant white clouds in the background.

Grim walked through the wheat, feeling the gentle wind on his face.

After a minute, he saw a familiar hill in the distance on which there rested a familiar house.

Peals of laughter could be heard from inside.

Grim grinned as he muttered. "I wonder what Laura has cooked for dinner today?"