Death of the Widow
In a dusty alley, somewhere in one of the large cities of the world. The soft sobs of misery echo of filthy, stained buildings. Well below the skyline, in the deep shadows screams and cries echo against dingy red brick walls.
A blonde haired woman lay on the ground, crying softly. Her body was thrashed.
As she lay on the ground, a dark shadow begins to approach her. He looks down at the horrible mess at his feet and then curses "Shit I am late. How is the god of death late?!" He grumbles to himself and crouches down next to the battered woman.
"Sorry about my tardiness, you were supposed to die a bit ago." He waves his hand and a black book appears in it and opens to a page.
"Yep here you are, Pamela Robertson, Death by head injury from falling" he looks down at her horrible predicament.
"None of this would have happened if you died on time, do not worry I will make it right to you in the next life" and then a black scythe appears in his hand. He lowers it to her neck and quickly slices it across her skin with a bloody spray of red, ending her suffering.
————————————————
Pamela watches what happens, listening to his words before the life leaves her body. Darkness envelopes her consciousness, She feels like everything has lost touch, numb, and then an explosion of white light. She feels like she is rocketing through the universe, then out of it, then through another universe. So many seem to fly by they turn into a gigantic white blur.
Pamela appears in front of a tall mahogany desk. Intricate ornate scrollings cover it, almost seeming alive and moving. There is an old miserly man, head covered in grey, and small gold spectacles resting across his nose sitting behind it holding a golden quill. She looks around and realizes the ground is squishy, fluffy, and white, like walking on a pillow. She looks out around her and realizes there is this cloud like floor as far as the eye can see.
"NEXT" he shouts in a voice horse and raspy from years of loud use and looks up seeing the blonde haired woman. He looks down at the large bound tome in front of him, turns a few pages of gold covered fillagry in the book in front of him.
He stops and looks at her then back at the book. "Name?" he asks as if checking.
She slowly looks up to him with deep emerald pools. after a moment she says "Pamela Robertson".
The old miser looks at the book again then back at the woman "Please step to the side, I cant reincarnate you".
She blinks her green eyes and stands in front still. "what do you mean you cant reincarnate me? wait, I am being reincarnated?!"
The miser sighs and says again "Step aside please, you have special conditions on your reincarnation, either you were really good, or really bad. Either way, I cant help you, now please get out of line."
"line?" she thinks and then looks behind her. She sees a line of people and creatures as far as the eye can see stretching into the horizon behind her. Pamela's eyes go wide and she quickly steps to the side. The next person steps up, the miser turns to a page, writes something down and then the person disappears in a poof. This continues for some time as she tries to collect her thoughts.
How did she get here? Pamela regretted her decision to walk that night versus taking a cab or calling a ride share. All of her plans dashed at the tender age of 20. She was going to finish school and work her way up the corporate ladder. She had the brains and drive to do it. She had already landed a paid internship under one of the top executives in the city. She knew her devilish looks helped, but she had to go through three rounds of testing just to qualify to interview for the position. Half of her major at the university had taken the tests. She manage to to score in the top 10 on all three. She cursed the fact she didn't score in the top 5 in her heart, that damn 98 in advanced projections and theories.
Then she met those thugs. She saw them loitering on one of the corners and knew she should have turned, but it was too late. By the time she met their eyes, they also met hers. The rest was still vivid in her mind.
Anger seethed through her as she remembered the way they taunted and toyed with her before ultimately violating her. Then she thought of the curious memories right after she lay on the ground wishing for the end. A man in black clothing granted it to her. What did he say again? He was late?
She then began to more clearly remember those final moments, almost burning them into her consciousness. "I suffered.... because he was late?!" she almost shouted out before remembering the line and the miser next to her. She didn't really know what else to do other than wait and watch the line that seemed to never end.
Time seemed to run at a standstill. The cloud she was on seemed to be in a never ending sky with a crystal blue horizon. The light didn't seem to really have any direct source, but there it is.
She did not know how much time had passed when suddenly a cloud of black materialized next to her then quickly evaporated leaving the shadowy man dressed in black. He had black hair that was long, a pale but handsome face,and long black eyelashes that almost seemed feminine. His outfit was somewhere between a tuxedo and a leisure suit decked out on black. He even wore black gloves and black shoes and socks. "He really takes his job seriously...." she thought to herself looking him over.
The God of Death smiled at her, as if almost sensing her thoughts and replied in a deep melancholy voice "I hope you weren't waiting too long, I got lost in the woods on some planet after deciding to take a leisurely walk".
Pamela was struck, did he just say she was waiting cause he was on a walk?! before she couldn't even let out the string of curse words she had for him, he held up his hand and it was as if her body wouldn't let her speak. "I apologize for my tardiness, now I did promise you some benefits for being late to your own funeral. Here is what I am prepared to offer." a Cheshire like grin appearing on his face. "You can either be gifted a luxurious life without a care in the world, but be a regular person, mundane, dreary, boring."His hand moving in a circle while her talks, animating the sublime depressing that comes with such things.... but he paused and grins again. "..... Or you can be gifted a very tough but rewarding life, with a few perks other people will not have. Think of them as a bonus system. Well... what say you?" His voice was soft yet deep with a hint of arrogance, and a sound that could charm a fox. After he finished speaking she felt her body release and allow her to respond.
She had already thought of what she wanted to do while she stood there waiting for him. She wanted vengeance. She wanted to rid what ever world she ended up on from the type of gutter trash scum that did that to her and probably others. Any man that treats women as toys and playthings would pay. As soon as she was able, she replied "I want the second option."
As if delighted he peers at her with a smile like a devil. "Lovely then, You will be put into a slightly modern patriarchal society. " he says with a deft tone. She hoped she would be able to retain some memories, possibly even her final moments. She never wanted to forget them, it was what fueled her new burning desire for vengeance. She smiled secretly hearing that as he continues "You will also be given a custom tailored soul assist, it will be able to grant you certain benefits and develop with you over time. If you play your cards right with it, you might even be able to dominate the entire world if you so desired.BUT...that would all depend on hard work and smart moves." he then stopped and looked her over noticing she was quite the looker after all and asked as if an afterthought after looking her over a few more times. "would you want a new body, or to retain your current body?"
Her smile widens like a kitten that just saw a large saucer of warm milk when he says she can keep her body. She had no idea what would happen if she chose to get a new body, she might even end up as someone with an ugly face. She knew her current body was desirable. She was about 5'5", with long thick legs. Her waist was not slim, but toned. She also had a rocking upper body with twin mountains. She often caught men mesmerized by her when she wore slightly tighter fitting clothing that really showed off her assets.
"I want to keep my current body, and as you owe me one AND " She continues before he can cut her off "I want to decide how my new me is set up" she orders out, wanting some sort of input on what is happening to her and the things she had to suffer cause this man was late.
Death smiles at her "My dear, you are not quite qualified to create your entire new life, How about I allow you to design the layout of your new soul assist?" as if negotiating with a child over what flavor ice cream they could have.
Pamela gritted her teeth, and scowls at him but would not give up, "I want her to have a normal life until she turns 17, and I want to customize her abilities myself. That is my final offer!" this was infact the negotiation of her life... well her new life.
Death smiles brightly then and replies "Done, off you go now, I need to get back to my walk" and waves his hand in front of her.