At first glance Ebony Thanato looks like any other 8 year old girl. Her big, bright blue eyes are full of life and she always wears her pitch black hair in pigtails. She often has a smile on her pale face that stretches so far it's a wonder her freckle covered cheeks aren't sore.
The one thing that makes her different then all the other 8 year olds is her family. Ebony is an only child and like many people has loving parents, which seems pretty normal so far. Her dad, however, is Death.
Now Death doesn't always walk around wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe, he only does that when he's working. And this is where our story begins.
It's April 23 which means today is the day that young Ebony has been patiently waiting to arrive. Today is take your child to work day! Ebony has been counting down the days until this very moment where she gets to go to work with her dad.
For this special day her mom made her a black robe of her own. She had her hair in pigtails (as usual) and was waiting by the front door, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
After 5 agonizing minutes her dad walked down the stairs, kissed her mom goodbye, and grabbed Ebony's tiny hand. "Ready to go buttercup?" He asks, smiling down at the excited child.
"I've been ready for ages, daddy!" She replies, tugging on her father's hand.
Death only chuckles as he picks her up (teleporting with Ebony is easier if she's held) and steps out the front door.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Death and Ebony quickly arrive at their first stop, a hospital. "We have a couple of souls to collect here." Death tells his daughter. He places her back on the ground and gently holds her hand.
Ebony's big eyes wander around each room, wondering which people are about to take their last breath. Rather than asking like many young children would do, Ebony stays silent. Instead she observes each face she passes carefully.
She only looks to her father when they come to a stop inside a room. Death looks down and starts explaining, "This is the intensive care unit in the hospital. This man here is Roger Goodwin. He's 82 and has pancreatic cancer."
"Where's his family?" Ebony asks. She's looking at the old man, who seems to be struggling to breathe. She slowly walks up to the bed, grabbing the man's hand to give him some sort of comfort in his last moments.
"He doesn't have anyone left. But he is a Vietnam Veteran. I'm sure there will be many people who mourn his death." With that being said, Death takes his hand and slowly waves it over the man's chest. Roger stops breathing - the heart monitor on the right of the bed goes flat.
Ebony looks up to see the old man standing beside his body, "We're here to help you to the after life, Mr. Goodwin!" Ebony speaks, startling the man.
Roger blinks a few times, "Death is a little girl?"
"No silly! Death is my dad. I'm just helping him with work today."
Despite knowing that he just died, Roger can't help the smile that starts appearing on his face. "Well, I'll be honored to get help from you."
Ebony beams, "You're okay knowing that you just died?"
"I'm old. And now I can be reunited with my wife."
Death waves his hand, opening a portal for Roger to make it to his afterlife. "You've had a good life, Roger. Step through here when you're ready. You will be able to relive the good parts of your life and then you will have a choice: stay there in an afterlife or reincarnate. Rest in Peace, Roger Goodwin."
Roger nods, letting Death know he understood. He takes a breath and steps through the portal. Once he's through, Roger is enveloped in a white light and the portal closes.
"One more stop in the hospital then we can move on." Death says to his daughter, grabbing her hand once more.
Once they made it to their next location Death started to explain to his daughter what was happening, "This is the newborn ward. This baby girl is named Clara Headly. She was born premature and is only a few hours old."
"She's not going to live?" Ebony looks up at her dad. Her blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Unfortunately no, buttercup. Sometimes the world is cruel and humans die too young. Her family will mourn but they will never forget her." Death then raises his hand, taking Clara's soul out of her body and sending it through the portal.
"Does she get the option of staying in the afterlife or reincarnation?"
"When a human is too young to decide they get reincarnated no matter what. This gives them the chance to live a life longer than their last." Ebony nods, her pigtails shaking with the movement. She lifts her arms up indicating that she's ready to move to the next location.
*_*_*_*_*_*
The next location was on the highway. There was a bad car accident, "This is Allison Leavy, she's 16. Allison recently got her driver's license. She was texting and driving when she crashed."
The emergency vehicles didn't have the chance to arrive before Death waved his hand and collected her soul. "I'm dead?" The beautiful blonde girl asked, looking at death.
"I'm afraid so, young one."
"This is all my fault. How could I be so stupid?" Allison shoved her head into her hands. She flinched when she felt tiny arms wrapped around her. Peeling her hands away from her face she looked down. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ebony. Death is my dad. I'm sorry that you died. But please don't call yourself stupid. Everyone makes mistakes."
Death nodded in agreement, "You're family and friends will mourn of course, but this will be a lesson for many other people. Now when you're ready please step through this portal-"
Allison cuts him off, "Can I see my parent's one last time?"
Death nods, "Yes, I can bring you to them." In an instant the three are in front of a couple. They sit happily together watching a movie, unaware of the phone call they are about to receive.
Before that time comes Allison looks back at Death, "Okay, I'm ready."
"Once you move through the portal you will get the option to reincarnate or continue in an afterlife. If you choose the afterlife you will be able to continue to look after them."
Allison nods and walks through the portal, being swallowed by the bright white light.
*_*_*_*_*_*
"This is the last one today, buttercup." Death says when they arrive at the next stop. They are outside a gas station, cops are surrounding the building. "The man in there is 43 year old Arnold Bommer."
"What's he doing?" Ebony asks, looking at the crowd around her.
"He's trying to rob the place."
"So he's bad?"
"Sometimes good people do bad things. Arnold isn't a bad person but he's in a bit of a rough patch. He doesn't want to hurt anyone which is why he's only going to act like he will. He wants to die and this is how he is going to get his way."
The man steps out and raises his gun. Before he gets the chance to shoot, one of the cops does. Arnold drops to the ground at Death's feet. Death reaches down and waves a hand over the bloody body, setting his soul free.
Looking up, Ebony sees the man staring down at his body. "Thank you." He whispers.
Death, like all the people before Arnold, explains what is about to happen as he opens the portal to the afterlife. Once the words leave Death's mouth, Arnold walks through, never looking back.
"What happens to someone who is really bad when they die?" Ebony asks her dad.
"They will get punished for a certain amount of years, depending on what they did that was bad. And when their punishment ends they will be given the option to reincarnate and try to live a good life or they will cease to exist."
"So they will never be in a good afterlife?"
"No, buttercup. If someone was really bad while they were alive they do not get the option of having a good afterlife." Death studies his daughter's face as he pauses, allowing her to take in the information.
"This job is never easy. I see a lot of humans taken from this world before they ever get the chance to truly live. Seeing family and friends react to the loss of a loved one can be heart wrenching. Sometimes the dead person themselves doesn't take the news easily. But this job also allows me the chance to really admire the time humans do have on this Earth."