Dark.
I see nothing but dark.
Dark is all I can see.
I walked around to feel, but there is only nothing.
I am dead.
It was around midnight when I thought about walking to the nearest convenience store to grab some grub. As I was crossing the road, I was hit by a speeding car. I faintly hear someone calling an ambulance, but I don't think they ever reached me. After all, I am now dead.
In this oblivion I travel, I felt something for the first time. It was wet, then it felt hard, like wood. Before I knew it, I was already in a boat, sailing towards a light. I don't care about my life anyway. I'm a failure of a person. And I will not try to fight it. To struggle. To keep on living.
For I am dead. And I won't regret it.
Perhaps this is the end. The curtains of my life are closing. Then I remembered. Aren't I supposed to be sailing further from the light? This is wrong. This is very wrong!
I tried to find a paddle, but to no avail. To my desperation, I used my arms and hands to paddle away from the light.
Faster, faster!
I'm getting closer to the light. Please don't let me near the light. No, please! Let me stay dead!
As I was paddling on, the waves seems slowing down on moving. And it completely stopped. But now, I am falling.
This is it. My final hour. My last breath. I am now dead.
Crash. Huh? It seems I fall down into a library. A vast library. It was quite eerie, and surprisingly comfortable. The walls are decorated with white candles lit up by a blue flame. I checked my surrounding and noticed my boat completely wrecked and no way of saving. I walked on this forest of books and reached the center. There was a black chandelier resembling a dead tree. And underneath it, was a young man wearing a black robe and a black tuxedo. He has white hair and boney cheeks. He's reading quite an interestingly looking book, with its maroon cover and there's nothing written on it.
"I see you have reached this library."
He stood up from his throne, and floated towards me. He landed on his feet and closed his book.
"Nice to meet you, may I know your name?"
"Uhhh... Cali. Calliope Mendez."
"Calliope, huh? Interesting." His black eyes glowed and suddenly, a white book dashed to him and read it. The cover of that book has my name on it.
"Hmmm... Born in September 27, 2002 and died... just now." His deep voice emanates around the library. "So, what do you seek?"
"Perhaps, you should tell me your name first. It's bad manners to ask for someone's name and not tell yours."
"Oh, my humble apologies. Ms. Calliope." He closed the book and sat back on his throne. His eyes glowed once again, and this time, I felt heavy. I am pulled towards him and a coffee table was set before us. A floating tea set serves us black tea.
"Do you want sugar? There's a bottle of it to the right."
"No thanks. I don't want to drink anyway."
"Oh... okay then." The tea set then burned blue and a menacing laugh formed it its ashes.
"Well then, how am I supposed to start? You see, in different times and culture, I have different names. Some call me Shinigami, some call me Kamatayan. Perhaps, you could call me Death."
"What?" I am shocked. Genuinely shocked. This man I'm talking right now is the one, and only Death. The reason of many sufferings. The end. The Omega. Death.
"It seems you are at shocked. You are probably surprised to how I look. Perhaps I should change my look to suit your taste." Death became pitch-black, like a black hole absorbing light, and reappeared as a skeleton, with worn robes and a scythe on his back. "Do you feel comfortable right now?"
"No, please go back to how you look before. You just look more of a monster than something humane."
"But I am a monster."
"I don't care. Just change already."
"Oh."
The convenient darkness came back, and the white-haired man returned. Wait, is he blushing?
cough, cough "Anyway, young lady Calliope, what is it that you seek within the confines of this library?"
"I am not looking for anything. Mr. Death."
"But that's odd. You may be the only person that reached this library that looks for nothing. I have encountered many different lifeforms in this place. Scholars and philosophers reaching enlightenment. Prisoners finding freedom. Tortured souls finding peace. And destructive souls finding calmness and serenity. So, please, tell me, what is it that you seek?"
"Like I said, I am not looking for anything."
"Perhaps, you are not looking. But, you are the one being searched. Can you tell me how your life was before you die?"
"It is quite a long story."