Life was in Malibu. Chilling at the beach was his favorite thing ever. He just sat there on the golden sand, sucking his Popsicle and staring at the sunset. Sitting there, he wondered what his younger brother must be doing at the moment… Was his heart really into this girl? From what he had heard from Death about her, she was just a teenager, a mere sixteen-year-old for whom the world was a cage. Well, weren't all teenagers the same? Picky and Stupid? Life knew that even though Death never admitted to his heart's desires, he was developing feelings for this girl. Except for the girl's age, Life knew that the girl was an Indian and that her name was Shiuli. Or was it Shooli?
"Alone out here huh?"
Life was pulled out of his chain of thoughts by a dark man in his bright red swimming shorts. The man looked like he was in his early thirties and his face was inhumanly handsome. The man sat down next to Life and looked ahead in the direction of the endless ocean waters. His eyes were coal-black and his skin color ebony. His abs popped out of his body in the most beautiful symmetry. Life was jealous of how manly and handsome this man looked in comparison to him.
"Oh hey! How are you, my dear friend? Long time no see." Life put up a fake smile of surprise.
"Actually it's been over two million years now. Anyways, I am good, like always and I am here to talk to you about something really important."
"Important? If Time says it's important then it must be really important!"
Life threw sarcasm at Time like he'd thrown his Popsicle stick in the dustbin. Time seemed to have caught it mid-air and rolled his eyes at the pretty, boyish face of his friend. Actually, they 'used' to be friends and that was when the human species hadn't even evolved completely! They used to run around the vast forests of the Gondwana lands and joke around. Life would create new creatures who made funny noises while Time would stop the 'time' right when a T-rex was about to attack them. It was their daily routine and they had loved each other like the best of the friends, but it all fell into shreds when they grew up and started taking their jobs more seriously. Time became really busy with the job of maintaining proper time in the universe while Life grew jealous of them all. Time tried his best to establish their friendship again, but Life wasn't really interested in anything other than jealousy and hatred.
"I am sent here by the Moon herself and she wants to know what in the world are the two of you up to?"
"Two of who?" Life laughed, "Me and…. who?"
"Your brother, Death."
"What are we up to? Nothing really. Other than creating new lives and taking away old and stinky souls… nothing… why? Is something wrong?"
"You know you two can't hide anything from the Moon! Then why even try? She is really pissed and all your sarcasm and childish blabbering, do it in front of her… not me." Time added, "Why are you guys destroying the balance of the universe when you should be maintaining it? You two aren't kids anymore."
"Woah! Calm down, boy! Chill out! You are at the beach."
"Don't try to calm me down! I don't understand why she thought I would be able to put some sense into your nonexistent brain. You just don't get it, do you? Why are you granting immortality to humans in exchange for assistance? This is interfering with the balance of the universe! Humans are supposed to be mortals. They are created that way. I thought at least Death will be sensible enough to understand the working of the universe, but no! I was wrong! Both of you are the same!"
"I can't do my work alone. My job is too complex to do it all by myself. Mother wouldn't let me have any creatures for assistance so I made myself some among the humans. They will do anything for immortality, you know. Well, they offer me huge sums of money in exchange! It's like they are paying for their own employment."
"Why do you need human currency? You are a creature assigned the task of creating new life on this planet! You don't need to run around collecting cash which is useless to the creatures."
"It's just fun… you won't understand."
It was true that human currency was useless for the creatures. They were immortal beings themselves and they did not require sleep or food for survival, but Life enjoyed watching the humans give away all their property and possessions in order to attain immortality. Life loved looking at the people quiver and beg before him to make them immortal. First, they agree to give away their entire life's earnings. Second, they agreed to be his slaves as long as the universe continued to exist. Wasn't it fun after all?
Life got up and brushed off the back of his shorts. He spread his arms wide and inhaled deeply the pure ocean breeze. Life is refreshing. He looked down at Time and smiled. Time was scrutinizing Life's actions in his mind and was staring at his ex-friend with disgust. Life knew that Time loathed Life as much as he loathed them all… all those creatures who considered themselves superior to him. The waves of the ocean were getting higher by the time and Life had a feeling that his mother, the Moon was really unhappy at the moment. Life offered a hand to Time, but he got up anyway, ignoring Life's meaningless kindness. Time kept staring at Life for another moment and then finally broke the silence.
"Why did you become a monster?" Time's eyes were pained, "We all loved you… then why?"
"Because the love was not enough… that's why! You know me the best, don't you? Then you should know that I am always greedy for more… I need more of everything."
"Greed always results in destruction, Life. You have chosen the path of destruction and from what I see… there is no regret in your eyes."
"Regret always results in weakness, my dear friend." Life giggled, "I stole your lines and modified them a little… hope you don't mind."
"It's time for you to act according to the will of the universe. Don't forget that our existence is for a noble purpose and if we forget that nobility of the purpose, there is no meaning to our existence. You are Life… you of all people should know that."
Life wanted to slap Time so hard that his existence comes to an end. This was the problem with the creatures. Life hated them to the extent where he was ready to kill them sometimes… like stabbing them or something, but as the creatures were all immortal, it was impossible to kill them. Right now, when Time was being all annoying and rude to him, Life wanted to actually kill him. Oh, I hate him so much. Life looked away from Time for a brief moment and looked back with a sharp and stabbing gaze.
"Let's just talk about the reason you are here. Let's not talk nonsense."
"This is the reason I am here, Life. Your inefficiency!"
"Uh-huh!" Life replied, "You are here because you got to know that Death just saved a dying soul and made her his assistant. He is following in my footsteps and that's what he should be doing! He is my baby brother after all."
"Come on… We both know Death. He would never do something that would threaten to destroy the balance of the universe. I am sure you had something to do with it. You always boss around him anyway."
"Look. I know Death is all goody-good. The youngest of all creatures, yet the most sincere and smart, but in this case, it was his fault. He himself came running to me, asking to spare the girl's soul. I had no choice… I love my brother… I had to help him, so I asked him to make her his assistant and live happily ever after. Simple."
"Spare a human soul… that too a girl?" Time laughed sarcastically, "You make up nice stories to cover up your mess, Life."
"If you don't believe me, why don't you go and ask Death yourself? You sure trust him more than me."
***
Time was in Chicago. He was here to meet Death and ask him questions on why he was collaborating with Life on his disastrous deeds. Time was the wisest among all the creatures. He was thus always asked to look after the functioning of the creatures himself. This time when the Moon had asked him to go put some sense into Life's head, he hadn't imagined it to be Death's fault. Was it really his fault? Time couldn't believe that Death would do something as horrific as this. Making human assistants for the sake of help is still acceptable to some level, but doing the same for the sake of certain "feelings" was really unacceptable to a whole new level. Time was actually really disappointed in Death.
Time was walking the streets of Chicago with total amazement. The last time he had been here was 5670 years ago to be precise. This city had developed so much since the last time he had seen it. All around him were giant sky-scrapers that were so big that Time's eyes couldn't see the top. Time wondered among which of these buildings was Death supposed to meet him. He was standing outside a building with Mcdonald's written on it and he spotted Death walking toward him with his cold stare and a fancy briefcase.
"Why did you want to see me?" Death frowned, "What's so important now?"
"It's something really important and we will have to do a lot of talking. So, let's go inside this restaurant and chat over burgers and cola… What say?"
"Whatever."
Time and Death walked into Mcdonald's with so much grace that everyone turned to look at them. Time was wearing a beige trench coat with black trousers. Death was in his usual black suit and they looked stunning. Two young girls from a corner table started giggling as soon as they looked at them and a pair of men frowned at them with a hint of jealousy. They sat down at a corner table, away from all the adoring and criticizing stares.
"Now tell me. What brings you here?"
"What do you think you will achieve by destroying the balance of the universe, huh? What did you think? Just because you are the youngest and the Moon's son, we will spare you?"
"What? What have I done wrong? I don't understand! Be clear."
"You really don't understand, do you?" Time sighed with annoyance, "Why are you becoming like Life? I heard from the Moon about you sparing a girl's soul and letting Life make her immortal… the worst part is that you are going to keep her as your apprentice! We had high hopes for you, Death. This was not expected from you at all."
"Look… I just couldn't take away her soul… she was young and had dreams yet to be fulfilled. I just couldn't! There is no explanation to it and well, I went to Life asking not for an assistant or her immortality… I just wanted her to live until she achieves all that she ever wanted to achieve. I didn't even inform her about the immortal part yet."
"Dreams you say? How many souls have you mercilessly taken away who weren't fortunate enough to fulfill their dreams? Millions? Perhaps Billions? What is this sudden show of mercy, Death?"
"I told you… there is no explanation for this."
Time stared at this creature with awe. That mortal girl, whoever she was… had done something to Death's feelings. The Creatures were merciless and heartless creations. There was no concept of romance among them. Love surely existed, but only between family and friends. Creatures never felt for humans or any other organisms, ever. There was something going on inside Death's dark heart that was pouring in light that was not supposed to enter there. Time abruptly got up from his chair and went over to the counter to order two hamburgers and colas. Time didn't know how to report all this to the Moon. It was very strange.
Time walked back with their food without even looking at Death. He kept staring at his burger and spoke slowly.
"So… It was Life's idea to make the girl immortal? And… he wanted you to keep her as your assistant? You just wanted to let her live longer?"
"Yes."
"Hope you understand that sparing souls who are supposed to be taken is a grave mistake as well…"
"Yes… and I am ready for any punishment mother has to give me."
"You will surely be punished, but before that, I have another important matter to look into…"
***
Love was in New Delhi. Sitting in an apartment that she was renting for the time being. She was waiting for Time to arrive… Time had called Love a while ago and informed her that he urgently wanted to meet her. Love knew it was bad news. Time was her cousin brother and he was the wisest of all creatures. He was the one who looked after the smooth functioning of the universe along with the Moon… and if he wanted to meet her, there was definitely something wrong. As far as Love could remember, she hadn't done anything wrong… ever.
The doorbell rang and Love rushed to the door to greet her brother. He was wearing a Turquoise kurta and jeans and Love was already making points in her brain to appoint herself as his stylist. Love asked for Time to sit down and she rushed to get samosas and chai. Love loved Indian food. That was her favorite. She sat down opposite Time in a bean bag and mentally asked herself to stay calm.
"How are you, cousin brother?"
"I am fine. Well, I don't have much time and this is important… so, I have some questions to ask and I want you to answer them with clarity."
"Did I do something wrong brother?" Love went pale, "Is everything okay?"
"Nothing's wrong… just wanted to enquire about certain things."
"Go on then."
Time slowly sipped his chai and took a bite off his samosa. It was spicy but delicious. Time rarely got to have Indian food. As the creatures did not have any nationality, they lived in any country they wanted to. Life preferred Paris, Death preferred the South Pole, Love preferred India, and Time preferred Australia. They did not have any specific reasons for liking these countries, but maybe it was the culture. Other creatures existed too and were scattered all across the universe. Only Life, Death, Love, Faith, and Time lived on Earth.
"India is a beautiful country, Love."
"Yes… indeed it is."
"Well, why is it that the creatures cannot fall in love?"
"Creatures? Brother… we love too… love is something that has to exist in everything so that the universe isn't destroyed. Love is the savior of the universe. It is impossible to not love. We all love ourselves, don't we?"
"Yes, I know… But I am talking about romance… we creatures are not forged for romance."
"That is because we don't have the time and heart for romance. Our hearts are wired to be strong and wild… We are the creations of the universe that looks after the universe itself! We love our kind as family and kin because we need each other for better functioning. We all need each other's love in the form of respect and support. Romance and love… maybe they conjure the same feeling of affection towards someone, but love for family and kin makes us strong, while the love for someone which is romance… makes us weak! We want to give up everything for that one person. Our soul, our entire being starts revolving around that one person… and the worst part of romance is that we start loving that one person more than ourselves! It is a disaster! We love our family and kin, but we can live without being around them all the time, but when romance is in the heart… You can't live without that person."
"So… Romance is a human feeling?"
"Not only humans but all organisms on earth. That's what makes them weak, but beautiful, brother."
"But you said romantic love is a disaster… then how can it make someone beautiful?"
"That's something that is unexplainable, dear brother." Love smiled, "I am Love… I maintain the balance of love in the universe, but I have never felt romance. I am a creature after all. But, one thing about romance is that it is not a product of thought or… situation… It just happens."
"So… It can happen to anyone at any time?"
"Yes and sometimes you have no clue that you have fallen for a stranger! This makes it so pure! Love is the purest emotion in the world brother, but romance is the purer form of love itself."
Love wondered why Time was asking her about romance… Time of all the creatures should be the most uninterested in such humane topics. Time looked at Love and smiled. He thanked her for her hospitality and the knowledge she had given him. Just as he was about to walk out of the main door, he turned.
"Is it possible for a creature to fall for a stranger?"
"No, brother" Love replied, "Unless the other person is strong enough to melt your heart. We, creatures, are all blood anyway. We are all related, but I think it isn't completely impossible for a human to move a creature's heart. Though, I think it has never happened to date."
***
Amisha was in her room when she noticed Shiuli walk into her room… It had been a week since Shiuli was walking and it was a miracle that she was so healthy even after what had happened. It was almost two months since she was walking and she was quite as graceful as before. Shiuli slowly turned around so that Amisha could see her properly. Shiuli laughed a little at Amisha's awe-struck face and sat down next to her.
"What do you think, sister?"
"Your legs are fine! You can walk like before!" Amisha laughed, "We should celebrate! KFC?"
"Oh yes! I really want to eat deep-fried chicken!"
"Good… I will tell mom not to cook dinner tonight. We will all go out and have a hearty dinner at KFC… and we can grab ice creams from Baskin Robins too!"
"Great idea!"
Amisha smiled at Shiuli. She was doing really well lately, both physically and mentally and Amisha was glad about that. Shiuli's laugh lately wasn't fake anymore… she seemed to actually be enjoying her life and living it like she was before. Shiuli was working on her new novel as well and Amisha had read two chapters of it. Shiuli was amazing at writing. She captured human emotions and actions with such creativity and passion that they seemed to be taking place right in front of them. Amisha was a fan of Shiuli. Now, looking at Shiuli with new hope and a renewed faith in God, Amisha couldn't help but give her friend a tight hug. Shiuli hugged her back for a while and then pulled out of it and started poking Amisha in the arm.
"Stop acting crazy!" Amisha giggled
"Sissy! I am really happy today! It's finally the day I was waiting for!"
"What day? Am I forgetting something important here?"
"No." Shiuli got up, "It's a secret! Goodbye!"
"You're weird."
Shiuli danced away gracefully towards her own room. Amisha just sat there wondering what was so special about today… was it Shiuli's birthday. Nah… there's still time for that. Amisha smiled. Whatever it is, if it makes Shiuli happy, Amisha was happy.
***
Shiuli ran back to her room from Amisha's room. Shiuli was happy because today was the day she was officially going to be helping Death in maintaining the balance of the universe by taking away souls. Shiuli sat down on her bed and stared out of her window… waiting for her boss to show up. It was still 10:47 pm and Shiuli was eagerly waiting for the time to pass. She had set an alarm on her smartphone for 11 pm. Shiuli put on her headphones and took out her laptop. Let me listen to some songs to kill time. Shiuli was opening her songs folder on her laptop when she heard someone move right outside the window. She looked out in the dark and saw no one. It was still 10:56 pm and Shiuli wondered if Death was early.
"Death?" Shiuli whispered, "Is that you?"
Shiuli narrowed her eyes and tried to get a clear view outside of the window. She could see nothing outside. Shiuli felt a shiver run down her spine. If it's not Death, who or what is it? Shiuli's heart was beating really fast and her palms went cold. Shiuli rubbed her palms against each other in order to calm herself a little. She knew Death would be here any minute, so she didn't have to fear anything. Suddenly, her alarm went off. It was 11 pm sharp.
"You are ready?" Death appeared out of the blue!
"Oh, God! You scared me!"
"Shh… don't shout, human."
"Were you here all this time? Was it you outside my window a while ago?"
"What?" Death frowned, "No… I just arrived. Was somebody here?"
"Nah… never mind. Maybe I was just imagining it."
Shiuli got up on her bed and stood up straight on her legs. She was wearing a black pair of ripped denim with a white t-shirt. She looked like she was a Calvin Klein model. Shiuli jumped on her bed a little and waited for Death's reaction. When she didn't receive a reaction from him, she looked at him with a surprised expression.
"What?" Death was confused.
"I can walk… and jump! I thought you wanted an assistant who was fit and fine!"
"I never wanted an assistant in the first place." Death rolled his eyes, "Anyways, do you think you can jump out of this window, now that you can jump on your bed like a monkey?"
"Are you kidding me? I am the best at all the monkey business."
Shiuli slowly jumped out of the window. As her room was on the ground floor, it wasn't a problem for Shiuli to jump out of her window. She landed on her legs gracefully and smiled at Death. She was ready for her first day at work. She looked at Death properly. He was very tall and her head came up to his chest. He was wearing his usual business suit, all black, and his silver eyes were shining with great zeal. Shiuli wondered how old he might be… he looked like an eighteen-year-old young man, but he must be billions of years older… probably older than the earth and the solar system, who knows?
"See… I told you" Shiuli laughed, "No big deal."
"Alright, but maybe keep your voice down a little bit?"
"Oh, yea… right."