I always imagined The Grim Reaper in a cloth that is black, almost rumpled with some marks of damage, a hood covering his face, his face unable to be seen (I imagine it being faceless because it's a skull), and is holding a scythe to cut the beings of a person and let them join The Light.
I was wrong. Its clothes weren't all black, it has a skull printed on its shirt, and its pant are torn at the knee part, giving the look of almost a delinquent fifteen-year-old, has a long shiny and curly hair and has a good-looking face. What was shocking to me is that it was a woman?
"Don't fret, darling." The Grim Reaper says as she touches my shoulder in order to face her. I have imagined The Grim Reaper to be scary-looking, but this one is beautiful, like Athena. Only wearing emo clothes.
"You know that I hear your thoughts, right?" The Grim Reaper says.
I was confused upon seeing her. Putting myself back together, I touched my face and felt something wet. I have not noticed that I shed a tear a while ago."Who are you?" I ask in the middle of The Darkness.
"Darling, I guess that you know me well back in The Reality," she straightens her shirt for me to see the printed skull. "I am The Grim Reaper."
"What? I'm sorry. I thought that...am I dead? Why am I here?" Upon asking that question, I thought that this would be it.
How I really ended up in this is the question I could not answer. I am as strong as a nail. I made people happy as much as possible. I have cherished memories and relationships and tried not to disappoint. I have done so better in school and made my family proud of me. All of this is gone because of an accident? Does The Light exist? Is God really up there? What would become of me and my parents? What about Karlos and Kassie? I do not want to leave them until I say goodbye.
"Don't think too much, Miss girl. I am here to tell you that your spirit is still attached to your body back from The Reality." The Grim Reaper said.
"So you're saying that I'm dead?" I asked her.
"Well, this is not the part that you're not going to like, Karleil." I could not understand what she is saying except for myself and the fact that I am dead.
"I told you not to think too much. You just need to-" suddenly, two couches appear at her back, and I do not know how she does it but suddenly, I am sitting on the left couch, on my right is a chocolate drink on the table, "-calm down."
But I couldn't stop thinking about my situation. Maybe this is what Karlos is what he is seeing whenever he feels blue even in daylight.
The Grim Reaper offers me the Chocolate Drink, which I took because just floating in The Darkness makes you hungry. I didn't think that dying is making you hungry. I mean, no one tells you how death feels like, right?
"You know, Miss Girl. I am not that kind of The Grim Reaper that is being told from The Reality. Besides, technology comes and goes, and every millennium changes. Every member of The Afterlife needs to adapt to change from it." She takes a sip from the cup of tea that I didn't notice she was holding while she is talking. "I like your generation though. It releases me from the formality. Also, people are desperate for women's empowerment, so the Supreme of The Afterlife made me in charge as-" points to her skull shirt, "-you know."
I still couldn't talk after what she said, but asked the question anyway, "So I'm really dead?"
The Grim Reaper rolls her eyes and finished her cup until I hear her slurp. "No, and it's a good thing. Your body, or rather, the part of your body, which is your head, is healing. But the thing is that back in The Reality, your family, although, scrambles money for your hospital bills and pays the part of it, is still not enough. They will eventually sell all your properties, but what is that? It's still not enough for your recovery".
"Recovery? It means that I will still go back?" I touched my face again and felt something wet. I did not think that I was already crying.
"Yes, but I do not want to give you false hope, Darling. Now, finish your drink, and we'll go to the next stop." She commands and waits for me to finish them. A few seconds later, I am in front of a meal with steak, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. So I eat them up because like I said, being in The Darkness makes you hungry too.
"I am glad that you are liking the food that I serve you. Actually, all of the spirits that I assisted the next door, tell me that they are ready to meet the Creator in The Light. Most of them never wanting to go back again." I listen while I make a cut of the steak. "Except for you."
I swallow the medium-rare steak that I ate and ask. "What do you mean?"
The Grim Reaper smells the wine from her hand while swirling it, then takes a sip. "You'll find out".
As I finish the meal that she prepared, I saw two doors behind her that I didn't see when I got into this spot. One of them is barely open, though a light comes out from the door at her right, and one is unopened. I am not stupid with this kind of stop. Sometimes, in times of sadness, and when I was trying to think of ending my life, I always wonder how The Afterlife looks like? Does it look like the gardens as told in some books? Is it like what the bible says wherein the good people go to heaven, with the clouds above, or the bad people in the fiery pits of hell? I feel terrified.
Not noticing once again, The Grim Reaper and I stand in front of the two doors.
"I will not say too much about the doors because I think that you know what is behind those doors."
I want her to explain something about them though. But she doesn't speak. I remember back in The Reality about me asking too many questions when I was curious about something, sometimes it makes my mother and father upset. So I stopped asking questions.
This time, I would not stop until I would know where I will go. "So, what is behind these doors?"
She faces me with her arms crossed as if she is frustratingly waiting for me to do anything. She looks at me and rolls her eyes. "Fine, I'll explain."
"This door at the right is where you will see The Light. The door on your left is something that piques your interest. If you pick the right door-".
I interrupt, "-if I pick the right one, then that's the time that I die." I said.
"But, blessings from The Creator will be given to your family so much, money, love, whatever. I mean it's all going to be good since you joined him. After all, he wants his children to join him. Also, the spirits that I always assist choose this door." The Grim Reaper said.
"And what about the other one?" I asked her.
She stops for a second while she looks at the left door. "I'll say that behind this door is risky. This door is your way to getting back to The Reality, but there is no guarantee to that. I call this, "The Game Door." She explains.
Choosing the left door would be my key to being back at The Reality. To hug my parents, Karlos and Kassie, and the people that I love. I would appreciate the new life that I will take back. I would do whatever it takes to experience The Reality again.
"I will go through that door," I said.
"But wait, Miss Girl. You have to think this through. Like I said, whatever it is behind the door is risky-".
I did not let her finish. "I would take any risk for my family."
Her movement was as if she was saying to me, this man is stupid, but shrugs and allows me to choose the door that I want. The Grim Reaper then opens the chosen door for me, escaping The Reverie, then The Darkness to go inside another dark room.
"Then, welcome to The Game Door," The Grim Reaper said.