death came for me

I was sitting at the computer, surfing the night away, as usual.  Stuck between sleep schedules, caught between a night shift and a day one.  Riding it out.  Drinking a beer that was getting warm and eating cheap microwaveable burritos that were getting cold.

All of a sudden, I felt a presence.  Normally I don't really FEEL someone, but this was different.  It was...cold, constricting.  I started panicking, looking around as I felt my lungs tightening.  Couldn't breathe...everything was getting black, like a cloud of dust around me.

"Sorry" I heard.


and then i felt my life detach from me


Let me tell you, there is no similar feeling in the world.  I gasped and everything went white (my soul departing from my body I guess) and I sort of felt myself slump back in my chair...although it didn't really feel like me anymore.  And then I was watching myself.  Slack-jawed, wide-eyed.  Sitting there with crumbs on my face like an idiot.  A dead idiot.

That's it though.  I was just standing...there, outside myself, watching myself.

"Ok what's the deal here," I heard again, the same voice who had said 'sorry'.  I turned around...everything felt fuzzy...and saw it, that black shape that had enveloped me.  Except now it was dissipating, and a man stood there.  He was about my height, slightly overweight, wearing sweatpants and a wifebeater.  "Well.  Isn't this awkward."

I just stared at him for a moment.  "Hi," I said finally, not really knowing what else to say.  "Hi," he replied.  "Uh...I'm not supposed to be here anymore," he added.  I shrugged.  "Buh?"

"Yeah," the man continued.  We were standing in the computer room, except everything was...darker.  Except us.  "See, I'm...well I'm 'Death' I guess you could say."  He watched my face.  And then sighed.  "'Course you wouldn't understand.  Ok, here's how it works.  When someone dies, that person has to find the nearest person to them destined to die, and..well..pass the buck along.  Only then will that person be allowed to move on to the afterlife."

It made a strange sort of sense to me, but it was still somewhat baffling.  "Ok so I'm dead now?" I asked.  "I'm supposed to go find someone?"

The guy rubbed his eyes wearily.  "Not...really.  I think-...oh, I see what happened.  I'M not dead yet.  Not fully, anyway.  See, I had a heart attack.  But I guess I'm not full-blown dead yet.  Enough to detach my soul from my body, but...someone's working on me in the ER, looks like."

"You can see that?" I asked.

The guy gave me a tired smile.  "You'll me amazed what you can see and feel when you're in your spiritual state."  He sighed, shaking his head.  "Looks like we got some time to kill until I croak.  You ain't gonna be allowed to die unless I'm dead and gone too, so..." he shrugged.

"Wait a minute..." I narrowed my eyes.  "How did I die?"

The guy grimaced a little.  "Blood clot to the brain."  I felt shocked, but at the same time, indifferent.  After another moment, I asked "Where do you think I'll go?"  The man thought for a little while, and sat down on my couch.  "Probably purgatory for a while.  I'm not really sure.  I haven't been in this state for long; I don't know THAT much."

We went for a walk.  Out of the house, downtown.  Everything was dark.  I could vaguely make out the shapes of buildings, but little else.  "Where are all the people?" I asked.  The man walked a little behind me, looking around.  "You can't see them; they exist on a different plane.  I think if you look really hard though..."  I tried it.  I could barely see silhouettes milling about in the night.

The man and I ended up on the roof of the old theatre, overlooking the town.  Everything was really gray...like an eternally rainy night.  "Is this what purgatory is like?" I asked.  "I think so," he replied.  Just then, I saw two lights coming at us from down the road.  I thought it might be a car at first, but I suddenly started to feel very warm.  "Hey, look at that!" the guy said, pointing.  "Angels!"

I watched the lights grow closer, down the street, and then they turned and floated up to us.  Sure enough, I could see smiling faces through the almost blindingly bright lights.  I felt a rush of happiness, and couldn't stop the grin that swept across my face.  "Hello," I greeted, watching the two beings drift by us before moving away, further down the street.  The feint coldness set in as the angels left, and I shivered a little.

I couldn't stop thinking about my family...friends...Nicole.  What would happen to them when they found out?

"Whoa..." the guy said.  I looked over at him...he was beginning to fade away.  Was it time?  Would I...  "Well I'll be damned," he said with a laugh.  "I guess they saved me."  I just stared at him, wondering what would happen next.  He looked at me.  "Hey, take care, buddy!  Neither of us will remember what happened," his voice was fading too.. "but try to remember...make the most of the life that you've got left!"

Then he was gone.  And I was alone, sitting-


-in my chair, staring at the computer screen.  Must've dozed off for a moment.  Had a weird dream, couldn't really remember.  Everything was dark.

Got a new e-mail.  Opened it up.  Cute girl grinning at me and asking to go check out her webcam.  I just stared at the picture for a while.  Felt really really tired...

Closed the e-mail.

was starting to get a headache