September Surprise Story Week: Richard continued: Afterlife collection: 540 words
See the beginning of this story here ( LJ link).
See the second part of this story here ( LJ link).
“If the power of Death makes all the choices then why does each council member have the right to choose a spirit for the position before Death chooses someone?” Richard asked, leaning against the wall.
“The council has access to files on every single spirit that is currently in the afterlife and each member has a different idea of what sort of spirit would make a good Death, so it is actually very helpful,” Charis replied. “Most spirits have a habit of avoiding Death because it's hard to be reminded that they are actually dead, which makes it hard to find someone that the power of Death really connects with. Usually the only spirits you'll find that are comfortable around you are the spirit guides, Dream Weavers or Record Keepers, as they've been here for a long time and they're used to the fact they're dead, but they can't become Death because they already have jobs.” She smiled at Richard. “I was actually chosen by the council and the power of Death responded to me when my predecessor walked into the room. He actually begged me to take on the position because it was his third time going through council chosen spirits.”
“Does that happen often?”
“It happened for a few Deaths. The position isn't one that any spirit wants and I know you'd be lying if you said that you wanted it. Instead we take it on because we feel sorry for our predecessor.”
“I didn't feel sorry for you, Charis.”
Charis raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“If you hadn't walked into the room I probably wouldn't have accepted the position but I didn't change my mind because I felt sorry for you. I changed my mind because I'd never expected Death to be female and I was fascinated by you.” Richard smiled. “It's possible that I might not have agreed if you hadn't offered to train me so I had a chance to get to know you.”
“Richard...”
“What?”
“I'm glad it was you.” Charis reached out and touched his arm. “When I move on I'm going to miss you.”
“Let's not talk about you moving on.”
“With the way things are going I'll be moving on sooner rather than later, Richard.”
“I know.” Richard sighed. “I can't imagine what's it going to be like without you. None of the spirit guides trust me and...”
“They didn't trust me when I first started either. It will take time, but they will get to trust you once you've been Death for a while and they know that you are capable of doing the job. You're more capable than I was when I started because you've been trained. I was thrown in the deep end.”
“When the time comes for me to move on I'll train my successor in memory of you.”
“I do think it's the best thing to do.” Charis looked at the wall. “All my early memories of doing this job are full of unhappiness because I was so lost and I needed someone to help me, but my predecessor moved on straight away in the same way that his predecessor did. If you read the books of Death it's the same all the way back in history.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
See the second part of this story here ( LJ link).
“If the power of Death makes all the choices then why does each council member have the right to choose a spirit for the position before Death chooses someone?” Richard asked, leaning against the wall.
“The council has access to files on every single spirit that is currently in the afterlife and each member has a different idea of what sort of spirit would make a good Death, so it is actually very helpful,” Charis replied. “Most spirits have a habit of avoiding Death because it's hard to be reminded that they are actually dead, which makes it hard to find someone that the power of Death really connects with. Usually the only spirits you'll find that are comfortable around you are the spirit guides, Dream Weavers or Record Keepers, as they've been here for a long time and they're used to the fact they're dead, but they can't become Death because they already have jobs.” She smiled at Richard. “I was actually chosen by the council and the power of Death responded to me when my predecessor walked into the room. He actually begged me to take on the position because it was his third time going through council chosen spirits.”
“Does that happen often?”
“It happened for a few Deaths. The position isn't one that any spirit wants and I know you'd be lying if you said that you wanted it. Instead we take it on because we feel sorry for our predecessor.”
“I didn't feel sorry for you, Charis.”
Charis raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“If you hadn't walked into the room I probably wouldn't have accepted the position but I didn't change my mind because I felt sorry for you. I changed my mind because I'd never expected Death to be female and I was fascinated by you.” Richard smiled. “It's possible that I might not have agreed if you hadn't offered to train me so I had a chance to get to know you.”
“Richard...”
“What?”
“I'm glad it was you.” Charis reached out and touched his arm. “When I move on I'm going to miss you.”
“Let's not talk about you moving on.”
“With the way things are going I'll be moving on sooner rather than later, Richard.”
“I know.” Richard sighed. “I can't imagine what's it going to be like without you. None of the spirit guides trust me and...”
“They didn't trust me when I first started either. It will take time, but they will get to trust you once you've been Death for a while and they know that you are capable of doing the job. You're more capable than I was when I started because you've been trained. I was thrown in the deep end.”
“When the time comes for me to move on I'll train my successor in memory of you.”
“I do think it's the best thing to do.” Charis looked at the wall. “All my early memories of doing this job are full of unhappiness because I was so lost and I needed someone to help me, but my predecessor moved on straight away in the same way that his predecessor did. If you read the books of Death it's the same all the way back in history.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.