Near Life Experience by Dave Turner

Author:Dave Turner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dave Turner

WHEN DEATH FINALLY remembered Dave’s address, Azrael gave him a lift back, instantaneously travelling across London.

‘I could do that if I wanted,’ Death mumbled, his eyes half-closed, barely able to stand on the doorstep. ‘I just don’t feel like it.’

Luckily, Dave and Melanie were in and helped carry him into the living room. They lay him on the sofa, removing his shoes. An old Arsenal duvet was found and draped over Death’s prone figure. He closed his eyes, attempting to stop the room spinning, and everyone left. Hushed voices in the hallway. They were probably talking about him. Whatever are we to do with a problem like Death? Soon the voices stopped and a few minutes later he heard somebody walk up to the sofa. They said nothing, but placed something on the floor and left the room, pulling the door closed behind them.

Once the room had stopped its rotations, Death opened his eyes and peered over the edge of the sofa. A glass of water and a bucket. He’d have to remember which one was where, or there could be a hideous accident in the night. He lay back, his head resting on a flattened cushion, and basked in the world's silence. There was no sound from the flat, nor from the street below. In his former life, Death had never known such quiet. It had been millennia of toil and fuss, with no opportunity to slip into one pocket of stillness that punctuated normal life.

Then: a noise. A rhythmic drumming that came from all around. It grew louder and louder until it filled his head and body. Then he realised what it was. His heart, every beat another chip away at his life-force. How did this constant reminder of mortality not drive them insane? Here was a bomb strapped inside their chest, counting down to its moment of self-destruction. Sometimes it would be with a bang, raging against the oncoming darkness. Other times a sigh, slipping into the ever after with no argument. Was this why they talked so much and filled the time up with pointless pursuits like golf or local politics? To block out the idea of the abyss that lay ahead?

Perhaps he needed to do that too. When in Rome, and all that. There was an entire world out there. He’d existed within it, but never experienced it. He should change that.

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