He was handsome. More
handsome than one could have ever expected.
Totally different from that old image of a hooded skeleton, all dressed
in a torn black robe and with a scythe in his hand, he was so different from that
outdated idea of literature or the paintings of the old masters.
His skin was very pale,
but in a handsome way. His features were really very attractive. The man turned
his gaze to his well-shaped hands with long pale fingers and trimmed
fingernails. He enjoyed the sight of a pair of beautiful hands.
Dressed in an elegant
black suit, with a black silk shirt, he wore no tie… a quite interesting word
play.
His blue eyes were
very bright and his stare was fixed upon the man sitting in the old armchair looking
beyond the window with distant eyes.
That man had always
thought that, in the end, he would fear that character, who came in a pleasant
form, perhaps to make him feel both comfortable and relieved. Maybe this was
just an illusion of his fertile mind, to make things easier to be accepted by him.
- Did you come for me,
finally?
- Are you afraid?
- No. Not anymore.
- Have you forgiven
all that needed to be forgiven?
- I don’t think so…
- Do you need some
time on your own? A last wish, maybe?
- No, I don’t think
it will make any difference now… not anymore. Why do you ask?
- You are ready,
then, I assume…
- You don’t answer my
questions. Why do you avoid to talk about the inevitable? I know very well who
you are.
- I am not avoiding
anything. You recognized me from the first moment. Why do you ask what you
already know?
- Fair enough…
He took a deep
breath.
- Will it hurt?
The man in the black
suit turned his head a bit and almost laughed. But the other did not think he
would ever be able to show any sign of even a slightest smile.
- You, of all people,
are asking me about the pain? I don’t recognize you.
He was right; he had
never been afraid of pain. That was a stupid question. He should not sound foolish
or desperate. He said he did not need extra time on his own, so that was not the
time for regrets, compassion or apologies.
- I am ready.
The reaper stiffened
his back a little. His broad shoulders made him look very masculine and
handsomely elegant in that black outfit.
- Then we better go.
- I’ll follow you.
- Walk on my side. I
am not leading anyone anywhere anyways…
That was unexpected,
but it made sense. It was the end, not a new destination he was heading to.
The man dressed in
black opened the door to the sunlit balcony and they both walked calmly side by
side through the well-kept garden…
***
