A deal with Death

A deal with death

"For god's sake you two, will you hurry up, your shoes are in the cupboard, where they always are." Alan loved his boys more than anything, but they were a little boisterous in the mornings. Getting them ready for school, when he was more unorganised than they were, was a challenge. A challenge he accepted when the court decided that he should have full custody. His wife wasn't a bad person, she just had issues that she needed help with.

Monday morning was the worst day, he had all weekend to get their uniforms washed and ironed, but he always found something more important to do. The boys would always be dressed smart and on time for school, but not without a lot of stress on his part. At six and eight years old, Eric and Ernie were typical boys: they fought, they argued, they screamed, at no time did Alan regret his decision. They were his life support, they kept him focused and grounded.

"Dad, Ernie's hidden one of my shoes. Give it back or I'll punch you in the face."

Alan was still making his sandwiches for work, "No ones gonna punch anyone...Ernie!" He shouted, " give him his shoe back, now, we've got to go."

The boys pushed and shoved each other, being the youngest, Eric came off the worst, as usual. 

"I haven't got his shoe dad, it's under the sofa, and that crying he's doing is fake, I didn't touch him" Ernie said. 

Alan came through from the kitchen, "Eric! Stop that stupid noise and get your shoes on, if I'm late, I'll be in trouble...again." They were only five minutes late leaving, not bad Alan thought, considering the mayhem. "Hang on tight boys, it's gonna be a bumpy ride." He threw the car into gear and sped off towards school.

Alan glanced over his shoulder at his two boys, "Traffic's good today, we might just make it on time, for a change." 

There was no time to brake. The bus was right in front of him. Kids stared at their phones as they got off, one last look on social media before lessons start. It happened so fast, the impact was hard, and the front of the car crushed in on itself. Black plumes of smoke drifted into the air. Alan opened his eyes, he saw blood on the deflated airbag. He turned around to check on the boys.

" Tut-tut alan, we weren't concentrating were we?"

His eyes adjusted to see a figure dressed in black, sat in the seat where Eric and Ernie should have been. "Where are my boys? Who are you? What happened?"

The figure in black unclipped the seat belt and leaned forward, revealing yellow rotting teeth. "I may be immortal but I can only answer one question at a time Al, you crashed into a parked bus and you are now in the space between. And I am death, pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name."

"What?"

Death chuckled, "I know it's not mine, but I love the Rolling stones,"

In a frantic effort to unclip his seatbelt, he realised that he hadn't put it on after he had made sure the boys had put theirs on.

"The space between? between where? and what have you done with my kids?"

The dark figure raised a bony finger and shook it at him. "All in good time Alan, you've been a silly boy haven't you? Clunk click every trip, don't you remember that commercial?"

Alan was in a lot of pain, his ribs were probably broken, and he couldn't feel his legs. People outside of the car appeared stationary, on closer inspection, they were moving, but slowly. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. He turned back to the dark figure, "ahh, I see," he said, "this is a dream then? And by the way, if you were death, you'd have a man's voice."

Death leaned further forward and pulled the hood of her cloak off her head, revealing those yellow tombstone teeth, gaunt sunken eyes and skeletal features.

"A man's voice? Says who? I hate it when people assume, Can't you smell my womanly allure?"

Alan screamed at the sight before him, in the hope that he would awake from his nightmare.

" Don't scream Alan, I've got sensitive ears." Death re-covered her skull. " let's get this done, you are not dead, you are between life and death and I am here to facilitate your journey."

This has to be a dream, he thought, the boys are still asleep and I'm having this freaky dream, it has to be. "Ok, let's do this thing, what have I got to do?" Alan smiled and relaxed a little.

"This is not a dream you idiot, you and your children are stuck in the space between." Death had seen it all before, they all thought it was a dream. The ones that didn't accept the reality of their situation passed away and she had done her job. "I have to give you a chance to survive, very few people make the right choice. So here's the deal."

Alan leaned forward and smiled, "come on then gorgeous, hit me with it."

For god's sake, don't be an arsehole," she raised her bony hand; it rattled like a wind chime and slapped him hard across his face. "Is that real enough for you? Are you awake yet? no? You and your kid's life are in the balance, now fucking concentrate."

Alan rubbed his reddening cheeks and stared at her.

"You have three choices, wishes if you like, just call me the anti-genie." Her haunting, almost masculine laugh got Alan's attention.

She took a deep breath, "You can save yourself but both boys die, you can save both boys but you die, or you can save yourself and one child, but the other one dies. Quickly Alan, the clocks ticking." 

He pondered the three choices, while death sat there making a tick-tock sound.

"Can I phone a friend? Or ask the audience?"

"Oh, how original, I've never heard that one before," death said, "you've now got thirty seconds to decide, or your fate will be decided for you." 

Alan began to panic, "I can't make that call in just thirty seconds, it's not possible."

Death tapped her wrist at an imaginary watch, "twenty seconds."

His vision clouded, all he could hear was death, 

"Tick tock, tick tock," she went.

"Erm... I don't know what to do"

"Tick tock Alan, five seconds left."

Alan could feel his life fading away, "I'll save myself and Eric."

A kaleidoscope of colour filled the car, Alan's body melted into the leather seat, and there was no more pain only calmness.

"You're coming with me, my good man, you made the wrong choice." Death raised both arms into the air, and Alan's soul floated towards her, she lowered her arms and enveloped him. Alan was gone.

"You stupid, selfish idiot, if you had chosen to save the boys, I would have let you all live. Why do they always choose wrong? Still, it's a nice bonus for me this month. Let's go home "