I Walk With Death
Riley Robertson
When I open my eyes, I’m dead. I see my body in front of me. Pale, cold, and lifeless; I
observe hovered above. Lost in my thoughts I feel a pull at my shoulder. A figure in a cloak,
white as bone, lingering behind me.
“Who the hell are you?” I cried. The figure did not take offence but grinned with a boney
smile.
“I have been called Thanatos, the Reaper, Anubis, Yama, Coatlicue .... It depends, who
do you want me to be?”
He spoke with a whisper carried by the wind “I don’t understand. That doesn’t make
sense”
The figure grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the ground. As our bodies made contact
with the ground, we began to dissolve into a brilliant blue, our bodies transparent. Our arms
turned to wings and our feet to talons as we descended into the earth.
As we traveled through the dense Earth, I saw a brilliant white light ahead. An opening
that expanded into a giant cavern. A cave that stretched farther than I can see so high I could not
tell where it stopped. I only knew it was closed off, I could sense this on instinct alone. The land
below us was clearly divided. I could see a section of fire and brimstone, fields of golden wheat,dark tomb with a set of brilliant golden scales next to a monster with the face of an alligator.
“What is this?” I said in amazement. “These are the afterlives.” The figure breathed. “Lives?” I
said in surprise. “People’s believes are powerful. They can build nations, cause war, spread love,
and spread hate. They also shape what their next life would be.” “What about a creator or God.
What makes these feelings reality?” The figured turned his head with a pale look. “I don’t know,
I just work here. Occasionally, a new section will form and another fades. Then millions of souls
flow through, seeing their own idea of heaven or hell.” The scene was uncanny, white shades
from all time periods and from all over the world set in this one place. Some being tortured
mercilessly, others were in a state of pure bliss, and some stood around aimlessly doing
absolutely nothing. “Who decides where you go? Heaven or hell?” The figure sat down on the
rocky cliff I stood on and stared on the scenery with me, “As I said, you do. It is what you
believe, no one else could do that. It’s your conscience, how you feel about yourself and what
you believed in life.” I looked into the section of a circle fire, obviously Christian Hell, and saw
bodies quartered and grilled on the fire; with multitudes of punishments even worse. “People did
that to themselves?” The figure followed my gaze and smirked with a sympathetic look I had
never seen before “You’d be amazed the torture people put on their selves in this life and
before.” As I marveled at this site that was so uncanny, it looked like a mix of Doom, a painting
of heaven and a heavy metal poster. A pit of fear and nervousness entered my core. “Where do I
go?” The figure grinned and for a moment a face of true beauty shimmered on his pale white
face. “You tell me.”
observe hovered above. Lost in my thoughts I feel a pull at my shoulder. A figure in a cloak,
white as bone, lingering behind me.
“Who the hell are you?” I cried. The figure did not take offence but grinned with a boney
smile.
“I have been called Thanatos, the Reaper, Anubis, Yama, Coatlicue .... It depends, who
do you want me to be?”
He spoke with a whisper carried by the wind “I don’t understand. That doesn’t make
sense”
The figure grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the ground. As our bodies made contact
with the ground, we began to dissolve into a brilliant blue, our bodies transparent. Our arms
turned to wings and our feet to talons as we descended into the earth.
As we traveled through the dense Earth, I saw a brilliant white light ahead. An opening
that expanded into a giant cavern. A cave that stretched farther than I can see so high I could not
tell where it stopped. I only knew it was closed off, I could sense this on instinct alone. The land
below us was clearly divided. I could see a section of fire and brimstone, fields of golden wheat,dark tomb with a set of brilliant golden scales next to a monster with the face of an alligator.
“What is this?” I said in amazement. “These are the afterlives.” The figure breathed. “Lives?” I
said in surprise. “People’s believes are powerful. They can build nations, cause war, spread love,
and spread hate. They also shape what their next life would be.” “What about a creator or God.
What makes these feelings reality?” The figured turned his head with a pale look. “I don’t know,
I just work here. Occasionally, a new section will form and another fades. Then millions of souls
flow through, seeing their own idea of heaven or hell.” The scene was uncanny, white shades
from all time periods and from all over the world set in this one place. Some being tortured
mercilessly, others were in a state of pure bliss, and some stood around aimlessly doing
absolutely nothing. “Who decides where you go? Heaven or hell?” The figure sat down on the
rocky cliff I stood on and stared on the scenery with me, “As I said, you do. It is what you
believe, no one else could do that. It’s your conscience, how you feel about yourself and what
you believed in life.” I looked into the section of a circle fire, obviously Christian Hell, and saw
bodies quartered and grilled on the fire; with multitudes of punishments even worse. “People did
that to themselves?” The figure followed my gaze and smirked with a sympathetic look I had
never seen before “You’d be amazed the torture people put on their selves in this life and
before.” As I marveled at this site that was so uncanny, it looked like a mix of Doom, a painting
of heaven and a heavy metal poster. A pit of fear and nervousness entered my core. “Where do I
go?” The figure grinned and for a moment a face of true beauty shimmered on his pale white
face. “You tell me.”
Riley Robertson is a cadet that enjoys learning new skills and hobbies. With each new skill, a new genre for his writing is formed.