#10. Sunset at the sea
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The sunset over the sea was truly a sight to behold.

Marie loved watching it above all other sights.

Many, many times had she come to see this view in her life. It was like a good book: she always found new things in its depths and it only grew more and more beautiful as time went by.

Because of how uneven the surface of the sea was, every wave constantly shifted and bent, reflecting another scene of the sky above. It made it so that every wave in the sea had its own sky to show and Marie was fascinated with this idea.

She loved coming to the sea before.

It consoled her when she was sad and it accompanied her when she was happy. It was her best and only friend.

Sadly, she hadn’t been able to meet this friend for a very long while. Her life hasn’t been easy lately. Often times her mind was cloudy and she felt like a fish that was swimming in a narrow muddy stream. The past week was so bad for her she wasn’t sure she remembered it right.

It was only this evening that she had a sudden spike of clarity. Her mind was so clear in fact, that she was certain it’d never been that clear ever before.

Her tired body that often times refused to obey her commands now served her well and she felt as free as a bird above the clouds.

This situation hadn’t made her happy, however. Marie understood that it was a final burst, the final push. A consolation prize before the game was over.

She didn’t have long.

Marie felt it. She felt it in her bones, she felt the chill of death creeping up behind her so vividly it pricked her skin.

She was afraid. She was very afraid. But she refused to spend her last while cowering in fear, she would prefer not being able to think straight than to face her end like a coward.

Which is why she decided to come to the beach and watch the Sun set over the sea for one last time.

She even brought a basket with a bottle of wine and a blanket to sit on. She laid the blanket and she opened the bottle of wine.

After drinking a glass’ worth, she closed her eyes and listened to the waves.

As she listened to them crashing against the shore, she let her mind wonder and go in the many colors that glistened in the water’s surface.

Maybe this was why she didn’t notice that there was another figure besides her on the beach.

When she caught the sight of black fabric with a corner of her eye, she jumped a bit in fear.

She turned around and looked at the figure behind her in a daze, not quite understanding what that figure was.

She was sitting behind Marie. She looked like an average girl in her early twenties. She had brown hair reaching her shoulders and a very cute face that reminded Marie of a lazy cat when this girl smiled.

And yet, there was something off about this person.

Something uncanny, even. The girl wore long black robes and hid her hands in their sleeves. The girl seemed to always have the same expression. She smiled serenely and her eyes were gentle. She stared at Marie with constant warm temperature in her gaze.

“Who are you?”, was the obvious question Marie immediately fired

“I am Death”, the girl answered leisurely but without taking too much time. Even her voice was strange. Marie couldn’t quite remember it. It was just that average.

“Is that so?”, Marie wasn’t afraid of anything and sitting on the beach, frankly, was getting boring. She decided to entertain this strange lunatic and went along with this queer fantasy.

“Have you come to claim my life?”

“Yes and no. No, because I haven’t come, I’ve always been with you. Yes, because I bear this intent”

“Then would you be willing to let me go for a bit longer?”

“I can wait until morning”, the girl smiled at Marie.

“Thank you very much”, Marie bowed her head for this “generosity”, “May I ask how to call you?”

“Just call me Death”

“Then, Death, would you be willing to accompany me during my final hours? This bottle of wine is not something I can finish on my own and speaking to somebody may help me ease the last moments”

“As you wish”, Death smiled at Marie again, “You didn’t bring glasses, so allow me to take the liberty”

Death produced two glasses out of her large sleeves and gave Marie one with a kind smile.

Marie didn’t like this smile, it was the smile of compassion and pity.

Marie was drunk. But she was enjoying Death’s company. The strange woman was a wonderful conversation partner. The best she’d ever had, in fact.

Death was tactful and witty and she knew how to listen. She let Marie get absorbed in her thoughts and gave her commentary just in the right places.

Whenever she stated her thoughts, Marie got drawn into Death’s narrative and she had to admit, she was grateful to this crazy woman for showing up.

«I want to know»

«Yes?»

«What do you feel whenever you do… your.. thing? When you end a person’s life?»

«Are you sure you want to know?»

«Mm… No, nevermind… Mm… No. I still want to know how you feel about it. How you see us, how you see… Anyway, how do you see everything?»

Death twirled the wine in her glass, looked at Marie and spoke

«You see, humans see death as the end. I will not argue with that. It’s just that things coming to an end is only natural and, at the same time, unavoidable. Things ending is neither evil nor good, it just is and it should be. I don’t end anything. Things end on their own and I just exist while they stop»

Marie looked thoughtful for a moment...

«And if you exist when… nevermind. Forget about it”, she shook her head, refusing to entertain the ideas of this crazy woman, “Let’s talk about something else… Mm... If you are here with me… Then... who or what is with whoever needs to go this night?»

«I am with you, somebody or something else is with others. It’s just like with the sea… every wave has its own sky above it», Death pointed at the sky that was colored very dark crimson. She looked very beautiful as she did so, with her ever-present gentle gaze overlooking the world, as if the whole world deserved her mercy and her compassion

«..Then I am glad that my sky is you», Marie blurted it out while being mesmerized by the moment but then wanted to catch back the words that flew out of her mouth. Alcohol was really getting to her. She was beginning to see things in this girl she didn’t wish to, for both of their sakes.

It was not the kind of situation to be embarrassed about silly things in, and it definitely wasn’t the time to feel such emotions. She unreasonably felt like she was betraying herself. Betraying her life that was trickling away ever so fast.

They had so little time left. Feeling such things would only make her feel regret in the time she would prefer to spend not feeling it. But could it be helped?

It was very human to be emotional. To feel fear of death, to feel sadness and to fall in love. To desperately try to evade the impossible despite knowing the futileness of it. She comforted herself that she could die knowing that she was human to the very end.

“And I am glad that you are my wave”, Death’s eyes were as kind and gentle as ever. The expression in them was as still as the surface of a pond and Marie felt it was unfair how this unreasonable woman claiming to be death could stir such big waves in her heart with these calm and peaceful eyes.

“Idiot”, Marie felt her eyes were getting wet. Death didn’t say anything. She just hugged Marie ever so gently, as if treating a fragile glasswork. Marie grabbed the robes Death was wearing and pulled at them in frustration, “Idiot”

She didn’t know who she was calling an idiot. Was it Death, or was it herself?

She didn’t want to think about anything. She buried herself in the gentle embrace of Death and let her emotions out. It could be the influence of the alcohol but she felt safe in the embrace, at the same time she felt weak.

It was the first time in her life she allowed herself to be so openly weak with somebody else and she didn’t hate it, despite how strange the other person was and how little she knew about the other person.

After she calmed down, she still held the black robes Death wore and drowned in her embrace.

“Thank you”, she murmured so softly that the words melted in the sounds of the wind.

Maybe because the words didn’t reach the ears of Death, or maybe for some other reason, the only answer she got was the hug of the thin arms of the girl.

Marie already calmed down. She felt the touch of Death on her skin through the fabric and she indulged herself in her feeling of weakness for a few more moments with her eyes closed.

She then opened her eyes and looked at Death.

“Thank you. Can I be a bit more rude and selfish and request some more things from you?”

It was dark, the Sun was about to set. Yet somehow, her eyes were gleaming. Those weren’t the heavy eyes full of mirth, despair and injustice she came to the beach with. Her eyes now were light, they were free.

Looking at those eyes, Death smiled helplessly and kindly:

“Go ahead. Ask away”

“Can I kiss you?”

A wry smile crept upon Death’s face that was as serene as ever:

“Sure”, Marie moved her face towards Death’s, and soon her lips met Death’s. It was infuriatingly annoying how good a kisser Death was. Marie didn’t like it one bit.

“Can I hold you?”

“Go ahead”, Death’s tone of voice was as tranquil as ever. She looked kindly upon Marie who, this time boldly, moved to kiss Death’s lips. This time the kiss was much longer and contained more passion.

This time, Death was much less experienced in kissing, as if responding to Marie’s wishes.

If this girl was really who… or rather what she claimed to be, then Marie wouldn’t feel… Yes, she didn’t hate this idea one bit.

Marie clung to this crazy girl claiming to be Death and the only person who she was able to confide in her own humanity in this life with all her strength, as if to exhaust all the years of love that she could give and experience.

Death tasted… like mint. Her lips were especially soft and Marie wanted to forget herself in the kiss but this thought kept pressing against her skull from the inside for no reason whatsoever.

Her skin wasn’t cold and rigid as Marie expected Death to have, it was rather warm and soft instead. It was so soft, in fact that Marie wanted to indulge in its softness forever.

Death also breathed. The quick and violent breaths caused by Marie’s passion aroused Marie even more each time she heard them.

The girl failed the act of being Death spectacularly.

But she was thankful for this fact. It made Death seem not as distant as she was. She could talk to Death, cry to Death, cling to Death, kiss her and touch her… Death was Marie’s new best friend and her last love in her life. Perhaps being carried away by the person she loved to a place unknown to all was a rather beautiful ending?

Marie didn’t hate this idea.

Their lips separated, Marie was out of breath and her face was red. She looked at Death’s disheveled appearance and caressed her silk-soft black hair hair.

“Thank you”

Death smiled kindly at her. She was so beautiful. With this thought, her mind gave to darkness and she closed her eyes, feeling Death’s gentle touch...

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