A Part of the Process

English Assignment

-written October 12th, 2015-

I watched calmly as they frantically ran towards the door, the parents trying to hold on to their children, the eldest daughter trying to stay calm but failing miserably, and the old grandmother steadily making her way to what she thought was safety, but I knew otherwise. I put on a face filled with fear, pretending to be scared and confused, but on the inside, I was grinning. This is always my favorite part.

"Come on! We have to hurry!" the daughter said, pulling on my arm, clinging to it like it would save her life.

"Sorry, dear, but I'll actually do the opposite of saving your life", I thought to myself, but went along with her, trying to suppress a sly grin.

Right before it happened, I always found myself thinking about what I was about to do. I never regretted what I did, but there was the occasional time I felt something for the poor fools, but most of the time it was disappointment that it had to happen so soon. I enjoyed toying with them, making it seem like I was a harmless stranger, someone who had no friends and didn't need them, but could talk anyone's ear clean off, even if we were only just acquainted. I always enjoyed taking a peek into their minds before it was done. This time, I had done exactly that, maybe even a little more, and I was quite proud of the result.

They flinched as the mountain rumbled again with a mighty roar, and to continue with my act, I let out a small gasp. The daughter squeezed my arm and took my hand, probably thinking she was comforting me, or maybe it was to comfort her. I was laughing on the inside either way.

"Alright everyone, stay safe!" the father called out, then threw open the door and ran outside. The rest of his family followed. His wife ran out first, followed by the younger children, the grandmother, and finally, the daughter and I brought up the rear. I smiled to myself as I realized that she would be forced to watch her family die, before she died herself.

She seemed to be frozen in fear with an iron grip on my hand, and I practically had to drag her to the door. I made it seem like I was concerned for her safety, but in reality, I didn't want her to miss what was happening outside. Still, she froze again at the door.

"Look at me," I told her. "I know you're scared, but you have to be brave, okay? You'll be safe if you go outside, you know that. Everyone else is heading to safety." She still looked uncertain, so I said the two words that had gotten others to do as I asked many times before. "Trust me."

It worked yet again. She looked up into my eyes, for I was quite a bit taller than her, and nodded. Any uncertainty she had had melted away, and she nodded once again, more firmly.

"Okay. I trust you." She pulled me outside, and because her back was turned, she couldn't see the smile on my face.

Outside, we could see the small figures of the rest of her family steadily moving away from the house, away from the mountain, and away from safety. The daughter quickly glanced up at the mountain, and her eyes widened in fear. This was always my favorite part, actually. I always get to watch the fear rise on their faces, the horror of seeing everything they love get torn away from them, and they're powerless to stop it.

Another huge roar shook the mountainside, and I smiled once again to myself as it begun. I was wondering when it would start. Waiting was always my least favorite part.

Beside me, the daughter screamed as she saw the huge rockslide crashing down the mountain, heading straight for herself and her family. I decided that now I could drop my act. They were going to die anyway, what's the harm in showing them my true identity?

"Scary, isn't it?" I said, discarding the high voice of the stranger and using my regular low one. She turned around in surprise. "Staring Death in the face, I mean."

"What?" she whispered. "What are you talking about?"

I simply pointed a finger towards her family. She followed my finger and watched in horror as the rocks came crashing down.

"No!" she screamed, tearing free of my grasp and running towards them.

"It's no use," I said flatly. "They're not going to make it."

"I have to try, at least!" she yelled.

"Look," I said. She turned to me, and I gestured at the mountain. Small rocks had begun to fall down, and she frantically dodged them, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she realized what I had known all night. She was going to die.

Her eyes widened once more as she watched the rocks simply pass through me, as if I wasn't there. I grinned. Gasping, she scrambled backwards, then turned and ran to where her family was being bombarded with rocks of all sizes, some hitting their mark, others falling down the mountainside. I joined them, spitting taunts and cruel words at them, laughing when rocks hit them in the side of the head, or in the shoulder, or anywhere on their body. I laughed a horrible, deep laugh, one that I was quite proud of, as they were slowly killed one by one, until only the daughter was left.

"Why...why did you do this?" she croaked, her throat raw from screaming. Blood caked her hands and face, dripping down onto her shirt, staining the material a deep red color. She turned her tear-stained face towards me, waiting for an answer.

"Why, you ask?" I said. "Well, I don't need a reason, do I? I am Death, after all. Death doesn't need a reason."

I laughed once more as she screamed. She screamed for the rest of her life, which wasn't all that long. When the morning came, I simply retrieved my things from the house, which had been left untouched, and made my way down the mountain to find my next victim.

Why, you ask? Well, I don't need a reason.

-

So yeah, that's what I have for this. It's an assignment we have to do fro my English class (if you didn't already guess from the title) where we had to read a story and write what happens afterwards in the first person. It was originally in third person, and everyone died at the end (spoilers)

It's called The Ambitious Guest by Nathaniel Hawthorne if any of you want to read it ^^ it's pretty weird though, which explains why what I wrote is so weird.

I'd appreciate it if you could give me any comments or tips, because it's due tomorrow....this is actually my third time starting it over, because I didn't like my first two tries. There's a five hundred word minimum too, and I think this comes out to around 1050, oops

~Dusk