I was 17, driving home from a party. My friends were all drunk and I was the designated driver. Carousing in the car, they turned the music up too loud and talked over one another, laughing. "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas came on the radio and we all started singing. I closed my eyes for a moment, dancing in my seat. Glancing in the rear view mirror, Death sat between my gyrating friends, cloaked in black. My voice fell with my heart, to my gut, through the floor, onto the road. Looking over my shoulder, there she sat. No mistake. Sadness dressing her face.
Choking the steering wheel and stared hard at the road. Who was it this time? Who had she taken? Why did she have to come now? Meeting her eyes in the mirror, everything slowed, her calm filling me. Her arm rose from the jumble of limbs, delicate fingers pointing to the road. Turning to see, everything stopped. Somehow we had traveled into the wrong lane. Bright white headlights blinded me, and I tried to shield my eyes.
Life restarted and panic replaced Death's calm. A scream brought my voice back to me and I turned hard right. Too hard right, hard left, calm down. Calm down?! Breaks screeched, accompanying my friend's terror. Squeezing my eyes, I prayed, to whomever would listen, please, please don't let us die. The car stopped and so to everything else. No noise, no light, no breathing. I peeked through lashes, I was still in the car. It had stopped off the side of the road, perpendicular. Shock filled the car.
"Is everyone ok?" I tentatively asked. Words burst from everyone and I sighed with relief. Checking the mirror, I found my friends safe, Death gone. A look over my shoulder, confirming the other car was alright. Death nowhere to be seen.
YOU ARE READING
Meeting Death
Short StoryI have lost count of all the times I have met Death. She visits every time someone close to me dies. One could say we are quite close. This story was originally published on my blog: https://www.sunlitstories.com/blog/2017/12/31/meeting-death?rq=mee...