Perpetual Sunshine

Alec sat, lost deep in thought. After the counselling class in school that day, he had been struggling to find out his fears. "This would help him to work on them, overcome them and finally emerge stronger,", his teacher had said. Thus, he mulled for long, and did not raise his eyes until a strange man approached him.

The man had a kind, angelic face, coupled with a sweet smile. Alec couldn't stop staring until he realised that the man had been talking.

"Hello, Alec. I would like to take a walk with you till your house. Will you come with me?". His voice was deep and soothing, someone who had the ability to make you drift off to sleep. Alec knew he shouldn't trust strangers, but somehow he just couldn't help himself. He somehow ended up taking a different route, the longer one, which he usually didn't take.

The sunlight peeking in through the trees made a golden patchwork on the path. Alec had been speaking about his dilemma to the man he had just met a few moments ago. But the man didn't mind. They had both been lost in thought for a while, when the man spoke up suddenly. "So, do you think you are afraid of hate?"
Alec nodded his head in assent; he had thought about this before.
"Hate can make you selfish, greedy and jealous."
The man had nodded, before going on to his next question.
"What about love?"

Alec was bewildered.
"Why would anyone be afraid of love?"
"Well, sometimes excess of love is more dangerous than excess of hate. Too much of love can push you to the extent of acting in a way that you would have never dreamt of had you just hated that person."
Alec still looked perplexed, which pushed the man to elaborate."Suppose there is someone who you love a lot. Now, this person hates someone else, and has the power to manipulate you, and make you carry out their revenge. And you will carry out their plan; you do not feel guilty at all. You do not do it because he/she was a common enemy - you do it because you love someone else more."
Alec didn't really understand what the man had said, but he nodded anyway. The man smirked, knowing he hadn't understood, but posed his next question.
"What about death?"

Alec looked at the man in surprise. He knew that deep down, this was his innermost fear, which he had either not been able to recognise, or was deliberately trying not to confront it. His eyes focused on the pavement now, tracing the criss-cross pattern of the earthen bricks which created the path. Ever since he had lost his grandfather, his world had not been the same. With a jolt, he realised that this was the same path on which they used to walk home, everyday. The man, who had been looking intently at the boy till now, broke the silence once again.

"Well, many people are afraid of death. However, they do not realise that each and every living being had to leave the world one day. People become attached to certain things/people, which often makes it difficult for them to accept the loss and move on. But they should know - we never really die - we just complete a life, and move on to the next one. It is as if your soul takes on a new covering and us ready to start afresh. Yes, it is hard for the ones who loved them. But what is life if you do not suffer through loss?"

Alec's home had come. He let go of the man's hand and rushed to the door of his house. As he was closing the door, he glanced up one final time. The man was gone. But Alec smiled. He had understood what the man had wanted him to. He knew that that this was a conversation he will not forget for the rest of his life. And he knew he will never forget those eyes - for they were, after all, the eyes of death himself.