Eva by Nicole M. (best e ink reader for manga .txt) 📕

My eyes are open. I see a light. Dying is just like they all say. It feels peaceful. I just want to walk into the light, and surrender myself to death.
“Is your name Natalie?” I hear a female voice call from behind me.
I turn to see who could possibly be talking to a dead girl, and I stop, my eyes grow wide. There standing in front of me, is a person wearing a black cape that hides her entire body, with a white mask in the shape of a long, deformed skull. And how could I miss the large scythe that she carries in her left hand.
“I’m going to ask again,” She speaks, “is your name Natalie?”
“Yes.” I mumble.
“Well, hello Natalie. I’m sorry but I cannot tell you my name at this location. But I’ll get down to the point of why I’m here.” She pauses, and begins to walk in circles around me. “You’re not yet dead you know. You’re stuck in between life and death, just like most of the people who ‘die’. You see that white light over there? Step closer to it. As you step closer, you get a greater urge to go into the light, right?” I nod my head, and she continues. “ Right. But you see, if you go into the light, you’re not actually dead. That light is in-between life and death. It’s peaceful, but that’s all there is in there. White light. You’re alone, you’re always awake, you just don’t feel anything. Your soul is still very much alive, while your body is just unresponsive. The Light, you see, really isn’t where you want to go. You just sit there for eternity, a soul in an unresponsive body. In the real world you’re what they call “dead”, which is why in the in-between, your body is unresponsive. The in-between is a world in which you’re half dead and half alive. While your soul is still alive, you’re stuck in a dead body.” She turns her face towards me. I can’t see her eyes through the sockets in the mask, I just see black.
“The In-Between is one way to call that place, but we call it The Light. So, when people are dying, they often mistake The Light for Afterlife, and that lands them in an eternity of nothingness.” She finishes.
“But, then, what’s the Afterlife?” I ask.
“Have a seat,” She motions with her hand to the ground, “I will have much explaining to do.” We both sit down, she places her scythe in front of her.
“The way humans describe death,” She starts, “is all wrong. It’s actually a totally different system. There are four different worlds that each have their own names. They are called, Life, The Light, The Afterlife, and The Afterliving. Life, where you just came from, is where you have a living soul that is bound with a living body. Though sometimes, before a child is born, the soul fails to bind with a body and the body rejects that soul, and then that soul is sent to The Light, which is why so many parents lose their children when pregnant. And as for the elderly, we have no use for them in the Afterlife or Afterliving, so they are also sent to The Light. 99% of the dying go to The Light. The dying who are not elderly or infants that have, in general, a good soul and have had a pretty good life are sent to The Light.” She pauses, “We have now discussed Life, and The Light. And you may be wondering, if 99% of the people that are dying go to The Light, what happens to the 1% that doesn’t. Right?” she asks. I nod.
“Well, you see, you’re looking at it. I’m part of that 1%, and so will you very soon. People who are no longer living, and do not go into the Light, either go to a world called The Afterlife, or a world called The Afterliving. It is us reapers who get to choose who goes where. The Afterlife, is a dark, cold, miserable place where people who have done bad things go. When a reaper, such as myself, harvests a dying beings soul, is when they actually die, both their soul, and their body. A dead body always remains in Life no matter what, but their soul does not. When the soul of a dying being has been harvested, it is sent to the Afterlife, where it still exists, but slowly gets smaller and smaller until it turns to complete ash. While also being surrounded by blackness, they’re just floating along slowly turning to ash.”
I start to speak, “ So, the other part of the 1% must be the dying souls that go to The Afterliving. Right?” I ask.
“Correct,” She answers cheerfully, “The Afterliving is where I’m located. Only the souls of the dying that haven’t gone into The Light or been banished to The Afterlife can live in The Afterliving as reapers. The Afterliving, is for the dying souls that deserve a second chance. An example of that, is a living being who is murdered, or has died in an accident. And another example would be of a tragedy that has struck in a living person’s life, that has caused that person to commit suicide. In the Afterliving, you do not die. Your soul, is taken from your body that has now died, and is put into a new, fully functional body. So, while you’re still the same person, you’re in a different body. But you can’t just live in The Afterliving, that would be a waste of a second chance. So, all who end up in The Afterliving, become reapers. Our jobs are to harvest souls. In return for harvesting souls, you receive money in the post, which comes every day of the week. And we work under one higher being.”
“God?” I ask. She laughs.
“No, not ‘God”. Our higher being is known as The Grim Reaper. He is much like us, but bigger, stronger, and is almost always out of sight. We’re just Reapers.” She stands up, holding out her hand to help me up.
“I’m giving you a choice, so listen, okay? I can either harvest your soul, and send you to The Afterlife for all of the bad things you’ve done while in Life, and in return I get money.” She pauses, “Or, I can bring you to The Afterliving, where you will become a reaper like myself, and live out a second chance at life by harvesting souls. You have gone through many tragedies while living, and you are considered a murder and suicide victim.” She lets my hand go and picks her scythe up. “I have left you with two options, now it’s up to you which to choose.”

Publication Date: 10-25-2011

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