Chapter 1. To Die Or Not To Live?
That Is
The Question
Ronald Skipper was a surprisingly lucky man, although people
weren’t sure if what he had on his side was lady luck or just a
very bad curse. Born to a low-class family, Ronald’s father left
just when he was a few weeks old. His mother passed away
shortly after, leaving the poor kid alone. His greedy uncle was
the one who raised him, and he stole what little Ronald’s
mother had left Ronald. His uncle also tried to kill the kid on
multiple occasions, but failed every time.
That being said, as soon as he was 14, the poor kid was sent
to boarding school. Unbeknownst to him, for some magical
reason, a car decided to run over his uncle the very next day.
This trend continued throughout Ronald’s life, and although
many people suspected him of being the murderer, they
quickly discarded the thought after seeing him.
At boarding school, there was one boy that decided he
needed to make Ronald’s life worse than it already was. The
poor boy went ahead and beat the living hell out of him for
no reason. Ronald’s vengeance came in the form of a truck
driving over the boy the very next day while he was crossing
the road. No one dared to touch Ronald after that.
After barely graduating and coming to the real world, Ronald
couldn’t find a proper job and spent his life as a construction
worker. During his first month there, 3 incidents occurred, all
from which he came out of perfectly unscathed.
The first one was when he had just started his first job and a
fellow worker fell into the concrete mixer. He wasn’t able to
come out of it, and when the concrete broke, it wasn’t a
pleasant sight to see. Unsurprisingly, the worker that died
was someone that held adversity towards Ronald.
The 2 more incidents that followed involved a crane
malfunctioning, killing the person standing underneath it,
and an entire plaza falling on the crew, but Ronald came out
from both completely said.
However, there’s no man who can avoid death, and that
seemed to be the case in this story as well, as Ronald was
diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer at the age of 25. With little
time to live, Ronald just decided to end it all quickly and
early, before he had the chance to suffer even further.
Standing on the edge of a thirty-storey building, he didn’t
contemplate about death anymore and decided to just do it.
However, before he could do that, he lost consciousness, and
that’s the last thing he could remember.
***
Sand
That’s the first thing I felt when I came back to my senses.
‘Am I still alive?’
The prospect of surviving the fall was highly unlikely, so I
must’ve fallen backwards. It was quite funny really. Along
with failing life, I managed to fail my death as well. The
funniest joke on the planet
“Hate to break it to you, but you’re very much dead.”
It was then that I suddenly heard a kid’s voice next to me,
and instantly jerked back up while opening my eyes.
However, it didn’t seem like the best choice of action, as the
blinding rays of sunlight quickly made their way into my eyes,
blinding me for a good minute.
After finally getting used to the light, I took a look at my
surroundings. The sight that greeted me was an endless
expanse of desert. Nothing to break the mountains upon
mountains of sand piling on top of each other, putting the
Sahara to shame. I could tell it was close to noon as the
golden sun hung high in the air, making the already yellow
sand look brighter. Although I was supposed to be in the
desert in the middle of the day, I couldn’t feel any heat.
“Where am I?” I asked no one in particular.
“You’re in the land of the dead.” a familiar voice replied.
Startled by the unexpected response, I quickly turned my
head to face the direction of the voice. Sitting on a rock was a
boy in his mid-teens wearing a black hood and black trousers,
looking straight at me. He had pale white skin and jet-black
hair, with dark irises. As I looked into them, I felt like they
expanded the closer I stared into them, seemingly opening
up for me to enter the young boy’s mind.
“Who are you? And what did you mean by your previous
answer?” I asked, being wary of his presence. By the looks of
it, there shouldn’t have been a soul for miles in the expansive
sea of sand.
His cheerful response aroused more questions than it
answered. “I am the one that has been watching you your
entire life, from your birth till your ‘death’. I am the reaper of
souls, and the guide to your stay in this realm. I am known as
Charon, but you can call me Tim.”
I was at a loss for words. Reaper of souls? My stay in this
realm? It looked like some sort of prank, but knowing that I
was in a hospital bed not too long ago, I discarded the
thought. For now, I was going to play along. I had a lot of
questions racing in my mind, but for now, my safest option
was to listen to what this ‘boy’ was telling me.
“So what now, Tim? What am I supposed to do now?” I
asked, trying to figure out what was going to happen to me
“Well usually, you would go to the High Court, where we
would decide whether you deserve to suffer or prosper in the
afterlife, but you’re a special case. The Great Lord has asked
for you specifically. You should be honoured. Not everyone
gets granted an audience with his Greatness.”
“Who is this great lord that you are referring to?”
“You really don’t seem to know anything do you,” he sighed.
“I hate dealing with the incompetent ones”
My forehead bulged at his words, but his next words were
the biggest blow to me.
“His Greatness The Monarch of Death is asking for your
presence in his courtroom. Usually, it’s either that you
deserve a special punishment, or he wants you to be his slave
in the underworld. Nothing to look forward to. Geez, I almost
feel sorry for you!”
And then he started laughing and walked away, before
mumbling, “Almost.”
Something told me that this wasn’t going to be very fun.
