The Call

When Death calls on you, black cloak rustling in silent breezes, you stand at a fork in the road.
You can go. You will hold your hand out like a child following parents long ago. Death will not take it. His fingers will instead remain hidden in the volumes of his shroud. But as he walks, you will follow regardless, pulled by the tides of a thousand oceans.

Death will take you to a field that stretches to the end of time. There will be a man here, perched on a stone. He will tell you the meaning of life. You will laugh at the irony, at its simple genius, and at all the unanswered questions yelled at the sky. Death will lead you from the field and you will travel across the world, but you will remember nothing, because you are dead.

When Death calls on you, you can ignore the door. Fight the creeping chills, think of sunshine. When Death holds his hand out for you, you can brush it away, feeling icicles on your fingertips. When Death grabs at your wrist, you can run. Show him how your heart beats. Show him how alive you really are.Run like you have never run, but it doesn't matter in the end. Death will always find you in the dark. When Death's cold hand grips your soul:
Scream, "You can't take me!"
Yell, "I have so much to do!"
Cry, "Just give me one more day."

When you feel the cold pulse drifting through your bones, do not lose hope. Show Death your first broken heart. Tell him what it took to fix it. Show Death a box of all your broken promises. Tell him why it is so small. Show Death a house of hopes and dreams. Tell him why it has no walls, and stretches to eternity. Show Death a test tube of tears, a container of curses, and a jar of joy.

Lay these before him and Death will hesitate. He will reach into your mind and pull out mounds of memories. They will pile up around you, collapsing, crushing you under their weight. A whisper will tell you, "This is your life."
You must not struggle. Let everything in. Then you will wake, your heart will beat and your breath will fill the room.

In a week you will receive a call. On the other end of the line, someone is breathing. You must listen as the breathing slows, then stops. A voice will whisper, "That is your last moment."