You wake up to hear a message, that says you have one more day left to live. You live out that day like it’s your last, but it isn’t. You wake up every day for two years with this same message playing every morning. It turns out that there’s been a glitch in Death’s system.
This prompt was found on the subreddit r/writingprompts here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/gi0l1r/wpyou_wake_up_to_hear_a_message_that_says_you/
I knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up. But I was a little surprised to find out it was a she.
She knocked on my door just after I’d eaten dinner, and I let her in. She seemed confused as to why I wasn’t blown away by the sight of an otherworldly woman dressed in a gray shawl. She sat across from me and laid out some papers on my coffee table.
“I assume you have an idea of what this is about, Mr. Drake?” she said.
I nodded and fiddled with my phone in my hands.
“The uh, messages, yeah,” I said, “took me a few months to guess something was seriously up, but then just a couple days ago I got the message about the glitch.”
She nodded and thumbed through some of the papers.
“You must understand, Mr. Drake, we don’t normally do things this way. You were never meant to receive those messages in the first place.”
“I figured.”
She paused on a certain page and took out a pen.
“Is this the part where I sign away my soul?” I asked, “Or do I have to pick a game first?”
She gave me a look and smirked.
“Nothing like that, Mr. Drake. Rather, this is the part where you receive your compensation for the error on our part.”
It was my turn to be confused.
“What?” I said. “So… do I get, like, three wishes or something?”
“In ancient times, yes,” she said, “but given your own time’s constant record-keeping, we had to phase all that out. It would seem very suspicious if you were to suddenly become famous, or wealthy.”
I chuckled.
“Yeah,” I said.
“And in any case,” she said, “since you’re speaking with a representative of Death, I assume you’ll want to try and avoid the other certainty you Humans are so keen on evading.”
“What’s that?”
“Taxes. So there will be no money involved in your compensation.”
I was a little disappointed, but I nodded anyway. I looked at the papers.
“What do I get, then?” I asked.
“A choice, Mr. James Drake of Pickford Lane,” she said, “a very important choice.”
She slid the pen closer to me and pointed at one of the papers.
“Sign here, and you agree to be allowed a set amount of remaining years – ah, not exceeding more than one hundred and twenty of your years, you understand. When your time has expired you will be Collected.”
“Ok,” I said.
I reached for the pen; it seemed like a no-brainer – just pick the max number of years, right?
She pointed to the other paper.
“However,” she said, “if you sign here, then you will be granted a single glimpse into your future. Or rather, the future as it will be, should nothing about your life change.”
I nodded.
“How far into the future do I get to look?”
“In the effort of fairness and an appeal to what we call the General Cosmic Order, it is entirely random. We have no control over it; the device used to show you your future will do whatever it wants, and show you a random point in your future -“
She smiled a little.
“Although, in the effort of not cheating you out of a proper compensation, the device will show you a minimum of one year into the future,” she said.
“Right,” I said.
I stared at the two contracts, then at the pen, then back at the contracts.
“Why are these my only two options?” I asked.
She raised her eyebrows.
“Neither of these are things we usually grant Humans; in fact, if my records are correct, no representative of ours has shown a person their future since one Ebeneezer Scrooge,” she said.
A million questions all vied for my attention, but I shook them away like cobwebs. I needed to focus and just pick one.
“If I pick the future,” I said, “does that like… mess up how long I was going to live?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
“Come on, you’re already giving me this choice – you can’t tell me what I’m giving up?”
She sighed.
“The only thing that can ‘mess up’ your allotted Time is if you do something very, very drastic – or stupid. Otherwise, Upstairs ensures that your Time is lived out properly.”
I thought for a few more moments. Then I picked up the pen.
“Alright,” I said, “I choose to see the future.”
I moved to sign the contract, but she put her hand on mine as I held the pen over the page. It was warm.
“Are you certain, James Drake? Once you sign, there will be no reconsidering your compensation.”
I nodded.
“Nothing can ruin my Time, so I may as well see part of the future,” I said.
She moved her hand away from mine.
“Very well then. Sign there, and the device will materialize here in a moment,” she said.
I scribbled my name onto the line and set the pen down. A few seconds later and a small pair of square-frame glasses appeared on my coffee table.
“Is that it?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I am not permitted to touch it, in the effort of ensuring that it is not tampered with,” she said.
I picked up the glasses and looked them over. They seemed like any other normal pair, but somehow they were… heavier. I got the sense that if I stepped on it my shoe would just bend around the frame.
“Put them on,” she said, “and when the vision is complete, the device will dissipate; no time will have passed here.”
I nodded and slowly brought the glasses up to my face. I put them on, and as soon as the frames had covered my eyes my vision flashed white.
I heard noises as my eyes tried to adjust to this blinding light… laughter, small footsteps running along pavement… and as my vision finally came to me, I saw…
the sea.
Stretched out before me was an ocean, the most blue-and-green and brightest ocean I had ever seen. I could smell the saltwater, and feel the cool breeze coming from the swell. In my left hand was the warmth of another person’s hand…
It was like being in a dream. I couldn’t see any faces, but somehow I knew that this person was good. That I was safe. That I loved them. That they loved me. The sun was bright, and it was hot out, but I couldn’t feel the heat on my skin…
I turned to see their face –
The glasses disappeared, and I was back in my little apartment. She was still there, watching me. I looked at my hands, my arms, my legs –
“Steady now, Mr. Drake,” she said, “you’re back.”
She offered me a smile as she started to pack up her papers.
“What did you see?” she asked.
I felt like I’d just run a marathon. I could hardly think.
“It was… I saw… the ocean, and, and a woman! Or at least, I think it was a woman… I don’t know who it was exactly, but I… I loved them! And, and they loved me! And there were children laughing, and -“
She chuckled.
“It seems you made the right choice, then; I was worried your vision would not be a happy one,” she said.
I nodded and tried to catch my breath.
“So… what happens now?” I asked.
“Now,” she said as she got up, “I take my leave, Mr. Drake. You won’t be getting those messages anymore, and now that you’ve received your compensation, there’s no need for us to stay in contact.”
“Oh,” I said.
“You seem… disappointed.”
“Well, I mean… it’s not often you get to meet, like, Death, and I thought maybe -“
“I am merely part of Death, a representative of a larger body all working to Collect,” she said.
“Right, right,” I said, “but… I don’t know, don’t you ever get bored? Or lonely?”
She seemed to think about this for a minute or two. Then she said,
“I have never been able to sit down and speak to a Human before, not at any great length; I suppose it would not be so bad to have something to do when I have no more Collections to do for the day-“
She trailed off. Then she nodded.
“I will see what I can do. Perhaps we will speak again, James Drake,” she said.
“That sounds good,” I said.
I smiled.
“You will receive a message, should anything change,” she said.
“Right,” I said.
I held the front door open for her, and she lingered with one foot in my apartment and the other in the outside world.
“If I am able to see you again, Mr. Drake,” she said, “will you tell me why it is you chose to see your future, rather than prolong your own life?”
I nodded.
“Of course,” I said.
She smiled.
“Very well then,” she said.
And then, just as quietly and suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone.
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