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heard.
    “Then can I have my body back before you leave?”
    I finally came to my senses then and let him go, backing away. My cheeks burned, and I knew they must be red. “Oh crap, sorry. I…don’t know what came over me.”
    Shilah was smiling, to my relief. “It’s okay. You don’t get a lot of hugs at home, do you?”
    I shook my head.
    “I definitely need to take you to meet my family,” Shilah said. “Even though they are death fanatics, they’re very loving.”
    “I can’t wait to meet them,” I said. I liked the concept of love, despite how hard it was to understand. I wish reapers had love.
    “Well, I’ll see you…whenever I see you.” Shilah turned and walked down the hill leading off the cliff.
    “Tomorrow, at five o’clock!” I called. I would try my hardest to be back here then.
    Shilah faced me again, gave me a thumbs up, and continued on his way.
    I exhaled heavily, staring up at the darkening sky.
    “Death, please give me a break tomorrow,” I prayed.
    * * *
    Death did not spare me. Someone was scheduled to die at 4:59 p.m. the next day. Figures.
    At 4:58, I stood beside a half-constructed building, tapping my foot. I’d been here twenty minutes early, hoping this death would happen sooner than scheduled, but it hadn’t.
    It felt rude wanting this person to hurry up and die. But I had somewhere to be today. I was eager to see Shilah.
    Hm…this wasn’t good. I was a little too eager to see him. A reaper should not be getting this close to a living human. It could lead to the breaking of a Rule, and that could lead to ‘the end of the world’, as my superiors put it.
    So I had to make a decision. First, I’d consult my superiors like Jayza wanted. Then, I would tell Shilah I was moving to Canada or something. I’d have to try to avoid him from then on when I go reaping so he wouldn’t know I’d lied, but it shouldn’t be that hard. It might be better if I could get relocated to another area though.
    I was ripped from my thoughts when I heard people start yelling, and then a tremendous crash echoed through the air. Men in hard yellow hats ran around, gathering at some catastrophe, and one shouted for somebody to call an ambulance.
    Finally. I can get this over with.
    I strode past the frantic crowd and stopped. Dust obscured the air where a large concrete wall had fallen over, on top of a construction worker. I spotted a transparent man with a short, muscular body standing from the rubble.
    “Hey, over here,” I called to the dead soul, waving my hand. “Come, I don’t have all day. And if I were you, I wouldn’t look down.”
    The spirit eyed me with a blank stare, then looked down. His corpse’s hand lay unmoving, peeking up through the broken fragments of rubble.
    I sighed. This always happened.
    “Oh my God,” the soul gasped. “That’s–?”
    “Yes, yes, it’s your body,” I replied in an impatient tone. “You’re dead, and I’m here to guide you in the afterlife. Now, if you don’t mind coming with me, please.”
    “B-but…I’m dead ?”
    “Look, I don’t have time for the whole ‘oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m dead’ thing today. You can freak out later.” I opened a portal to Purgatory beside me. The gray vortex appeared immediately.
    “Uh, who are you?” the soul asked, staring me up and down.
    I faced him again. “I’m Xia, your grim reaper. Now–”
    “You’re the Grim Reaper?”
    “I’m a grim reaper.” I made my scythe materialize into my left hand. “I don’t like it when I have to use this, but if you don’t come on…”
    The soul hesitated, took a step toward me, then stopped and looked back at his body again. Around us, the other workers stared down at his corpse with horrified looks, their faces filled with grief and shock.
    I frowned. Why did I always let these souls get to me? I walked up beside the spirit, trudging carefully through the rubble, and gazed down at his body too. “Construction accident. Happens all