• It was cold in the Realm. So very cold. Her wings felt like they were getting frozen as she flew through the blackness and the chilling atmosphere that persisted to fill the Realm. It was faster this way; flying in the pathway where she took the people she was sent to retrieve, but sadder. There was no joy, no hope. None of the human emotions that made life what it was. It was just sadness and despair. But you can’t miss what you never had, so none of it bothered her. The only reason she even knew about these feeling was from what the people told her. It was a sad existence, but one that she had to do. Being the Angel of Death was no easy job.
    She knew exactly where she was going. Her next victim wasn’t that far away, but she knew that she had to get out of the Ream soon. The cold was already beginning to affect her greatly and she was in danger of the Realms power possessing her for too long. Anyway, she longed to get into the World, into the sun that the humans took for granted, finally escaping the Realm even if it was only for a short while.
    So when she was close to the next person she burst out of the chill and into the warm rays of the sun. It was a wondrous feeling. She felt light and free, warm and comfy. She wanted to stay up in the sky, basking in the suns touch as it caressed her senses, but she knew she couldn’t. Like the Realm, the World also had a great affect on her. She had to maintain a precise and difficult balance on each parts of the universe that she travelled between. So, instead of staying high in the light like she wanted to, she soared down upon the World, ready to take another person.
    She was invisible to human’s eyes luckily. She managed to flit in-between all the humans without them seeing her. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t sense her. To them it was like a wave of nausea, despair and worry. But to her it was the feeling she carried around all the time. They would swoon on the spot, stopping and looking bemused before carrying on their lives, oblivious to the fact that they had just came between touching distance of the Angel of Death
    Finally she came upon a desolate house. It was the house of her next person. She entered with ease and followed the feeling of sadness that always surrounds the people she took. It led her to a lone room, which she found, when entering, was filled with weeping humans. They were all crying into each other’s shoulders or patting one another on the back and muttering comforting words. On the bed lay an old man. She made her way to the bedside, trying to avoid getting the close to the other humans.
    There were nine in the room – not including the man - four of whom were children. She hated it when the little ones were around when she stole someone away from them. It just made things that much harder. With her in the room all of the sadness was magnified and the crying was even stronger. She had to get this over with.
    She turned her attention back to the man. His face was wrinkled and old. He had laughter lines surrounding his eyes. He also had that jolly look about him. She hated it when it was people like that. It made it a lot easier if they were horrid and cruel people, but she could tell that this man wasn’t.
    Then it was time. She placed a hand onto his chest and his eyes opened, revealing that they were a soppy brown. He could see her, the people that she took always could, and he was ready. At least that was one thing.
    She felt a slight lift in spirits around her when his eyes opened. The family thought that maybe he would be okay. She knew different. She took a deep breath and let her hand fall into the man’s chest. A final gasp escaped him, and then that was it.

    She flew with the person down the Realm. He talked the whole way, like they all do, and she didn’t stop him. She couldn’t. So she let him chat wildly, even though it filled it with sadness and guilt every time he mentioned someone he had left behind.
    He told her about his son, who had became a doctor; his twin daughter who had both gone into business and his final younger son who was living in a foreign country and couldn’t make it. About his wife who had died a year previous and how he had felt part of him had left him (this left her with a horrible feeling of guilt because she remembered taking her from him) He talked about his four grandchildren who were the apple of his eyes. He told her their names, hobbies, trips they had taken together, everything. He also talked about fishing trips with his best friend, football games with his son-in-law, holidays in caravans the family had taken, walks on the beach, meals out, days out, picnics, sporting events, ball games with his father, heart wrenching memories that would never be forgotten. He spoke them all.
    She was relieved when it was time for him to go. All of his memories felt like her own. And although it was sad, she couldn’t help the warm feeling that spread through her. All the way to the tip of her wings and back.