Eternal memories

Another day had come to an end, and a few lives had left. Tonight, he would see those eyes again, the eyes that kept haunting his mind every second of every hour. Nothing had made him feel alive since the beginning of time; that is simply how his creation turned out. While love was not something that he naturally felt for his holy duty, he made sure to approach every task with the utmost care and dedication. They were his responsibility, after all. If he needed to rise his body temperature in order for his now motherless children to feel a bit more warmth, he would do so. If he had to cover their eyes the whole journey to their destination, he would do so. There was nothing he would not do for them except love them, that is, he could not do so.

He had the bad habit of growing attached to all his possessions, that was the only privilege he had granted himself. They would never come to leave his side, after all. Who could ever leave deaths side?

Death, that was the title he was forced to wear. He hated it as much as he appreciated it. He had been given the title the day he was born, it was stuck to him like a birthmark. At first, it was not to his liking, he wanted to be more. But as existence had humbled his greed, he learned to accept that it was all he was meant to be.

However, there was once a time when he did not go by his title. A time when he had received a name by his beloved. It had not lasted nearly enough. It was in fact very short, but sweet nonetheless, like a candy melting on the tongue just a few seconds after touching it. If he had known, he would have savoured it a bit longer, because before he finished to swallowing, his name had gone from God to Devil. One was given to him by pure love, the other was given to by hatred and indifference, yet he liked them both, how could he not? They both had been given to him by the one he had given his shallow heart to.

He only went by Death when introducing himself to his children, but they were not to speak his name when addressing him, ever. That right belonged only and always to his one and only warmth.

The relationship between Life and Death was brief but too intense to describe with mere words, no letters, songs or paintings could ever capture the immense love between them. Their encounter almost seemed planed, and perhaps it was. They had been born in the same place, opened their eyes the same moment, and reached out for the other as if by instinct.

Her first child was born soon after, but she deemed him too inexperienced to hold the infant for the first 25 years. On the cold night she finally felt like his warm body was needed to hold the child, it died. The mother was in tears, heartbroken over the lost life of her firstborn, knowing she would never get to hold it again.

Back then, he did not know how to properly lead his child back home and was too rough with his guidance. He did not blame himself, however, as he could not have known better. When meeting Life again, he lowered himself before her, apologizing with tears drowning his eyes, knowing he had caused her pain. She decided to embrace him once again.

As time continued, her offspring kept coming, each one with a unique name and face. Creating them was her duty, and she loved holding each and every one of them equally, she could not have asked for a better task. Her smile when surrounded by them would bring light to the sky.

Death did not dare to touch her creations again until one day she gifted one of them to him. She claimed it had been asking to see him, and had decided to gift him to the only being she loved, confessing she would give him every child that would sought him out. When he took the second child by the hand, it told him that it wanted to stay with him, leaving its devasted mother behind forever.

Death was a responsible father, one who could not, and was not allowed to, turn a child away once they had decided to leave for his house. Occasionally their mother would drag them back to her side before they got to settle in his realm, but more often than not, she would be too late.

They were both greedy, while she always wanted more, he longed to be more. They were both humbled. The once tender eyes she looked at him with, turned callous at the sight of him. She had come to hate him for always taking what was hers. He had come to hate balance, an existence older than both of them, their superior that had assigned them their tasks, the one who kept him from loving her the way she wanted him to. Why would balance have created him this way? Make him unable to hold the one thing he loved?

Those feelings were all in the past now. He no longer hated balance, just as the mother of his children no longer hated him. They had all simply come to accept of each other, as none of them could help but do the task that was forced upon them. Death knew he should let go of those ancient memories, but he could not, they were the only memories of her smile he had. Time had made him come to terms with many things, an existence without her love was not one of those things.

So he walked into the darkness of the night. It was the only time of day when her vision was limited, it was the only way she could meet him face to face. Seeing him properly worsened the pain she felt. He, on the other hand, could see perfectly in the dark, making it possible for him to see the eyes that normally looked at him with resentment now gaze at him disoriented. It was far from the look he dreamed of every morning, but it was all he was allowed.

She handed her some of her children, while tears started to slowly shower her eyes, then she turned her back and disappeared. He would always stand there for a few seconds, watching her leave, before leading his children home, knowing he could never love anyone or anything that didn’t carry her soul.

She was the only one that had made him feel alive since the beginning of time. Life was the only one who Death wanted. But Life was the only one who did not want to stay by deaths side.