Take Me Out

Janelle moved toward the remote mountain cabin, knowing time was short. Glancing at the small town in the valley, she smirked. They look so small, but the vastness of the cosmos is a lie. Heaven and Hell are closer than any of them realize yet they roam through their daily routine, believing today has nothing to do with eternity. Blind fools. Every decision they make moves them closer to one or the other. This assignment was a prime example. She approached the door, considering the best way to enter. It didn't matter how she did this; the end result was always the same. Still, the young ones tended to react more frantically. Taking the form of a young woman in jeans and a plain shirt, she entered.

The cabin smelled musty, as if it hadn't been opened in a while. It was May, which was a slow vacation time in the mountains. The young woman lying in the bedroom was the first rental they'd had since ski season ended. Janelle purposely bumped a table to see if the woman would respond.

"Who's there?" slurred a voice from the bedroom. The woman sat up as Janelle entered the room. "Who are you? A park ranger? I didn't call for anybody."

"I know," Janelle said. "I heard there might be trouble up here, so I came to check it out." She looked around the room. "You have enough liquor here for a party, but you're alone."

The woman laughed sarcastically and plopped back on the bed. "Yea, I'm having a party," she slurred. "A pity party. My best friend is marrying my ex-fiancé tomorrow." She picked up a bottle of vodka and drank straight from it. "Whoopee for them. They deserve each other. Caught them cheating on me right here, in this bed." She coughed. "I hope they're divorced in five years."

They'll be divorced in three years, Janelle knew. Instead she simply said, "I'm sorry."

The woman shook her head. "It doesn't matter, nothing does." She turned over. "Look, I don't know who sent you, but I'm sorry you were disturbed. Please, enjoy this beautiful spring evening. You can leave."

Janelle picked up a medicine bottle from the bedside table. "Having trouble sleeping? This is a strong prescription. You shouldn't take these with alcohol."

The woman laughed uncontrollably. "Yea, I want to sleep. I want to sleep forever." She snatched the bottle from Janelle and slammed it back on the table. "I took all of them."

"Why?" Janelle asked. It was an important question, yet the woman treated it lightly.

"Why not? I'm the laughing stock of that little village down there! My fiancé and best friend betrayed me, and everybody treats them like they're the perfect little couple!" She flopped an arm toward the window, trying to gesture to the town in the valley. "They sold them on some lie that he broke up with me before they hooked up, and now everybody believes I'm a crazy ex-girlfriend! I even lost my job because of it."

"You lost your job because of them?" Janelle asked incredulously.

The woman rolled her eyes. "I have depression. That tends to happen when your fiancé breaks your engagement because he fell for your maid of honor three months before your wedding. I took leave from work. They said I didn't come back when I was supposed to." She sat up. "But if those jerks hadn't stabbed me in the back, I wouldn't have depression! None of this would have happened. If they hadn't spread lies about me, I would have friends to talk to. I would have been able to work and pay my bills. The bank wouldn't be fixing to foreclose on my house because I haven't been able to make the payments." She took another swig from the vodka bottle. "And my doctor cut off my prescriptions. He thinks I need to see a psychologist, and refuses to refill them until I do." Turning up the bottle and finding it empty, she dropped it on the floor. "To hell with it all. I'm not crawling to a shrink. I used my last paycheck to rent this place, and this is where it all ends. My life is over."

Janelle shook her head. Sometimes lives are broken because they need to be rebuilt into something better. This woman had the chance to do that, but she threw it away. Janelle knew the psychologist in the town. The woman was good at her job and saved Janelle from many jobs like this one. Pity this woman slipped through the cracks, but some fools would rather give up than make the effort to fix their lives.

"Why are you shaking your head like that?" the woman slurred. "And why am I talking to you? I don't want you here. Get out!"

Janelle stood. "It's a shame you're throwing your life away. You had the potential for a wonderful future. If you'd gone to that appointment with the psychologist this morning, you'd know you have a much better fate ahead of you than he could have offered. You would have learned to take control of your life, and to use what you have to rebuild it in a better way. You would have found strength and courage that would have lead to success and joy. But instead you've given up because of your wounded pride. Tell me, were they worth it?"

The woman struggled to stand. "What do you mean? I have no life left!" She swiped a tear from her eye as she steadied herself on her wobbly feet. "He should be marrying me tomorrow! That was supposed to be our wedding, not theirs! How can you fix your fate when it's been stolen from you? And who are you to judge me anyway? I told you to get out!" The woman picked up the empty vodka bottle and threw it at Janelle. To her surprise, it went right through Janelle and crashed against the wall. She shuddered against the corner. "What are you?"

Janelle sighed. "Nobody can change your fate except you, and you've done that. It's too late to go back. I've come to collect you."

The woman gasped. "Collect me? Who are you?"

Janelle strode across the room to the woman. "I'm a reaper. I escort souls from life to death. Congratulations; you've committed suicide. Your fate is now sealed. It's time to face what awaits your soul."

The woman shook her head. "No, it wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be peaceful! I was supposed to fall asleep and never wake up, not be kidnapped by a crazy woman!" She grabbed her purse. "You can't take me out! Not like this!" she screamed as she ran out the door.

Janelle laughed. Fifteen minutes ago the woman wanted to die, and now she's running for her life. She watched as the woman stumbled in her car and tore out of the driveway. Rushing outside, she got to the road just in time to see a truck speed around a bend in the road and crash into the woman's car head-on. Janelle silently walked to the crumpled car teetering on the edge of the mountainside cliff. The woman looked at her in wide-eyed horror.

"Don't fear the reaper," she whispered right before the car plunged into the darkness.

1,229 words.