My eyes opened heavily. The darkness moving chaotically around me was palpable, as if Light would never come into my sight again. Living at the bottom of the Ocean could be a factor for that.

One would assume Death would have a mansion, a castle, maybe even an abandoned building. Yet, I am everywhere. The dirt your children play in, the water you drink, the food you eat, the beaches you rest on, the Forests and Deserts you trek through. Death is always around you. I am not a person, or a shadow pretending to be one, but an omnipotent being from beyond this dimension. Beyond this reality.

Some days, I take tangible form and swim amongst the creatures in the sea. Time slows down for me here, I am in tune with the current world around me. The animals near me wearily, as if afraid I will snatch them and take them with me. Even here, Death is feared. They know not that I am, just the one who leads them the other side, I do not wish Death on anyone. I wish I could tell them, I wish I could explain it so they’d understand, I did not want this curse either, but it’s necessary.

This was the one place on this planet that I could enjoy being in, a small cave, near the bottom of the deepest part of the planet’s ocean’s, like a small home, perfect for my needs. The need to be alone. I enjoy the false sense of knowing I can’t be bothered down here.

I found it when I was young and in training, forced to roam the planets terrain and see what needed to be brought to the other side. I was so upset one day for all of the Dying, I swam to the bottom of the ocean and just planned to stay here. Yet even here, my duties were loud and clear, I could always here the Call.

Time does not move for me. I live in blinks of an eye in comparison to the creatures of this planet. I do not age, I do know that time is moving, I see it in everything around me, I have seen eons and eons of Dying, and not one could look me in the eyes, until I gave them the Final Grasp of Life. Then they see, I am merely their assistant back into the afterlife. I have witnessed all of the lives of the creatures I’ve come across. I have seen every second of their lives in less than the blink of an eye.

Yes, I am everywhere, all at once, but I am also nowhere, at any given time. Only copies of me moving through time, handling the process. I stay in my cave most days, spiritually speaking, I worked from home. My essence was everywhere, my ghosts are everywhere. Only occasionally going to see some off myself.

For instance, the ringing, vibrational buzz had been pounding in my chest long before I was awakened. I just couldn’t tell if I had wanted to see it through.

I got to the caves opening, taking a tangible form to view the creatures. I could feel one, kilometers above me, calling out to me through the darkness. I willed myself to teleport to the call.

Upon arrival, I could see daylight hundreds of feet above us. Daylight… it’s been so long since I saw the Sun’s glory. Her warm torch. Another Kiss of Life.

Dreams aside, I had a task at hand. I could see a large Blue Whale. She had been hit by something large, perhaps those fancy cargo ships, if they still existed, her wound told me it was recent and she didn’t have much time.

I knew what she was asking me.

She was Beautiful, a Gigantiss of the Sea. It would be an honor to take her to the other world. Her long life flowed through me, she lived so beautifully, so happily, her children adults now. She was ready, the wound was the final nail in the coffin.

I began the process. I let a final aura of life and love flow through her. I showed her the beautiful memories she’d just shown me. Her large eyes only showed gratitude. I took tangible form, of a translucent blue whale, and I slowly let the Eternal Sleep sink into her. Her eyes shutting for the final time. We sank to the bottom. Soon, she would feed the biosystems that kept the cycle of life going, she would not only go on to the Afterlife, but she would rejoin her Mother Earth.

After taking her into the next world and seeing that she was okay, I willed myself back to the cave, feeling oddly happy. I usually take no happiness from giving a Death. I needed to be in my darkness again.

I hated feeling this way after, floating still, a dark, small octopus taking my shape, I could only pretend for a moment. For this one brief moment, I could feel the beauty in ignorance, just floating here, doing nothing, providing nothing. Just for a moment. Now back to the calls.