To the reader :

I cannot possibly imagine how these words have come to you, but that’s just me, I lack imagination.

It will not be by chance; of that I can assure you, I have my ways.

There are many humans that will ignore these words, either in terror or stupidity.

However, if you posses any attention span whatsoever, I urge you to read on, for many ill things could be prevented, and lives saved, if only people would listen.

Do not fall to ignorance.

I am no author, in fact, I am an awful story-teller, but the story needs telling regardless.

So I shall begin, forgive me if I sidetrack, for if it’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that events mean nothing, it’s how and why they came about, but most importantly the message deeper within.

A red sunrise.

Fitting really or at least I think so.

It was warm too, a gentle current caressed the barren land below and sent motes of yellow dust spiralling upwards in pure joy.

It was one of the moments you just wished to bathe in the glory of light and forget everything, pain, suffering, what it was to be human, to abandon the darkness for the light.

I can only assume they would have enjoyed it, in fact, I can be quite certain they would have, what human could resist?

However, they would never enjoy again, they could not feel nor see, or even contemplate a single thing like little lights fading in the darkness, they were dead.

I suppose I should show more remorse, more despair, but I have grown used to it; you’ll understand soon enough why.

I passed the bodies, they were piled high, they had not died happy deaths, of that you can be sure, they lay on the dust with terrified faces their hands twisted grotesquely and their eyes dim.

They were mostly naked I noted, yet do not think that I did not know how they had died; I knew exactly how they had died, yet more importantly I knew why.

Humans amuse me sometimes, and then I wonder why, because of course amusement is a human emotion, and therefore I am human by their logic, but I do not feel as such.

They had died, for several reasons, mostly because of words, words were cruel things, quite like humans, they could be hammered and bent and shaped into weapons of hate.

So yes these people had died because of words, but more precisely they had died because they were Jewish.

It was a sad fact really, that humans listened so much, and of course they only listened to certain things, often the things which agreed with them.

Then of course they would form ideas depending on the words, stupid foolish ideas that only humans could design, and as I gazed at a thin, beaten and defeated young Jew lying face down, I could see the effects of this clearly.

I continued forward, until I came to another pile of bodies, fresh ones I believe, but already dead, so of no importance to myself.

A man was there among them, living of course, a Nazi most definitely. Who could mistake the soupy red strap across his arm, bearing a white circle and the swastika?

He was dumping the bodies into piles, as a child might with his toys before he destroys them, and that’s exactly what was happening, he was going to burn them, I could see other men in the distance helping in this terrible act, and for once I thought, that humans deserve death, all of them, for they are monsters, and the wretched words that they sow should die with them.

Yet who am I to say these things you ask? I think that is an obvious question, you know exactly who I am.

I passed the man, and we completely ignored each other, this man was very good at ignoring me I think, but not quite so good at avoiding me.

He would go mad after a while; many of these 'Einsatzkommandos' did in the end, as they became maddened by the task that was put before them.

I met him before the end of the Nazi Regime, and I must admit, he was on of the lucky ones.

It was 1942, and this final solution, this operation Reinhardt, had barely begun and yet I felt its effect almost immediately, there was work to do.

I was not a Nazi, no, I was not even German, and yet, I was Hitler’s greatest ally, worth more to him than a million soldiers, for I could silence his foes and strike fear into any man.

It was quite true to say, that without me, the war would not have happened at all, and many things that were, would not have been.

Did I feel guilty? Not at all, this was my only purpose, without it I was nothing.

I passed further on and found a locked door, linked of course to a dull grey building that filled my vision.

I knew what it was, and I’m sure you do too, I had seen many of such buildings, buildings whose only purpose was to kill. The Jews, no, the people would go in, and they would not come out.

The locked door meant only one thing, not difficult to guess, is it?

However doors were no obstacle for me, I had encountered all too many in my life, some much greater and hiding things far more grotesque than what I was about to encounter.

I slowly entered, my footsteps, as always echoed loudly, or perhaps not loudly, for they were never heard by anyone, yet they were still noticed and often cursed.

It was cold inside, even for me, but I walked on undaunted, before long I was greeted with many more bodies, in fact most of them hadn't quite died yet, but that mattered little, they would die soon.

I'm very patient, I have to be.

Things don't just happen as I wish them to, but perhaps that is a good thing for many.

So I waited, and I watched, the young and old withering around me.

There where only a few left living now, the rest had already succumbed to the gas, but some still clung to life in a most stubborn fashion.

Sometimes I pity humans, they have so many little ideas about life and death, of ghosts and Gods and spirits.

There was a spirit of course, I knew that much, but it was little more than the vapours left behind by the mind; a shadow of thoughts, feelings and life.

Have you guessed who I am yet?

Perhaps not, perhaps you are like many humans, you see what you want to see, and you see what others create for your mind.

There are two types of human, the ones who see what really lies behind the veil, or rather, who realise that there is no veil, there is only me, and I am ever patient.

Then there are the others, the ones I pity most, who live behind the veil ever happy, seeing the lies that creep into their heads as real things in front of them, despite there being no such things.

All these things, love, anger, war, heaven.

They do not exist, I am sorry to tell you so.

There is only birth, then blood, life and of course there is me, the end to it all, for I am death.

I hope that doesn't surprise you little one, yes I suppose to one like you death is terrifying, perhaps, if you are one of the smart ones.

I shall not judge you though, that is not my place, I treat all humans equally, and there is no other way.

They were almost all gone now, but surprisingly, one little girl, perhaps no more than ten, was still there, still breathing as her hands slipped from the mantle of life.

I crept closer, and I wondered, what was she thinking?

Was she one of the smart ones, was she terrified?

I did not think so, she seemed to be smiling, her face pale and breathless, and I just knew, beyond all doubt, that she was praying.

I reached out a skeletal hand towards her, she had not quite finished, yet I found myself wanting to do something.

Would you like to hear something terribly ironic?

I only guess.

I might be death, the last thing any person can see, but even I can not truly know what awaits humans.

I mean, it seems obvious to me, I cannot imagine there being a god, but why would so many believe in a thing which does not exist?

'Aha... yes...' I thought, bitterly, 'words'.

I do not follow the humans; I only deliver them, so perhaps....

I have searched the universe, and counted every atom, I know what lies everywhere and anywhere, and I have studied all fibres of existence.

Humans however, I do not understand at all, I can see what they are composed of, I can count the very particles in their body and every breath they take, or tell the rate of their hearts, but I will never understand them.

I found no heaven or hell when I searched the universe, nor any Gods or demons, not a surprise, but there was yet one place I had not yet travelled, and never would.

The human mind.

Belief is both a wonderful and terribly stupid thing.

I wanted to take this little girl in my arms, and reassure her, to tell her there was a god, that a beautiful place awaited her, and that she need not fear.

I could not.

I cannot tell you how I feel about humans, at least not in a way you would understand, I both hate and love them, they are my bane and delight,

We are part of each other, and we are always at war.

So it was that as this little girl finally died, that something incredibly strange happened, something which will haunt me for eternity.

A single tear escaped my eye, and I was filled with sadness and hatred for my task.

Strange, how I can carry out a single task for countless years, never growing weary, never changing, but sometimes, if for only a second, you become alike to the thing you destroy.

I raised a hand, and all around me, in the dark and vacant room, little shapes were forming, flickering and pale, they came closer to me, as little moths approach the flame, their destroyer.

Then the little girl was beside me, and she took my hand, and I did not feel warmth as I should have, I only felt icy emptiness, but her smile was still there.

I wanted there to be something anything to give her, something more than

Death, but what could I give her?

What could anyone give to the dead?

They were dead, and they would forever be so, there was nothing on this earth to comfort them now.

Many people assume the spirit takes a form, like its body, and remains so.

That is not true.

It is like water, it fills the body, and once it leaves, it only remains in that shape for a short time, and then it becomes as a fading wisp, a dozen atoms, nothingness, save but to me.

I led the many weary and tired spirits out of this place, a collection of fading, weary shadows, a mockery of humanity and of life, they were mine now.

We left that room together, the little girl still smiling, and I was still wondering.

Some of the spirits were restless, terrified as they should have been, others knew their fate, and were quiet, enjoying their last thoughts, while others were smiling, as though they knew a great secret and were glad to be dead.

Foolish humans.

We passed another man as he dragged out the bodies that had once housed the souls around me.

He didn't seem at all bothered by this task, but I assume he was, or at least

I hope he was.

Want to know another secret?

This one is as ironic as the entire human race, and sums them up quite well

I believe.

That very man we passed only seconds ago, the murderer, when he has finished his work here, when all the Jews have been burnt to cinders, and the rest have been shot or beaten or gassed, he'll leave that place and then, with a smile, he'll get into his car, and make for home.

Then, with a hum and a light heart, with the smell of burnt skin in his nostrils, he'll stop at a pretty little corner shop and buy his wife a bunch of flowers and some sweets for his children, and he'll arrive home, and his wife will embrace him and his children too, and they'll all sit down to a warm meal while they listen to the wireless and they’ll thank whoever they can think of for their perfect little life.

Is this man a monster?

Is he a creature of malice?

He who will shake the hand of a friend with the same hand he uses to kill his foes?

I know the answer.

He is neither, no, he is merely human.

They are all alike.

Some might be kind and good people, but within them all lives a perpetual lurking evil never resting ignorant of their nature.

Whilst if they live their lives inspiring terror in others and killing, there will always be a little seed of good embedded deep within.

I will never understand humans.

They can destroy and they can create in equal measure, they enslave the very earth with their presences and seek knowledge even when it destroys them.

They live deep within perception, ignorant of the physical laws, and each one has their own universe, hidden behind the eyes, in the mind.

They are Gods in their own right, and yet they try to find their own Gods, forever asking questions, they never wait for the answers, and so invent their own.

They fear the shadow and the light in equal measure, yet they will crawl to the knees of one and beg for forgiveness while cursing and hating the other.

They are ever changing their ideas, yet they will always be the same,

They feed upon and destroy everything.

Theirs is a cruel fate, yet they do not bear it together, they each lurk alone within the walls of the mind, a thousand shadows caused by a flickering flame, passing like wraiths in oblivion, and that almighty importance each holds is gone in a instant.

They cannot last.

They will not last.

Whether they destroy each other in wretched hatred, at war against the face which is their own, or waste away at last, too weary to go on too scare to fade, I will be there.

I will not console them, yet I will not laugh.

I shall only hold out a hand, I have triumphed at last, a bitter victory for both.

We always knew it would be so, yet they tried to ignore it.

Then each soul will gather at my feet, but this time, none shall laugh,

There will be no more lies, and together we'll descend into darkness once more.

The world will grow anew, and yet it will be empty,

I can only hope.

They will not listen to reason or truth my dear reader; it sickens me, but it true.

I truly pity them.

However I have taken too much of your time, and you of mine, I shall continue now with my task, and you would do well to return to yours.

Do not worry though, perhaps I may write again, though obviously not to you.

I shall see you eventually that much is certain.

It could be anytime in any place, remember that.

I look forward to it.

I only hope that you are not like the others that you can see past the veil, and have listened to my words.

Perhaps you shall be the one to free humanity, if they deserve it; I shall not get my hopes up.

If not, then I am sorry to have wasted your time, evidentially you have more important things to ignore and be lied to about.

Don’t let me keep you waiting, enjoy obliviousness while you can.

I patiently await to see the smile leave your face, as I stand over you, and tell you the truth at last, as you fade to dust.

~Death~