Hey guys. Sorry I have not been updating stories recently. A lot has happened and it has been a lot for me to handle. I am sitting at work in a bad place, but came up with a little short story. This is a dark story, with dark themes. Read at your own risk. But if you do read it, read to the end. Thank you.

Death came to the little town of Greenwich, where he was to collect another soul. To him this was everyday work, but to normal people, it would seem like a depressing job. The millions upon of souls who die, he has to visit each and guide them to the afterlife. He couldn't even remember when he first started this, for the amount of souls he has carried through was numerous. One could say that is a sad existence to live, but to the Grim Reaper he was numb to it all.

The town was quiet and dark, the clock striking 11 at night. The stars lit up the sky like little Christmas decorations as they reflected off the nearby lake. Death approached the house to which he was to visit, a small 2 bedroom house. He went in and followed the halls to a room. Death heard what appeared to be crying as he entered, the male named Nathan Zichra sat on his bed.

Death knew a bit about the boy, for he made it part of his job to know basics about his souls he collected. The boy was 18, grew up abused by his own parents, lost his brother in an accident, and even got his heart broken repeatedly. He turned to drugs, drinking, and even self-harm, though not even that could sedate the depression in the boy.

Nathan looked up and noticed the grim reaper starring down at him. "Who... are you?" He asked in between sniffles as he wiped his teary eyes. His wrists were sliced as a bloody blade laid next to him on his bedside.

"I am Death, and I have come for your soul." He said calmly. One would think that seeing someone so young die would get to a person, but Death was no human.

Nathan sniffled a bit and looked down. "So, today is the day then huh." He sighed and grabbed the rope next to him, preparing for the deed. He placed a letter on his dresser, a tear rolling down his face.

Death for some reason felt compelled to ask the question he spoke to the boy. "Why take your life so young?"

Nathan froze for a bit. "Because I have nothing. I lost my brother, my parents don't love me, and I am undesirable to everyone." He spoke as if the thought was engrained into his head. "Over my years, I have realized that I am never good enough, that all I do is hurt the people that I care about, and that I will continue to live this existence. So why should I keep breathing? Why should I continue to waste up space? It would be better if I vanished into the nothingness that I am. I bet even the 'friend's' that I have would be happy. They wouldn't have to deal with a bother like me."

Death listened to the boy and then asked the question. "Was it others told you this? Or is it your head that fills you with these thoughts?"

The boy stopped for a second and balled his fists. "My parents always say that, and even if they didn't, I know it is a fact. Look at my life, look at what's happened. I lost my own brother because I couldn't stop him from getting run over, I am no good in school, I am not good looking at all, I am a pathetic druggie, and I even cannot get a date! Even when I am a nice guy and better than the others, I lose to the cool guy!!! Why should a human like me live? I should just become dust like I always have been!"

The way Nathan spoke and the way he moved got to Death. The negative outlook on life, the way he lived, it was no way for a boy like him to die. While he read about the bad, he also read about the good, and there was plenty of it. He knew Nathan always helped out at the orphanage and he always took care of people that needed it. He would stay by his grandmother who was also dying of old age. Nathan while had his hardships was also a good person.

He was kind and selfless, always putting others before him, even when some did not deserve his love. He had great potential, but the dark cloud that loomed over his head clouded his vision. He was not all that his torturous mind made him believe, but from the days without relent, his sense of self became warped.

Nathan tied the rope around the fan, and got on his bed. He starred at the thing that would take his life and sighed. He stood at the edge and was ready to leap, ready to jump into Death's warm embrace. As the boy took his final leap, something in Death sprung from him that never has. He has dealt with situations like these, but he never took it upon himself to do anything. He was not fate, so he could not do anything. However, this moment before him, this second, Death could not do it any longer. He could not just sit by as a young boy was about to die.

It was then Death did something he never did through his millennia of existing. He took his scythe and cut the rope, making the boy fall without his life perishing. The boy bewildered, got up and turned to Death. "Wh... why..." he asked, on the verge of tears. "Why would you do that? Do you not even want me?" He asked, croaking back a cry. It was breaking him yet ANOTHER being didn't want him. His desire to extinguish his life only grew greater.

Death didn't believe that he did it himself, but he still had an answer for the boy. "The reason is simple: the reasoning for why you are doing what you are is wrong. There is never a reason to take your own life."

Nathan's tears began to trickle down his own face. "But... Lord Death I have NOTHING! I lost my brother, I won't ever find the girl I love, I will just be alone for the rest of my life! What good is it for me to be here!? I am a terrible person that should just be thrown to the garbage where I belong! I don't have family, friends, a loved one, I have NOTHING!" He cried out loud.

Death heard the words the boy spoke and understood where he came from. The boy did have nothing going for him. He was scrapping the bottom of the barrel just to exist in the cruel world. "That may be true, and it may seem like Hell to just breathe, but that is no way to exist. To take your life due to things like this, that is not the way to do it. How would the orphans that you help feel? They would get no other help and die themselves. Your grandmother would be heartbroken and die from the sadness. The few friends you have would weep for years and feel they failed you and maybe commit suicide themselves! All because you cannot handle what life has given you?"

Nathan was quiet for a few minutes and just starred at the ground, his hair covering his eyes as the rope that was cut laid next to him. His bloody wrists were now beginning to stain the carpet as the drops fell to the ground. "I am not needed... I -"

"YOU MIGHT NOT BE TO YOURSELF BUT TO OTHERS YOU ARE!" Death yelled uncharacteristically, even startling the boy. "You keep denying it but it is the opposite! You are needed. Your friends need you, your grandmother needs you, the orphans who look up to you need you! Just because life is dealing a bad hand to you does not mean you fold like a coward!"

Nathan starred in shock at what the Angel of Death was speaking. "But... but... I know I am undesirable... I want to die... I want my pain to stop.. I can't take it anymore, I am done…." he cried, the true defeat he has been feeling finally coming to surface as his face turned red from crying.

Death felt his chest ping a bit as he grew in anger. He always felt that humans never saw the good they had and always looked towards the bad. It enraged him. "You are undesirable because you THINK like that. You humans all are the same. You take for granted what you have, and never look to what you got! You say you are undesirable and no one likes you, yet that is further from the truth."

Death walked closer to the boy as her continued. "I will say it again, you have the orphans, your friends, and your grandmother. They ALL care about you! But you are only focusing in the bad! And you wonder why you are in the state you are!"

Nathan merely just sat there and took the words in, not even able to rebuttle like his brain wanted him to. "Instead of just ending your life and taking away your presence from the people who care, how about you persevere through this! Get off the drugs, stop the self harm, and don't take your own life! Just because it seems like a quick solution, it only transfers the pain to those that did care! Do you WANT to hurt the people who care about you?!"

Nathan tried to speak up but the words wouldn't come out. His soul was being shaken to the core as all his thoughts and ideals were being challenged and questioned. "I... I... uh... ye... n... no..." he stuttered.

As the last word left his lips, Death grabbed the boy's shirt collar and lifted him off his feet. "Then DON'T STOOP TO THE LEVEL OF A COWARD! Do not take your life because you are worthless to yourself! Take it as a challenge given to you by fate! You lost your brother, your parents are assholes, you can't get a lover, and you are on your last leg. THAT is what fate has done! Fate has given you the shittiest hand you can get and it seems like it is all over. However there is ALWAYS a new hand to be dealt! You can choose to keep the hand you want, not just stick with the shit you have been given! Get up off your ass and change! Go out there and FIGHT the tides of fate! You die here, your fate is sealed, but if you keep going then you can CHANGE! SO STOP LETTING THOUGHTS GET TO YOU AND LIVE!"

Death for the first time was out of breath. He never got emotional over the souls he met, even the ones that wept for leaving loved ones. He wondered if his words even reached the boy he held in his grasp. The boy merely went silent and looked down, not answering the words spoken by Death.

The grim reaper let the boy go, setting him down. He crossed his name out and walked to the door. "I have never spared anyone before, so be lucky. What you do with your life is now in your hands, but next time I come I will not be so generous." He spoke, and then left Nathan to his thoughts.

XXXXXXXXX

It has been decades since that day, but not a day went by without Death remembering that night. He would go on to save others like the boy, and the ones he couldn't he made sure were ok. Even still his mind went to Nathan Zichra and that night.

Death finished gathering yet another soul when he felt another name appear. He looked to it and saw the name, giving a soft chuckle. He made his way to the hospital, around early morning as he strolled into the room. He gazed upon an elderly man's face as it turned to him. A small smile came to his face. "It has been a while Death. And yet you haven't changed." He spoke.

Death nodded and chuckled. "It has. But unlike last time, you have changed. However, as I said before Nathan, I will take your soul the next time we meet." He replied.

Since that day, Nathan had changed greatly. He quit the drugs and the self harm and changed. He no longer wept over his pain and misery, but took it on like a challenge. He went to college and became successful, earning himself a good job. His friends grew with him, and even found a wife and had kids and grandkids. Nathan even founded a charity to help kids with depression who did not have a good upbringing. It would be wrong to say that the night he first encountered Death did not change him for the better.

Nathan nodded smiled a bit. "So Death, I took what you said, I hope it was enough." He let out weakly, the disease that has plagued him for months finally winning the battle.

Death rested a hand on the old man's shoulder. "That is up to the future generation to decide." He spoke, as he watched Nathan's soul finally leave his body. The soul that came out was not that of a weak old man, but that of when he was a kid, the same when they first encountered each other.

Both of them walked out of the hospital and strolled down the quiet halls, their steps echoing off the walls. It was then Nathan looked back from where he came, and turned to Death. "So, was I a good person in the end, was my life worth it?" He asked.

Death thought for a second, and looked at him. "No, you were not good."

Nathan felt a little hurt in his heart as the words left. Before he could reply, Death pat his back and gave him a small smile. "For what you have been through and what you still did, that makes you one of the best. For you never gave up even when it was hopeless. You are not only an inspiration to people that went through what you did, but to everyone."

Nathan smiled as a tear left his eye, but not out of sadness. It was a tear for joy. As he walked into the light that shined before him, he realized that Death was right all along. It was never about the cards you were dealt. Nothing is ever set in stone. You have the power to get over it. As long as you try, there is nothing you can't get over.

No one's life is ever meaningless. There may be hardships that lay ahead, and it may lead to unbearable pain and scars. However, while the scars may never leave, the pain will. And it is what you do then that defines who you are.

I realize that a lot of people deal with issues that may seem hopeless. People think that because the way their life is now, it means it is over and nothing will change. It seems like your life will always be dark and lonely. I will be honest and say I feel like that. However, I want to stress that it is not the end of the world. You can get through it! Even as I type this I feel like I can't. It seems hypocritical for me to do this but part of me had to for those who are hurting right now. A friend actually gave me the analogy of being dealt a bad hand and it makes sense. So for those that may seem like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, there is for you! You can get through this. Do not let the negative control you. YOU GUYS can do this. It is easier said than done, but even those that read this that I have nor will ever meet, I believe in you.

Even though this story was short, I hope you all like it. I will try to one day update my stories here but for now I shall leave this one. And remember, no matter how bad it seems, it will get better for you guys. 3