Death sat on a wooden park bench with her brother, watching the boys play soccer. The tall blonde scored a goal between two backpacks. His teammates cheered as he did a funky dance, flapping his arms like wings. Death laughed.
"He dreams about flying quite a lot." Dream said softly. "As often as I can, I let him take the shape of a falcon."
"How sweet of you, brother."
"Who are you here for?" he asked. "I do hope it's not Michael, I still have ideas for him."
"No, you'll have a long time with that one. Yet I will not tell you." She playfully punched him in the arm. "It's no fun that way. Try to guess." Dream let his strange eyes scan the scene before them. Children feeding ducks, parents buying hot dogs, young couples kissing on the rocks.
"The elderly man cycling. He looks like he would break if he fell off. This isn't a very smooth path." The bike hit a pebble, wobbled a bit, and continued on.
"Guess again," Death smiled. "His time is near though."
"A child." Dream guessed. "Will one of them fall in the pond, not able to reach the surface?"
"Dear me, wrong again. They are safe. The pond is barely 3 feet at the deepest."
Dream gazed into the alleys between the apartments across from the park. Cars sped past. "A shooting?" he guessed again.
"No, and you're out of time," she said lightly. "Just watch." He let his eyes roam before him. From the kids playing soccer to the families by the pond. Suddenly, only a split second before it happened, he felt the shift of a life about to leave this plane of existence, the door between the worlds yawning to allow his spirit through. As he watched, a young girl plummeted from the rooftop across the way and smacked the pavement.
"I must go to her," Death said softly.
"Please, she was very frightened by the afterlife and was plagued by night terrors." Death nodded and was suddenly beside the broken body. She held out her hand and her spirit rose up to take it. Death pulled her to her feet and, arms around each other, walked off into the next realm.