TITLE: A Day in the Life of a Grim Reaper; Behind the Cloak and Sickle (Part21of30)
AUTHOR: trista
DISCLAIMER: George and the concept is not mine, it belongs to MGM, showcase, Ellen Muth, and the creator of the series, the new characters are mine, but I don't think anyone will be borrowing them.
RATING: PG-13 (for language, but the kids these days…)
CONTENT: Reggie/Millie friendship, Mason/George romance
SUMMARY: We learn more about Drew, and see the George is really starting to have issues with this reaper thing.
AUTHORS NOTES: The song featured in this one is called "my song" by a great artist called j. Englishman, I was writing and when I wrote it the line "I just turned 27 but I'm feeling so much older" popped into my head and I had to incorporate the song. This was not what I was expecting for this one but tell me if it works kay my lovelies?
Anika had already asked me if it was all right if we all met at the house for her to give out our assignments. I didn't have a problem with it, as long as she didn't make it a regular thing. But with Drew squatting in my living room it made things a little easier. I was really being to like waking up to a purring cat on my feet, and was very glad that Colt had brought Colby home. Since Mason left I was getting up earlier and earlier every morning. I went downstairs and I was surprised to be greet by the smell of coffee. When I got to the kitchen Drew was sitting at the table, sipping his coffee. I poured myself a cup and sat down with him.
"You can't sleep either?" he inquired.
"Not since my boyfriend left," I told him.
"Where did he go?"
"He moved on, I guess, he popped his last soul and that was the end of that."
He nodded. "So much I have to learn."
I shrugged. "Yeah, it's really overwhelming at first. I mean you die, and then before you even have a chance to get used to that, bam! They tell you you're undead, and a grim reaper to boot."
"Yeah, what's with that anyway."
"It's just the way it works."
"Well it's pretty shitty if you ask me, and Anika says I can't have contact with my family."
I nodded. "Yeah, that's true, though there are ways around that, if you know what you're doing."
"Really?"
I smiled. "I still talk to my sister all the time, albeit it's by email now, and she doesn't know that I'm her undead sister George, but I'm still able to communicate with her."
"It's my five year old daughter, Danika I want to say goodbye to."
"I'm kind of glad that I didn't have kids, because it would have been hard to leave them behind."
"I guess it wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't for the fact that my daughter didn't have anyone but me, and I don't know where she's going to end up."
I almost wanted to cry, and here I thought fate was a whore to me. "That must be so hard."
He nodded. "It is, I just wish that I could know that she was going to be all right, you know a few years down the road."
"You'll probably be able to keep an eye on her from a distance."
"You think?"
"Yeah, I communicate with my sister all the time, I have to use a different name, but I'm still able to find out what's going on her life. She lives in England, and has a few kids now."
He shrugged. "It won't be the same."
"I know, but at least it's better then nothing, it's one of the pitfalls of being undead."
"I guess so."
"You still don't want to believe it do you?"
"Not really."
"It took me a long time to get adjusted, and I tried a lot of tricks to get out being a reaper, and unfortunately none of them worked."
He nodded. "So you're telling me that I have to just deal with being undead?" "Yeah, pretty much, it's not as bad as you think it is. This house is mine, the car is mine, and I don't even work!"
He laughed. "How do you manage that?"
"You learn tricks along the way."
"How about we keep at that for now?"
I smiled. "It's really not all bad, you get to meet some interesting people, and for me I got a second chance at a life."
"You're a lot younger then me."
"That's true, well maybe it's different when you're a little older and you have a family. I had my only serious relationship as a reaper."
"How did you do that?"
"For one thing I was with another reaper. And for another thing we're undead not dead DEAD!"
He shrugged. "I don't know, this is all seems like some kind of joke to me still."
"I think we all wish this is just a really bad trick someone is playing on us at first."
"So how long have you been doing this for?"
"Over thirty years anyway, let's just go with too long!"
He laughed. "You look so young."
"That's because we reapers don't age."
"Well at least I won't look like I'm fifty in ten years!"
"That's the spirit!"
We talked a little while longer before Anika showed up. I had forgotten to wake Colt, but he came up shortly after her in his boxers. Colvin showed up moments later. Anika gave us each our assignment, and we all went on our way. She looked at me, and I was expecting what she was going to say next.
"Look, I know that I'm supposed to show him the ropes, but you're really good at it, would you mind?" she asked me.
"I don't mind, you're still getting used to this whole group leader thing I'm sure you need some time to organize."
She nodded. "This is a lot of work, I'm starting to see why Rube acted like he had a stick shoved up his ass!"
We both started laughing. "If you need me to help, I have plenty of time on my hands now that Mason's no longer here."
Anika grinned, you ladies know the one. "Yeah, it must be a really big adjustment."
"It is but, I guess that that is part of life."
"And death apparently," Drew said coming back into the room. "I hope I'm not burdening you George."
I looked at him, confused. "How so?"
"Well first by needing to crash at your house, and second for having to go with you today."
I shrugged. "I like having company, and besides you have to learn at some point, and since Anika has her own job to learn it's just as easy for me to take you along."
"I just feel like I'm imposing."
"Well, you're not, so hopefully that will help." I looked at my post-it, and realized we had to be all the way across town for my assignment. I didn't mind going all the way across town, but did I really want to be with Drew for that long? He was a nice guy, but I had no idea what we could talk about for any amount of time the chances of us having things in common were slim to none. Anika stayed to talk with him for a little while, and I went to my room to email Reggie, I didn't have anything really to tell her, but I was having a feeling like I had when she was still around just talk to her, just because. I sat on my computer and started typing;
Reggie,
I'm not writing you for any reason other then this feels like one of those times all those years ago where we would meet at the park and talk for hours, about nothing. I want to go back to those days, but can't. You're a world away, and we keep slipping further and further apart. You know you've always been like my little sister, and maybe this is what happens with siblings after a while, they cease to see each other, as their own lives begin to get too hectic, and too far apart. A part of you still wants, needs almost to go back to a time where things were easier, simpler, and we simply cannot do that no matter how much the other wants to. There is nothing more I want then to look of my window and see you, the little girl I met with the long pig tails sitting on the swing waiting to see her secret friend.
I know I'm sounding like some stupid novel, and I'm sorry, it's just that with Mason going, and realizing that no one in my life is still around, not even my evil boss, it makes things hard. I want to go back to school again, but fear I'm getting to old. I want to do so many things that I just can't seem to do. I just needed to get that off my chest, and I wish I could tell you this all in person.
-Millie
I sent the email and sat at my computer, thinking about how much things have changed since I became a reaper, how much things seemingly didn't change at all for me. I really was fate's bitch. Everyone that was a reaper when I started is no longer a reaper, or at the very least not in this group. I have heard nothing from Roxy after she was transferred. Even Rube was gone, and I think that was what thru me, I never expected Rube to move on. I knew that he had been around for a while, but I always thought he was a cursed person whose fate was to be a reaper forever. I thought a lot about Mason as well, we had shared some amazing times together, and I knew that I would never be able to love anyone else the way I loved him. I sat in my room just long enough to make us almost late for my appointment, that would have been bad. It would have been great for Drew to pick up a bad habit I don't usually possess, lateness, on his first day.
We got to where L. McGee was going to die. When I got there I realized it was an apartment building, I always hated apartment buildings, you never did know how your person was going to die, nor when you would actually be able to take his soul.
"Normally, when you have an appointment it's in a more public place, because when people have accidents in their homes it makes things really difficult. You either have to get into their home, somehow, or you need to wait around till someone brings out a dead body and pop his soul," I explained to Drew.
"Pop a soul?"
"It's jargon, you'll pick up on it. Normally what we'd want to do is look around for risk factors, there are some out here, but seeing as the person is dying in their apartment, there is really no use for looking around. Anything can a risk factor, even if you don't think anyone could die on it. Gravelings are sneaky little fucks!"
"Gravlings?"
"Yeah, they're little creatures you can see out of the corner of your eye, who cause the accidents, or death. In this division it's usually an accident."
"Division?"
"I thought Anika had told you we're in the accidents, suicide, excreta division."
"She mentioned that I must have forgotten."
"You've probably been given a lot of information of late."
"Yeah, I have."
"Well as long as you remember that when you have an appointment to look for the danger signs, and when you pinpoint them, and see who it seems to be targeting, and take their soul before their ETD."
"ETD?"
"Estimated time of death. Trust me it's much better to get them before if at all possible.""You seem to know what you're taking about."
"I tried a lot of stuff when I first started. I was young. I was stupid."
He laughed. "We all were at one point. You're lucky you get to keep your youthful look. So how did you die?"
"I got hit in the head with a flaming toilet seat, hurtling to earth from the space shuttle."
"I see, and I thought that stepping in a puddle of water that was attached to a live wire was bad!"
"I've never worked with someone who has a stupider death, although Colt getting murdered by a toothbrush is pretty damn close!"
Drew laughed. We talked for until finally and ambulance showed up, and I was able to take L. McGee's soul. She showed up before us, and again, he got another fun part, a wayward soul.
"What's going on?" she asked, confused.
"I hate to break it to you sister, you're dead."
"Fuck I knew I should have taken that Christmas tree down in January!"
Yeah, our friend Lynn McGee had managed to get herself crushed by a Christmas tree in mid May! "Why was your tree still up?" I asked her as we went to sit down in the park.
"Because, I usually keep my Christmas tree up until someone visits me after the holiday season is over, and this year no one came."
I looked at her, and could tell that she had not lived a good life. "That's terrible, you don't have friends and family?"
"I have both, kind of, but they don't tend to come and see me, we communicate in other ways, except at Christmas. Everyone always comes and visits me at Christmas, and sends me things to show that they care, and they do think of me, it's just that we're so far apart. So I keep the tree up to cheer me up until someone comes and visits me at another time of year."
"Why don't you visit them?"
"I'm having trouble dealing with being outside and I'm dead. You see, when I go outside I get terrible anxiety attacks, and cannot go more then a few steps outside. It's not people who bother me, I love people, it's just something about the world. It simply scares me. So most people I talk to on the phone, and online will visit me at Christmas when they're out and about."
I nodded. She continued to tell me her sad life story until finally a light appeared, and inside it there were no less then fifty people inviting her into a huge, beautiful home. She smiled, and her features relaxed as she walked into the light, and it carried her away.
"This is how death works, all we need to do is take a soul, and listen and try to help any souls that don't want to move along right away. And if you'd like, our friend Lee's apartment is free, and from what I hear no one comes to visit, so it may take some time before someone realizes you've taken over then place!"
I kind of wished I had room for Drew, I really liked him, and it would be nice to have someone older around the house. I loved that Colt looked like he was my age, but I felt so much older, it would have helped to have someone a little older around, to keep me in check. When I got home I heard Colt singing, and playing a song. I went downstairs and asked him to play it again, I came in on the second verse and that was what really got me.
Friday night
My Sissie's in L.A.
And I'm sittin' on mom's back porch
I've been thinkin' again
All I do is drink too much
And dream up different ways
To crawl a little further outta touch
Waste away my days
So you can listen to this song I sing
But this song I sing is still for me
This is my song
This is my song
So this is my life
Wake me when it's over
Coz I just turned 27
But I'm feeling so much older
I'm not supposed to be this bitter
I'm not supposed to be this mad
All my plans were so much bigger
Than everything I am
So you can listen to this song I sing
But this song I sing is still for me
This is my song
This is my song
My, my song
Somedays I hate the way it's all come down
I hate the way the scene's played out
I hate the way the movie ends
And I wish I could take back what's been said
Coz I feel like maybe I've been wronged
Coz I used to know where I belonged
But these days I'm just not so strong
Well this is my voice
My, my song
Colt told me that the song was called My song by a Canadian artist he likes called j. Englishman. I ended up buying the whole CD online one day, and really enjoyed most of it.
When I went to bed that night the song was stuck in my head, and it almost made me want to cry. I missed Mason so much, and even though Colby was great company, nothing would ever be able to replace what I had with Mason. I was also thinking about my family a lot that night, not just Reggie either, after that I always checked to see if my parents were still alive, my mother more so then my father, but he will despite his faults always be my dad.
End
End notes: hope you all liked this one… think I should expand of the Joy thing or just leave it? I've got a couple more really cool ideas I want to try out before the end. I'm soooo excited to post my ending I think it's rather good, and then I'm going to have an epilogue explaining Anika's strange behavior leading up to her getting chosen as the new team leader!!!! (possibly different POV!) hugz and kissez trista aka the dustytiger
AUTHOR: trista
DISCLAIMER: George and the concept is not mine, it belongs to MGM, showcase, Ellen Muth, and the creator of the series, the new characters are mine, but I don't think anyone will be borrowing them.
RATING: PG-13 (for language, but the kids these days…)
CONTENT: Reggie/Millie friendship, Mason/George romance
SUMMARY: We learn more about Drew, and see the George is really starting to have issues with this reaper thing.
AUTHORS NOTES: The song featured in this one is called "my song" by a great artist called j. Englishman, I was writing and when I wrote it the line "I just turned 27 but I'm feeling so much older" popped into my head and I had to incorporate the song. This was not what I was expecting for this one but tell me if it works kay my lovelies?
Anika had already asked me if it was all right if we all met at the house for her to give out our assignments. I didn't have a problem with it, as long as she didn't make it a regular thing. But with Drew squatting in my living room it made things a little easier. I was really being to like waking up to a purring cat on my feet, and was very glad that Colt had brought Colby home. Since Mason left I was getting up earlier and earlier every morning. I went downstairs and I was surprised to be greet by the smell of coffee. When I got to the kitchen Drew was sitting at the table, sipping his coffee. I poured myself a cup and sat down with him.
"You can't sleep either?" he inquired.
"Not since my boyfriend left," I told him.
"Where did he go?"
"He moved on, I guess, he popped his last soul and that was the end of that."
He nodded. "So much I have to learn."
I shrugged. "Yeah, it's really overwhelming at first. I mean you die, and then before you even have a chance to get used to that, bam! They tell you you're undead, and a grim reaper to boot."
"Yeah, what's with that anyway."
"It's just the way it works."
"Well it's pretty shitty if you ask me, and Anika says I can't have contact with my family."
I nodded. "Yeah, that's true, though there are ways around that, if you know what you're doing."
"Really?"
I smiled. "I still talk to my sister all the time, albeit it's by email now, and she doesn't know that I'm her undead sister George, but I'm still able to communicate with her."
"It's my five year old daughter, Danika I want to say goodbye to."
"I'm kind of glad that I didn't have kids, because it would have been hard to leave them behind."
"I guess it wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't for the fact that my daughter didn't have anyone but me, and I don't know where she's going to end up."
I almost wanted to cry, and here I thought fate was a whore to me. "That must be so hard."
He nodded. "It is, I just wish that I could know that she was going to be all right, you know a few years down the road."
"You'll probably be able to keep an eye on her from a distance."
"You think?"
"Yeah, I communicate with my sister all the time, I have to use a different name, but I'm still able to find out what's going on her life. She lives in England, and has a few kids now."
He shrugged. "It won't be the same."
"I know, but at least it's better then nothing, it's one of the pitfalls of being undead."
"I guess so."
"You still don't want to believe it do you?"
"Not really."
"It took me a long time to get adjusted, and I tried a lot of tricks to get out being a reaper, and unfortunately none of them worked."
He nodded. "So you're telling me that I have to just deal with being undead?" "Yeah, pretty much, it's not as bad as you think it is. This house is mine, the car is mine, and I don't even work!"
He laughed. "How do you manage that?"
"You learn tricks along the way."
"How about we keep at that for now?"
I smiled. "It's really not all bad, you get to meet some interesting people, and for me I got a second chance at a life."
"You're a lot younger then me."
"That's true, well maybe it's different when you're a little older and you have a family. I had my only serious relationship as a reaper."
"How did you do that?"
"For one thing I was with another reaper. And for another thing we're undead not dead DEAD!"
He shrugged. "I don't know, this is all seems like some kind of joke to me still."
"I think we all wish this is just a really bad trick someone is playing on us at first."
"So how long have you been doing this for?"
"Over thirty years anyway, let's just go with too long!"
He laughed. "You look so young."
"That's because we reapers don't age."
"Well at least I won't look like I'm fifty in ten years!"
"That's the spirit!"
We talked a little while longer before Anika showed up. I had forgotten to wake Colt, but he came up shortly after her in his boxers. Colvin showed up moments later. Anika gave us each our assignment, and we all went on our way. She looked at me, and I was expecting what she was going to say next.
"Look, I know that I'm supposed to show him the ropes, but you're really good at it, would you mind?" she asked me.
"I don't mind, you're still getting used to this whole group leader thing I'm sure you need some time to organize."
She nodded. "This is a lot of work, I'm starting to see why Rube acted like he had a stick shoved up his ass!"
We both started laughing. "If you need me to help, I have plenty of time on my hands now that Mason's no longer here."
Anika grinned, you ladies know the one. "Yeah, it must be a really big adjustment."
"It is but, I guess that that is part of life."
"And death apparently," Drew said coming back into the room. "I hope I'm not burdening you George."
I looked at him, confused. "How so?"
"Well first by needing to crash at your house, and second for having to go with you today."
I shrugged. "I like having company, and besides you have to learn at some point, and since Anika has her own job to learn it's just as easy for me to take you along."
"I just feel like I'm imposing."
"Well, you're not, so hopefully that will help." I looked at my post-it, and realized we had to be all the way across town for my assignment. I didn't mind going all the way across town, but did I really want to be with Drew for that long? He was a nice guy, but I had no idea what we could talk about for any amount of time the chances of us having things in common were slim to none. Anika stayed to talk with him for a little while, and I went to my room to email Reggie, I didn't have anything really to tell her, but I was having a feeling like I had when she was still around just talk to her, just because. I sat on my computer and started typing;
Reggie,
I'm not writing you for any reason other then this feels like one of those times all those years ago where we would meet at the park and talk for hours, about nothing. I want to go back to those days, but can't. You're a world away, and we keep slipping further and further apart. You know you've always been like my little sister, and maybe this is what happens with siblings after a while, they cease to see each other, as their own lives begin to get too hectic, and too far apart. A part of you still wants, needs almost to go back to a time where things were easier, simpler, and we simply cannot do that no matter how much the other wants to. There is nothing more I want then to look of my window and see you, the little girl I met with the long pig tails sitting on the swing waiting to see her secret friend.
I know I'm sounding like some stupid novel, and I'm sorry, it's just that with Mason going, and realizing that no one in my life is still around, not even my evil boss, it makes things hard. I want to go back to school again, but fear I'm getting to old. I want to do so many things that I just can't seem to do. I just needed to get that off my chest, and I wish I could tell you this all in person.
-Millie
I sent the email and sat at my computer, thinking about how much things have changed since I became a reaper, how much things seemingly didn't change at all for me. I really was fate's bitch. Everyone that was a reaper when I started is no longer a reaper, or at the very least not in this group. I have heard nothing from Roxy after she was transferred. Even Rube was gone, and I think that was what thru me, I never expected Rube to move on. I knew that he had been around for a while, but I always thought he was a cursed person whose fate was to be a reaper forever. I thought a lot about Mason as well, we had shared some amazing times together, and I knew that I would never be able to love anyone else the way I loved him. I sat in my room just long enough to make us almost late for my appointment, that would have been bad. It would have been great for Drew to pick up a bad habit I don't usually possess, lateness, on his first day.
We got to where L. McGee was going to die. When I got there I realized it was an apartment building, I always hated apartment buildings, you never did know how your person was going to die, nor when you would actually be able to take his soul.
"Normally, when you have an appointment it's in a more public place, because when people have accidents in their homes it makes things really difficult. You either have to get into their home, somehow, or you need to wait around till someone brings out a dead body and pop his soul," I explained to Drew.
"Pop a soul?"
"It's jargon, you'll pick up on it. Normally what we'd want to do is look around for risk factors, there are some out here, but seeing as the person is dying in their apartment, there is really no use for looking around. Anything can a risk factor, even if you don't think anyone could die on it. Gravelings are sneaky little fucks!"
"Gravlings?"
"Yeah, they're little creatures you can see out of the corner of your eye, who cause the accidents, or death. In this division it's usually an accident."
"Division?"
"I thought Anika had told you we're in the accidents, suicide, excreta division."
"She mentioned that I must have forgotten."
"You've probably been given a lot of information of late."
"Yeah, I have."
"Well as long as you remember that when you have an appointment to look for the danger signs, and when you pinpoint them, and see who it seems to be targeting, and take their soul before their ETD."
"ETD?"
"Estimated time of death. Trust me it's much better to get them before if at all possible.""You seem to know what you're taking about."
"I tried a lot of stuff when I first started. I was young. I was stupid."
He laughed. "We all were at one point. You're lucky you get to keep your youthful look. So how did you die?"
"I got hit in the head with a flaming toilet seat, hurtling to earth from the space shuttle."
"I see, and I thought that stepping in a puddle of water that was attached to a live wire was bad!"
"I've never worked with someone who has a stupider death, although Colt getting murdered by a toothbrush is pretty damn close!"
Drew laughed. We talked for until finally and ambulance showed up, and I was able to take L. McGee's soul. She showed up before us, and again, he got another fun part, a wayward soul.
"What's going on?" she asked, confused.
"I hate to break it to you sister, you're dead."
"Fuck I knew I should have taken that Christmas tree down in January!"
Yeah, our friend Lynn McGee had managed to get herself crushed by a Christmas tree in mid May! "Why was your tree still up?" I asked her as we went to sit down in the park.
"Because, I usually keep my Christmas tree up until someone visits me after the holiday season is over, and this year no one came."
I looked at her, and could tell that she had not lived a good life. "That's terrible, you don't have friends and family?"
"I have both, kind of, but they don't tend to come and see me, we communicate in other ways, except at Christmas. Everyone always comes and visits me at Christmas, and sends me things to show that they care, and they do think of me, it's just that we're so far apart. So I keep the tree up to cheer me up until someone comes and visits me at another time of year."
"Why don't you visit them?"
"I'm having trouble dealing with being outside and I'm dead. You see, when I go outside I get terrible anxiety attacks, and cannot go more then a few steps outside. It's not people who bother me, I love people, it's just something about the world. It simply scares me. So most people I talk to on the phone, and online will visit me at Christmas when they're out and about."
I nodded. She continued to tell me her sad life story until finally a light appeared, and inside it there were no less then fifty people inviting her into a huge, beautiful home. She smiled, and her features relaxed as she walked into the light, and it carried her away.
"This is how death works, all we need to do is take a soul, and listen and try to help any souls that don't want to move along right away. And if you'd like, our friend Lee's apartment is free, and from what I hear no one comes to visit, so it may take some time before someone realizes you've taken over then place!"
I kind of wished I had room for Drew, I really liked him, and it would be nice to have someone older around the house. I loved that Colt looked like he was my age, but I felt so much older, it would have helped to have someone a little older around, to keep me in check. When I got home I heard Colt singing, and playing a song. I went downstairs and asked him to play it again, I came in on the second verse and that was what really got me.
Friday night
My Sissie's in L.A.
And I'm sittin' on mom's back porch
I've been thinkin' again
All I do is drink too much
And dream up different ways
To crawl a little further outta touch
Waste away my days
So you can listen to this song I sing
But this song I sing is still for me
This is my song
This is my song
So this is my life
Wake me when it's over
Coz I just turned 27
But I'm feeling so much older
I'm not supposed to be this bitter
I'm not supposed to be this mad
All my plans were so much bigger
Than everything I am
So you can listen to this song I sing
But this song I sing is still for me
This is my song
This is my song
My, my song
Somedays I hate the way it's all come down
I hate the way the scene's played out
I hate the way the movie ends
And I wish I could take back what's been said
Coz I feel like maybe I've been wronged
Coz I used to know where I belonged
But these days I'm just not so strong
Well this is my voice
My, my song
Colt told me that the song was called My song by a Canadian artist he likes called j. Englishman. I ended up buying the whole CD online one day, and really enjoyed most of it.
When I went to bed that night the song was stuck in my head, and it almost made me want to cry. I missed Mason so much, and even though Colby was great company, nothing would ever be able to replace what I had with Mason. I was also thinking about my family a lot that night, not just Reggie either, after that I always checked to see if my parents were still alive, my mother more so then my father, but he will despite his faults always be my dad.
End
End notes: hope you all liked this one… think I should expand of the Joy thing or just leave it? I've got a couple more really cool ideas I want to try out before the end. I'm soooo excited to post my ending I think it's rather good, and then I'm going to have an epilogue explaining Anika's strange behavior leading up to her getting chosen as the new team leader!!!! (possibly different POV!) hugz and kissez trista aka the dustytiger