A followed them for many a year, and they cheated me more than once.
They laughed in my face, they scorned me.
It made me smile, seeing their youthfulness. Their innocent happiness. Their naive beliefs.
I was happy, every time I lost. I was glad to see them continue with the ever important task of living.
It hurt when it was time to collect.
I heard his soul call.
I tried to block it out.
But I can't do that. It's in the job description.
I crept onto the ship with shadows sliding off of me.
He greeted me, sitting up, eyes fixed onto my face.
His body was broken, blood was on the floor, and his friends were huddled around him.
I took the soul in my arms.
I rarely ever do that.
Normally...
Normally I just pull them along.
But I felt different with him.
The red hair of his soul floated in the midnight breeze as I left.
As I turned, I could still see the silver blade, jutting from his chest. A chest once filled with breathing lungs and a beating heart. He was only a child.
It kills me, sometimes, how people die.
OOO
A/N: Did something a little less conventional. Death narrates this story.
And the last line is from "The Book Thief".