• Angela cried.
    The same question that first entered her mind when she was created as an angel bothered her again.
    What was I made for?
    And the god Ahk-mett did say, “Go forth and experience the wonders of existence to create an answer of your own.” did he not?
    “I can’t take this anymore,” Angie thought bitterly. “What’s the point of being if I can’t even find satisfaction? I’ll go to the Caldron Drop-off.”
    So, weeping, she gathered up her suitcases and flew off to the drop-off besides the lake.

    ~~~


    She stood at the edge of the Caldron Drop-off. A bloody red sea frothed underneath her, almost calling her to jump to her doom. She took one last look behind her. Then, closing her eyes…
    “HELLO THERE.” A monotonous voice swept over Angela’s ears. Startled, she turned, ready to help the poor soul (if it was one, anyways), and there stood a man in a pitch-black cloak, billowing in the wind that wasn’t there.
    Angela suddenly realized who this was. She sighed. “I’m going to jump anytime now. If you’ll just be patient; I’m trying to do this as quickly as possible.”
    “THIS AREA IS TIMELESS AND SPACELESS. YOU COULD SPEND A LIFETIME HERE AND EXIT THIS PLACE TO FIND THAT YOU’RE STILL THE SAME AGE AS YOU ENTERED. SO, YES: I HAVE TIME.”
    Angela listened to this and almost smiled. Then she fell to her knees and broke down weeping. “Th-th-this is wh-why I w-want to, to, to,-”
    “TO DIE?” asked Death.
    She nodded vigorously. “Yes!!!
    The shadowy figure grinned-not that he could help it anyways, since his head was an ever-grinning skull. He sighed. Pulling his scythe from out of nowhere, he drew closer.
    “WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WISH TO KNOW?”
    Angela looked up. “Hmm?”
    He grinned again. “I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES, ANGEL. YOU ARE YEARNING TO SEE WHAT YOU WERE MADE FOR, AREN’T YOU?”
    The angel looked down, almost embarrassed.
    “TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR.”
    Angela burst out. “I want to see why I was created!” she cried. “What is the point of living? What’s wrong with me? Is it just me?!? Am I crazy?!? Well?!?” She paused to wipe away a few tears. “TELL ME!!!” She stood and looked at Death with half-crazy eyes.
    Suddenly, she burst into a braying laughter. It continued for seconds before she broke down and started crying.
    “WELL,” Death intoned “DO YOU TRULY WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU WERE CREATED? DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THE MADNESS OF THIS ALL? I SHALL GIVE YOU ONE WORD-AND ONE WORD ONLY. THE WORD THAT HAS DRIVEN MEN TO INSANITY, THE WORD THAT EXPLAINS WHY EVOLUTION HAPPENED, THE ONE WORD THAT CREATED EVERYTHING THAT MORTALS SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, AND TOUCH. YOU WANT TO KNOW?”
    Angela sunk to her knees and looked up desperately. Death advanced behind her and put one hand around her waist and the other on her shoulder. He whispered in her ear. “DO YOU STILL WANT TO SEE WHAT CAME BEFORE CREATION? WHAT KILLED MANY, AND CREATED MORE? DO YOU?”
    Tears streamed down the angel’s face. She looked up. The clouds floated lazily above in the sky. Birds flew, piping tunes. Bugs went, buzzing. And there was one word that described why they did it. One word.
    And only Death knew it.
    “Yes,” she whispered. Then she said, “Yes,” a bit louder.
    “NECESSITY.”
    Angela veered around. “What?” she said, quivering.
    “THE ONE TRUE WORD, IS NECESSITY. THAT IS WHAT DRIVES US TO SUCH INSANE MOMENTS IN LIFE. THAT IS THE ONE WORD THAT EXPLAINS WHY WE ARE WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO WHAT WE DO.
    WHY DOES THE LITTLE BIRD COME TO EAT THE WORM? BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY. NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL. IF THE LITTLE BIRD DID NOT EAT THE WORM, IT WOULD DIE.
    AND THAT FEELING OF DEATH LINGERING OVER THE POOR, THE LAME, THE SUFFERING, IS STRONGER THAN ANY EMOTIONAL OR PHYSICAL CHAIN. THE WILL TO LIVE IS AN EVERLASTING STRUCTURE THAT EXISTS INSIDE THE BRAIN. THAT IS THE WORD THAT MANY HAVE DIED OVER TRYING TO FIND.
    AND YOUR QUESTION STILL GOES UNANSWERED. BUT THIS IS THE ANSWER.
    AHK-METT.
    THAT BEING WAS THE ONE WHO GAVE YOU YEARNING TO HELP OTHERS. HE MADE SURE SPECIFICALLY THAT YOU DID NOT HAVE A CHOICE. LIKE DEVILS MUST DO DEVILISH THINGS, ANGELS MUST BE PURE AND GOOD. HE MADE IT YOUR NATURE TO DO SO.
    AND I WATCHED IN DISGUST.” Death paused for a second. “I SENSE THAT YOU DO NOT BELIEVE ME. LET ME PUT YOUR BEING AT TEST.”
    A deer appeared at Angela’s feet. She looked at it. It looked at her. It beamed. Smiling, it trotted over to Death. He held up a stick figure of the deer.
    “Don’t,” she whispered.
    “YES.”
    He crushed the wooden figure in his hands. The deer screamed. It fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
    It finally stopped writhing. Foam was at its mouth. Death let go of what was left of the stick figure. As it blew away in the wind, the deer melted into the ground.
    “YOU ARE STILL DOUBTING. WAS THAT NOT ENOUGH?” Death snapped his fingers. A raccoon appeared.
    By now, tears bubbled down her face. She looked at Death. “Please don’t do this.”
    “THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO TO PREVENT THIS. IT DID NOT DIE A NATURAL DEATH. DISEASE CLAIMS THIS YOUNG ONE TONIGHT.”
    Fumbling, Angela reached for her bags. “I can help,” she said, “I can make it go away. I just need-”
    “TOO LATE.”
    The raccoon stopped dead in its tracks. It keeled over, dead. It started rotting, showing its bones. The bones eventually melted into the earth, gone without a trace, like the deer.
    “ARE YOU STILL SKEPTICAL?”
    By now, the tears ran down the angels face like a stream. “No,” she whispered.
    Death grinned a cold, shallow grin. “ONE MORE TIME.”
    When he snapped his fingers this time, a baby dragon appeared. His hand opened, and a wooden figure of the dragon appeared.
    “NO!!!” Angela grabbed the baby.
    Death lowered his palm. He looked questioningly at her. “WHY DO YOU SHIELD THIS YOUNG ONE? YOU SAID SO YOURSELF: YOU WANTED TO DIE. WITH NO OTHERS WHO KNOW ABOUT THIS DRAGON HERE, AND ONE SO YOUNG WITHOUT HUNTING SKILLS, HE WOULD DIE OF STARVATION. A CRUELER FATE THAN INSTANT DEATH.”
    “I know that.” She wiped her tears on her sleeve. “And I know that I can’t save them all. I couldn’t even help the raccoon. He had more time than the deer. But if I help one at a time, someday, everywhere, people will be satisfied. Then I can retire.”
    “SO I TAKE IT THAT I WON’T BE COLLECTING YOUR SOUL THIS DAY.”
    “No. But one day, I will see you again.”
    “YES, AND THAT WILL BE YOUR FINAL DAY ALIVE.” Death looked into his robe. Angela turned white. In Death’s hand was a figure of an angel. “PITY,” he said, “IT WILL BE A LONG TIME BEFORE I TAKE YOUR SOUL FOR MY COLLECTION. ANGEL SOUL IS RARE THESE DAYS. THEY DON’T DIE EASILY ANYMORE. IF I DIDN’T KNOW BETTER, I’D SAY THAT AHK-METT WAS TRYING TO MAKE THINGS DIFFICULT FOR ME.” Checking inside his robe again, he turned away. “I MUST GET GOING NOW. TWELVE PEOPLE AWAIT ME IN GREENLAND, AND ANOTHER EIGHT IN RUSSIA. AND MORE IN MALAYSIA. GOOD EVENING.” And with that, he was gone.
    Angela wiped the last of her tears on her robe. The dragon whistled. It looked up and started clawing her robe. “Oh, oh, oh,” she whispered to it. “You’re one naughty little cutie, eh?” The dragon looked up at her with innocent eyes. Then returned to clawing at her robe. She laughed. Then looked into the dragon’s eyes. “But what to name you?”
    Looking one last time into his eyes, she laughed. Picking up her bags and the dragon, she prepared for the long journey back to her home. “What a fitting name,” she murmured. “And how peculiar.”
    The dragon looked up and trilled at her.
    She looked at him and smiled.
    “Yes, how fitting, Angel.”
    “My little Angel of Death.”