I waited and waited…until I found something else.
A beautiful, round woman named Charlotte introduced me to something more enticing than Death. She called it Love. I admit I was skeptical at first, but each smile and kiss pulled me further in. Love embraced me in a warmth I never knew existed and held me until I was gray.
“He doesn’t have much time left,” a voice said, snapping me from my thoughts. “The best we can do is make him comfortable.” The door closed with a steely clack behind the grim-faced doctor, leaving Charlotte bawling at my bedside.
She didn’t notice the thing that stood behind her. It was a black shroud that looked like smoke held in a glass bottle. Its cold presence made the air feel like icy needles against my wrinkled skin.
“Please let me stay. Please.” Although my cries stirred my wife, the shroud did nothing.
It only waited.