Crash. That was the last thing John heard. Pain striking his chest as he was jolted forward violently by the crash. Life as he knew it stopped. Ended. It just… disappeared. Almost like he never existed. Until, of course, he saw the light. Kind of like the light a person sees when they’re being pulled into the afterlife. Except he was standing on the road, next to something that closely resembled his car. As he squinted and leaned closer, he realized that it was his car, except it looked like a can someone crushed against a tabletop. And he was still inside it. At least someone who looks exactly like him was. Someone who was in the exact same position he was in, who was wearing the same clothes… John soon realized he was being oblivious. Of course that was him. He’s dead. The thought hit him like a truck - well, not exactly a truck, he knows what that feels like now and it is definitely not similar, more like a brick hitting him on the head. He’s dead. Dead as a doornail. Gone, forever. He can never come back to life. Never. He stared at his dead body, a lump forming in his throat. He can’t say goodbye to his loved ones, they’ll never know what he was thinking while he took his last breath, what his last words were, or anything. They didn’t even know what he looked like when he died. That’s what truly shook him. Knowing he would never see his family again. It was heartbreaking. “Oh my God!” he heard a frantic voice scream. The person who had hit him - and killed him - jumped out of their truck, pulling out their phone to call 911. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she said over and over, her voice shaking with shock and fear. John gazed at her with sympathy. She may never let this go, she might blame herself for something that was out of her control. It wasn’t her fault John died. It was an accident. He walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder, but his hand slipped right through her body. He stepped back, staring wide-eyed at his hand, but it looked completely normal. He tried again, waving his hand through her head and wiggling his foot through her legs. His earlier thoughts vanished as he grinned, flowing through objects like a child sprinting downstairs to open their presents on Christmas. As he was running, he saw a man appear out of nowhere in front of him. The man had bright, golden eyes that caught John’s attention. As he stared at the golden eyes that seemed to have endless streaks of colors in them, he realized a little too late that the man was staring at him too. He tried skidding to a stop, but he collided with the man - who was wearing an expensive looking suit (Wait, why am I noticing that out of all things? John wondered). They both crashed to the ground, John landing on top of the golden eyed man. “Wait,” John frowned, “That’s not right. I’m supposed to go right through you!” The odd man clenched his jaw with annoyance. “If you would kindly get off me…” he growled. John’s face flushed. “Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled, jumping off of him and wiping his sweaty palms on his pants. “Anyway,” the man got off the ground and fixed his tie. “I am a reaper, and I am here to take you to the afterlife.” “The… the afterlife?” John repeated slowly. He raised an eyebrow curiously. “Which afterlife?” The reaper shrugged. “That's not for me to decide. You should come with me.” He held out a hand, clearly attempting to put a warm and welcoming smile on his face. It didn’t work very well. John glanced warily at the reaper’s outstretched hand. “What if I…” he hesitated and gulped. “What if I don’t want to go? Are you going to force me to go with you?” The reaper scoffed. “Of course not. No one is eager to accept their deaths. I’ll just do anything I can to convince you.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I will do anything to complete my task, you’ll be convinced in no time.” John smirked. “Is that a challenge?” “It could be. Doesn’t seem like much of one.” “Oh you’ll see.” They glared at each other silently for a moment; John tried to look mad but he couldn’t rip his eyes away from the reaper’s beautiful, golden ones. “So what must I do?” the reaper asked. “Hm?” John shook his head to clear his thoughts. “What did you say?” He crossed his arms, exasperated. “I said what must I do to convince you to come with me?” John put a hand up to his chin, deep in thought. “So you’ll do anything, huh?” “Yes.” “Could I see my family one last time?” The reaper hesitated, seeming to regret his choice of words. “That has never been done before…” he trailed off. “But can you do it?” John looked hopefully up at the reaper. “I could, but it does not seem like a smart thing to do.” John slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Well I guess I’m not going with you then.” “Then I will give you time to change your decision. I shall be back here in exactly one year.” He disappeared as soon as he came. John was left standing alone in the middle of the road, thinking about all of the things he could do now that he was a ghost. (story below)
The reaper did come back exactly one year later. And the next year, and the next, and the next; but John never changed his decision. He liked being able to do things he never thought was possible, being free. But the thing he did miss was company. So whenever the reaper came, he would show him movies and everything humans love to do - well, everything he loves to do. The reaper always kept a straight face, except for when he thought John wasn’t looking. At those rare times, he has a slight smirk on his face and admiration shining in his eyes. When John caught him, he would blush and avert his eyes from John’s green ones. One year, the reaper appeared exactly on time (like always). But there was something different about him. “Where are you going to take me today, John?” he said with a grin. John raised an eyebrow at the reaper’s odd behavior. “Are you …” he hesitated, “okay?” The reaper titled his head. “What do you mean?” “I mean, um, well, you’re all happy and - well I’m not complaining, I love to see you smiling, but this is a little, I don’t know… too happy?” The reaper smirked. “You like seeing me smile?” John blushed. “Well, I mean, I don’t know,” he trailed off, weakly. There was an awkward silence between them, John silently cursing at himself for being so weird and the reaper was thinking deeply about something. Before he could say what was on his mind, John asked him, “Why do you keep coming back to me? I mean, sorry if that sounds a little rude, but I’ve always wondered that. Like, you know my answer will always be the same.” The reaper smiled. This was a much better way to say what he felt. “It's because I like spending time with you.” John’s eyes widened. “You, you do? Wow, I- I thought I was just being a nuisance and-” “You showed me things I couldn’t ever imagine. You showed me everything, from normal human things to feelings and emotions.” He put a hand on John’s shoulder. “You are the greatest human being I have ever met. You have the greenest eyes I have ever seen and your smile lights up my day. And your laughter and happiness is so contagious, I can’t help being happy with you. So thank you, John, for showing me how to live freely and to be the happiest I have ever been.” John was silent for a moment, absorbing everything the reaper had just thrown at him. “I like spending time with you too,” he said, grinning. He took the reaper’s hand in his, and they both smiled idiotically at each other. John broke the intense staring, and hugged the reaper. He blushed, and wrapped his arms around John as well. They stood there with their arms around each other for hours (in reality it was only a couple minutes), and they never wanted to let go. (end of story :3) Hi! I don't really post much and idk if you guys even like reading stories on Scratch but eh whatever. This story is about a reaper that comes to collect someone after their death, but that person doesn’t want to leave Earth. The reaper comes back once a year to try to convince the person to accept their death, and they always refuse. Its a fluffy story and its not that long (1430 words). Apparently Scratch thinks that its long cuz it wouldn't fit the entire thing in there ;-; It made me make inhuman fangirling noises while writing it. Hopefully it makes you do the same I might change this story and make it better in the future. Side note - anyone have a ship name for the reaper and John or a name for the reaper in general cuz I'm out of ideas ;-; So I hope you like it :3
