And now I knew…everything. The left eye of Death contained the everlasting moment of death…and the right eye was the same, but of birth. Two moments locked in this physical embodiment…for without life, you could not have death.***** The moment passed and the flash faded. ----“WHAT THE HELL!?!” Where Charlie had been standing, now stood a translucent boy who couldn’t be older than 18. He was dressed in an unrecognizable style and though transparent, seemed to be slightly tanned. **IT’S OK, JASON** The first boy’s mouth had dropped open so far, by looking at him, you’d think his jaw was broken. He stared from the transparent figure to Death. -----“Would someone or…something…please tell me what’s going on?” You could almost hear the tears in his voice. ~”My name is Perry.”~ The ghostly figure spoke and held a hand up to Death. ~”Do you want the long story or the shortened version?” -----“Uh……Who are you? Where is Charlie? And which ever version will allow me to understand what is going on…” ~”Ok…as I said, I’m Perry; Your friend, well, we’ll get to that…and I don’t have enough time to explain enough to YOU for you to understand, but I’ll try.”~ He emphasized the word ‘you’. -----“Great, somebody with my sense of humor is going to explain this to me…wonderful.” The sarcastic nature of Jason’s voice was evident. ~”Here goes (said more to himself than to Jason)…Eight thousand years ago, I came here and defeated Death to get my mom’s soul back…I won.”~ -----“Eight…..Nah, that’s bull….” ~”To somewhat quote one of your movies…you live in the fourth age of man, I lived in the third…”~ Seeing the confused look on Jason’s face, he explained more. ~”An age of man is ten thousand years, give or take two thousand. In that time frame, usually something cataclysmic happens and man is reduced back to scattered tribes to repopulate the planet. To win against Death is to take its place…until someone defeats Death again.”~ -----“So, Charlie…” Perry pointed at Death. ~”Is right there.”~ Jason sat down on the spot. -----“So he’s got to stay…Death…until somebody beats him. What happens when that happens?” ~”Actually, that’s the good thing about all this. If and when someone beat’s Death…in this case, Charlie, he will reappear right outside this cave…the moment you exit it……”~ -----“You look distressed…there’s a catch, there’s always a catch…what is it?” ~”He will retain all the memories that accumulates between now and then…see…provided someone beats him, he returns to normal, everyday life…Which means that not only is he in the here and now, but here (Perry held his arms out gesturing to the massive room)…”~ -----“Uh, I don’t really understand.” ~”Here’s the example, I knew I would be defeated, though I didn’t know when…I knew because I, being Death, collected myself when I died. It’s kind’a like saying, you jump forward in time to your death and witness it…then jump back to your present. See, I die when I’m sixty seven years old…How, I don’t know…I just know that I showed up here one day…collected. I’ve collected my entire family, I even know that my family name dies out four hundred seventy nine years, five months, three weeks and seven and a half hours after I die.”~ -----“How the hell do you remember…” ~”Death has a long memory. If and when he’s beaten, he’ll remember every soul collected and when…He’ll collect himself, his wife, all his kids, you, God only knows…It just depends on how long it is before he’s beaten….and now….I must go.”~ -----“What….Just like that!? You’re going!?” ~”I’ve waited eight thousand years, seventy seven days and ten hours on the dot…to get back to my life.”~ He turned and faced Charlie…er…Death, and bowed his head. **ENJOY THE TIME YOU HAVE LEFT** Death bowed back. As the echo of Deaths’ many voices faded, so did Perry. Jason stood and faced Death now…he scratched his head… -----“So…uh….now what?” **THIS** Death raised his scythe… *******************************************