I jolted out of my reverie and in the direction the executioner was staring in. He stared out across the pond. The koi fish happily played with each other just underneath the water’s surface. He hesitated, then asked, “So how’d it feel to lose all feeling in your head there?”

“Huh? Oh? That?” The question broke my train of thought. “Yeah. That totally wasn’t fun.”

He chuckled. “Thought I’d let you have a free trial of what it would feel like to have no head like you wished. Figured it wasn’t really what you wanted.”

I chuckled with him, but could feel the tears welling behind the laughter. “Yeah… but like, I don’t even know anymore.”

He looked down at me compassionately. “I know…” he whispered. “You’re in a lot of pain right now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” The tears were flowing freely now. “And I-I’m not sure how I’m gonna make it. I don’t know if I want to make it.”

The executioner was quiet. He continued to stare out in the distance but put an arm around my shoulder. While his hand was very cold, his gesture was very warm and full of concern. He continued to let me talk.

“Like, I think I’m crazy because it’s all in my head. But the doctors looked at my head and said I’m not crazy. And I hate that I can’t be crazy right now.” I unconsciously grabbed my head with both hands and sobbed. “What am I supposed to do? Like no one can help me right now. And I hate to have them see me like this. I just want this to be over.”

“Hey, look at me.” He got up and bent down to my eye level. “I’m terribly sorry you’ve been suffering as much as you have. One of my biggest pet peeves is to see anyone needlessly suffer. That’s why I have this job. And while we don’t know each other very well and aren’t friends, I want you to know…I’m here for you. In any way.”

I looked deep into his eyes. They were a deep, dark brown, and soulful. I could feel he was speaking sincerely. With that, he slapped his knee, stood up, and sat back on the bench. “So right here and now…how can I help you?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure.” I wiped my face with the back of my hand. “I mean, thanks to you, I know now that losing my head (or not being able to feel it at all) isn’t quite what it’s cracked up to be. Do you only do executions?”

“Actually no. I don’t. Executions are a special order typically. But you could say, I am in the business of ‘permanent endings’, you might call it. It’s a pretty lucrative business since the laws of science dictate that I must exist for all things, including stars and entire universes. I find ways to use entropy in whatever manner to dissolve any union between two or more entities.”

“So, you’re like a divorce lawyer?”

“Ah! Yes! Like that, but think of a doctor, lawyer, professional cleaning, garbage and sewage service, and sales team all wrapped into one. Therapy services also come with the job. Only thing I am not is that I am not a president, king, or lord or god. Most people mistake me for that. I’ve had many names throughout history like Hades, Anubis, Mors, Hel, etc. But almost all cultures got wrong who I actually am and what I actually do. So they often paint me as the bad guy, when I’m just doing a job that I’m good at… providing mercy and rest to those who are in desperate need of it and redistributing their building blocks toward another use. ”

“So…what is your name actually? And if you’re not a god, then what are you?”

“Ah yes!” He jumped up, excitedly pulled out a black business card from his back pocket and gave an exaggerated bow. “Ángel de Muerte at your service! But since you speak English, you can just call me Angel.”

“Angel of Death? Like THE Angel of Death from…the Bible?”

“Yup. The very one and the same!” He beamed. “Love that I got my big debut in that Book.”

I took a deeper look at his business card. It was crisp, shiny and heavy. A metal card? It had inscribed in silver foil, a shield with two wings on the sides, a single serpent wrapped around a stick and crossed bones at the bottom. On the other side, he had his name on the top line with “Specializing in All Manner of Death” underneath followed with “By Appointment Only”.

I was silent for a very long moment. I could feel my heartbeat increase. “I was taught to not like you. In fact, I don’t think we should be talking…”

“As I’ve said…almost all cultures and religions have painted me out to be the bad guy. Especially the one you’re a part of. …Like I have control over who needs my services.” He snorted and shook his head. “I’m just doing a job. Just like any other person with a job to do, as unpleasant as that job is.”

“So you’re saying you’re not the bad guy?”

“Exactly!” Angel sat back down on the bench with a huff.

“So if you’re not the bad guy…who is?”

“Depends… bad guy/good guy… it’s all subjective. But in the end of the day, my ‘boss’ is whoever orders my services. Ultimately, the people who order my services and cannot actually pay for it are the ‘bad guys’, I guess. But my team doesn’t handle the accounts payable part. Personally, I wouldn’t even call most of them bad guys. Just misled. Everyone has their reasons for why they choose my services and due to every nation’s privacy laws, I don’t disclose exactly why my services were chosen. Instead, I let the person decide if they’d like to share. Gotta maintain professionalism, right?”

“But you’re an angel. Not a god.”

“You got that right. Created by the Most High above. And I don’t have the same power a god has. Humans, however, do have the powers of the gods. They don’t realize that at all. So, despite whatever my thoughts are, I must take a job as soon as a person tells me they need my services and offer me the time needed as payment.”

I chewed the inside of my lip as I thought more about what he was saying. “So like, in Exodus… when you debuted and took the firstborn sons of everyone in Egypt…”

“Oh yes… let’s talk about that. So Most High, blessed be His Name, put in a very large order. But then again, He can, since He has unlimited and endless time. Remember, Most High and His Universe, work on a true balance system. So the lives of the firstborn sons when Moses was born were taken ‘unjustly’ (even for me), right? What happened is the Pharaoh of the time ordered my services with a ‘blank check’ that bounced. He paid with time that he didn’t own, in this case, the innocent lives of the firstborn sons of Israel. Most High waited a generation to see if Pharaoh would pay what he owed. The Israelites made several reports over the years to Most High that the payment was not settled, so Most High was like, ‘Let’s see if he’ll listen and make an equal payment after 9 ‘merciful demonstrations’. Although Pharaoh could never rebuild and bring back the souls of the firstborn sons, Most High was willing to settle the debt with a release of the Israelite slaves, meaning that Pharoah would need to make a statement to the universe that he truly did not have means to pay for those lives and like bankruptcy court, you acknowledge to the world that you have no credibility. Most High knew that the lives of those children could never be replaced, but as much as He tried, He also knew that Pharaoh wouldn’t have a change of heart even after those demonstrations. So he placed a very large ‘blank check’ order with me for all of the firstborn sons across Egypt to rebalance the displacement of firstborns ordered by the Egyptians. To ensure that the order was truly balanced, He then ordered the Israelites, his Chosen, to use the blood from a lamb and post it above their front doors so I knew that they’d already been paid for. Most High knew that I needed to be compensated in time, and lifeblood is a great form of currency to represent time for me. So the life of the innocent lambs signaled to me that this home had already ‘paid’, and I could ‘pass over’ the home to the next home.”

“I see, so the removal of time (or in this case, blood) is how you operate.”

“Yep… I know… it’s kind of archaic, but it’s highly effective. But you know, blood isn’t the only form of currency for me. I’ll take anything honestly. So long as that thing transfers your time to me, I’m satisfied. Blood is just the quickest form of payment, however.”

“So I don’t have to pay you in blood then?”

“No actually. You don’t. And actually, you’ve already had a similar ‘special payment’ mark on your heart. So that’s why I didn’t readily agree to removing your head like that. On my record, you already died and were reprocessed. So there’s no need to reprocess you again. Reality is, you really do have time left already because Someone opted to offer his time in place of yours and you had previously accepted that time replacement. So that’s why we can just talk and get to know each other right now. Sadly, most people cannot, do not, or will not have the time to meet and talk with me.”

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Total Words: 3, 193