"I don't know what comes at the end of it."

A single teardrop rolled down to the tip of his nose and dropped off abruptly at the sharp, unforgiving edge, "I don't want to disappear forever."

His head was nestled in her lap, his eyes were still moist with the recently shed drops. His shirt was unbuttoned down to the waist; the left side of his chest was covered in deep lacerations, still fresh in parts.

His shirt was blotched with traces of blood and the colourless fluids flowing out of his wounded side.

She sat, holding his head in the soft cradle of her lap, with her left arm gently resting on his hair.

Her face was expressionless and her eyes were vacant, shining in an uncanny way. Her long, glossy, brown hair rippled down her shoulder and hung tentatively above his face. She brushed it back, all the while her eyes were fixed on his face.

"It happens to everyone." Her voice had an unconvincing touch to it, "The pain will go away soon."

He flinched at the tone of it like an injured dog at the sight of a stick. Another tear welled up in his eye. He turned up his face to look at her.

"I'm scared," he pleaded, "I don't want to die!"

His voice was weak as he tried to convey the gravity of his fears.

She nodded almost dismissive at first but her eyes softened. She took a deep breath and then sighed.

"I don't want to die, I really don't," he begged, "I know it happens to everyone, I don't want to, please,"

He spoke as though persuading her into sympathizing could change the fact that he had only a few mortal hours left.

His dead left hand was starting to stiffen; there was no associated pain, just an inflexible tautness that pinned down his entire left side. His breathing grew laboured until he was gasping for air.

The bloodied wounds drew flies around them. She kept swatting them away taking care not to disturb his position.
"Please... I can't breathe, I don't... want to..."

"I understand your fears of the unknown but death is so commonplace, how can it ring so deep in your heart?" she asked and, when he did not reply, she continued, "Think of this as a trip into the oblivion, the darkness beyond. A new adventure."

There was a glitter in her eyes as she said the last words. It sounded like something she could believe.

"It's suffocating... can't breathe. I don't want... help me, please. "

She looked down at him with pity; his condition was beyond the help of the simple treatments available in this out of the way spot far from the civilised haunts of human habitats. She could taste his palpable fear.

She could hear him fighting to breathe, fighting to reclaim his slot in the mortal realms. She sighed again.

His time was almost over and the heavy horrors of this final moment were all that kept him awake. He should have stopped fighting, she thought, should have accepted his fate easily as the only logical outcome; he should have given up trying to live but he did not─ was he awaiting a miracle?

His right hand grasped at her foot. The sound of his breathing was slurred and much effort was required on his part to inhale. She took a deep breath as if to taunt his condition then she looked at him again.

His eyes were starting to lose focus and his pupils grew larger to take in more light. It must be getting dusky in his head, she thought. His tears kept flowing as did the fluid oozing from his wounds. His hand still moved, trying to clutch at her foot as though she could keep him from drowning into the pool of eternal darkness.

What kept him going? His thread was almost drawn out, even he would be aware of it by now.

"Don't want... die... please" he was still speaking.

She looked surprised for the first time. He was so stubborn, anyone with half a brain could say it was hopeless to even try but he still clung to life like it was his last... of course, it was his last chance.

She sat staring at his body, his left arm was folding up and the left hand curled into a tight fist. His left shoulder was stiff but the other parts of his body were still alive. He could still breathe albeit with great, visible effort. His eyes still worked but he could not speak his thoughts.

His thoughts, what could they be? Was he still hoping for a second chance? Were the words he spoke his only musings of the moment?

To her, the mysteries of his thoughts was a fascinating realm of possibilities.

There was a pleading look on his face. His features were no longer painful, perhaps he had stopped feeling pain altogether. Perhaps all that he felt now was fear─ the fear of the unknown, the fear of oblivion, the fear of being erased, the discomforting fear of leaving the only solid reality he had ever known.

He felt helpless, powerless against the new sensation. Peace was unreachable, unattainable, for he did not wish his life to end... he did not wish to stop existing.

She was starting to feel sorry for him. His breathing was almost inaudible now but his hand still held on to her foot.

His face was almost expressionless except for the slight pinch of his nose and his mouth, which was held wide open to draw air.

His eyes were glazed over and sightless, or rather what he saw no longer made sense to his mind.

Slowly, the breathing stopped.
His mouth was still open but he no longer inhaled anything. His right hand loosened up slightly and she freed her foot. His eyes stared into empty space, the pupils no longer fixed at any particular point.

She sighed again. His fight was over. She stopped trying to swat away the flies that flew around his open wounds. She wiped the single teardrop that was trickling down his face and carefully lifted his head out of her lap. She gently put him down on the ground next to her.

She stared at the corpse for a moment. He, no, it no longer had the strength to rivet her attention to itself. It simply lay there, partly stiffened, awkwardly positioned, stripped down to its waist luring the unpleasant interest of flies and other scavengers.

Soon there will be maggots, she thought. The thought brought along a sense of nausea that forced her to scramble to her feet, and leave immediately...

He lay there awaiting nature's decision, the final move that would erase all traces of him from the face of the mortal world... forever.