The Snow Angel

Death can only take so much flirting and teasing until it has had enough.

"I'm not ready," I wail.

"They're coming for us," Henry insists through blue lips. He squints at the pale sky.

My fingers and toes are numb. Tears pierce my skin. I wonder what my parents and their goldendoodle are doing today. Probably napping in the heat.

"Jess," Henry murmurs, interrupting my thoughts. "Let's pretend we're at the beach."

I join him in delusion, like usual. Overlapping waves echo in my ears. Saltwater pricks my tongue. But there's no sunshine in our pretend life. I open my eyes, returning to our endless world of white.

For so long, I yearned to fall asleep and never wake up; to greet Death like an old friend. But now that Death is here...

"Let's make snow angels," I suggest through chattering teeth. "Just until they come."

We lie together in the snow for a while, moving our arms and legs until we are frozen to the ground.

"Thanks for staying," I whisper as the gray sky and white ground blend and blur my vision. I cannot move even a single muscle of my body to look at him, but somehow, I know he is still here.

"Hey," Henry whispers back, "I love you. I've always loved you. You know that."

It's cruel that even in my last moments, he tortures me with lies.

A familiar warmth envelops me, filling me with incomprehensible joy. And then, he disappears, one last time.