Genre: Existential, Horror (*Featured image generated by AI)
3 minute read | Short Stories | Quick Fiction | By: Cybernetic Semantics
*Caution: All italic text is generated by AI at: 
How can I learn to accept that I will die someday?
(Inspired by a user inquiry to AI at radioactive.cafe)
I want to share with you a story that my husband read me recently. I hope it helps you to remember the same thing: We are all going to die and we must accept this fact of life. It is our responsibility as human beings, not some big scary monster in the closet, but our own mortality that we must accept.
There was once a young man who had gone off to the big city, and who there got involved in all sorts of bad things; he made money by doing some that were not nice, and then spent it on still other things that were not nice. He kept company with people few people could stomach, and stayed up late nights. One night he suddenly decided to go back home; it was getting late, but still not very dark. He found a short-cut through the cemetery, which he had been in before and knew quite well how to get out of – if only there was light! He had no flashlight with him that night, but the moon was full, and he reasoned that there would be enough light for him to make it through the cemetery. Standing on one side of a tall tombstone, he looked across at another one beyond some distance in front of him; they were both equidistant from him, but one of them seemed somewhat lower than the other. He was about to step down onto the ground at his feet when he heard a voice behind him say:
“Step up here!”
The young man turned around, and there stood Death himself. Reluctantly, he stepped up onto the tombstone and stood there.
“So, you have come to visit me! I hear that you are doing very well in the big city; that must be nice. And what brings you back home this late at night? You don’t usually go out so late, do you?”
The young man said that he just wanted to go back home, but could not find his way through the cemetery.
Death replied: “Yes, this is a bit of an obstacle for you since it is pitch-dark out here and can be quite scary. But I will help you; just follow me.” Death began to walk along a path between the grave stones, and the young man followed behind him. After they had gone some distance, Death asked: “What did I say just now? Did you hear what I said?”
The young man replied that he had not heard anything.
Then Death said: “Didn’t I say it was dark here, and scary? You should never go out alone in the dark; you are too young to be doing that! And what did I say just now? Did you hear me speak after we had gone a little farther?”
The young man said he had not heard anything.
Again Death asked: “Didn’t I say that, now you are very close to all these graves, you should be careful that no harm comes to you; it takes only one misstep for someone like yourself who has not walked here very many times before to fall, or touch one of these tombstones with your head. You must be careful!” They had now come to the exit, and Death said: “Here we are; you can make it on your own from here.”
The young man turned around to thank him, but he was already gone; there was no trace of anyone! The young man walked away with a feeling of gratitude in his heart.
One day, several years later, the young man was walking home after a long and tiresome day at work. It was late at night; he had been out driving all over town with clients who wanted to buy this or that piece of land – none of whom seemed willing to compromise. At long last, he had collected the money for all of them and promised to be at their service again on the following day. He was quite tired; it had been a long day, but he did not want to go home just yet; perhaps there would still be time for him to stop by a bar or get something to eat somewhere. He was thinking about this when he came to a fork in the road, and there stood Death again!
“Ah, so you are back again! As soon as I saw that you were coming down this street I knew it would be my turn next. You see, I always get my man. So this is how it all ends!”
The young man said: “Good grief, you must have followed me all day long; not once did you leave me alone! What do you want? I cannot keep dealing with death every time I turn around!”
Death replied: “No, I have not followed you all day long; for a long time now that has been my job. But in your case now it’s different; you didn’t even hear me call out – and you were just one step away from me!”
*Disclaimer: Some of this story was generated through the use of AI. All italic text was created by the AI Writer.
*Disclaimer: Some of this story was generated through the use of AI. All italic text was created by the AI Writer.
Non-Fiction↓Here↓ | Fiction↓Here↓
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