The first thing she sees is the cup of coffee. Her hands are clasped around it, deliciously warm. The steam drifts leisurely into the air, a stark contrast to what she remembers from only moments ago–crystal clear ice underfoot, her breath lingering in the air and a scarf wrapped around her neck, with endless stars littering the sky, the deafening silence, then–nothing. She can’t remember how she got there, or what happened next. She takes in her surroundings, a sea of empty tables and chairs, lit only by the rosy glow of the fire. Beyond the panes of the windows, there is only darkness. The only thing she truly knows is the coffee shop, and the table with two cups of coffee on it. 

Wait, two? Her eyes narrow at the second cup. Surely, she would have noticed it before? Besides, she is the only one in the shop, she’s certain of it. Cups of coffee don’t just appear out of thin air. The hairs on her arms prickle, and she shifts in her chair. She wonders if she is truly alone, then feels ridiculous for entertaining the idea of an invisible entity watching her. Heat still soaks into her fingers, the coffee refusing to cool. 

A clink rings through the shop, her head snapping back up as she’s pulled from her thoughts. Her heart races in her chest. Around her, nothing is out of the ordinary. Vaguely disappointed, she takes a sip of the coffee. Her eyes close in appreciation as she savors its richness. 

When her eyes open again, a thrill goes through her chest. A stranger sits across from her, examining his own cup of coffee. She wonders if he even knows she’s here. The stranger wearily picks up the cup of coffee, taking a sip of their own. There is almost something lonely about them, she thinks, as if he were as lost as she was. She tries to work up the confidence to speak. As the stranger sets his cup back on the table, their eyes meet. She tries not to startle. Looking into the stranger’s eyes was like looking into a kaleidoscope of memories; different rooms were reflected in each section, and she could see herself in none of them. 

The stranger seemed like he could only truly belong in a dream, from his kaleidoscope eyes to how the edges of his figure seemed to blur when she tried to closely examine his appearance. There was something about him that did not fit within the guidelines of reality, of humanity, and it intimidated her. Everything in her system seemed to warn caution when it came to him. Across from her, the stranger intertwined his fingers, surveying her thoughtfully. 

“Who are you?” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I have many names,” the stranger said. “I am well known among your kind.” What did that even mean? She frowned. “Humans, I should say,” he clarified. 

“Is there any point to your vagueness?” 

“Maybe,” he said, continuing to gaze at her. She was truly annoyed now, at how this strange individual acted as if humans were a lower class. If this was a dream, she hoped she would wake up soon. She’d like to think her subconscious wasn’t secretly a masochist, making her talk with a type of person she loathed.

“Why am I here” 

“Even I don’t know the meaning of everything, darling. I don’t know why you’re here,” he said with a sigh. Dark clouds flit across his eyes, and he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “You are simply stuck somewhere, in the middle of two states.” 

“That makes absolutely no sense. What states?” 

“Life and death, I’d say,” he said, his eyes twinkling as if there was something funny about what he just said.

“You’ve lost me.” She shook her head. 

“Let me tell you a story. A long time ago, Life and Death were companions. One day, Life was stolen away by time. Stricken, Death searched all over the world for her, but it was a fruitless endeavor. And still to this day, Death and Life remain divided.”

“I've never heard of a myth with just Life and Death,” she said, convinced that he was just playing a joke on her. 

The stranger sighed heavily and said, “Humans. Messing everything up with different interpretations. I am not multiple entities. I am a singular incarnation and have always been. Remembering all the names gives me a headache.” 

“So that’s why you’re being so cryptic,” she said, slouching in her chair. “If you’re Death, then is this the afterlife? A coffee shop? Really?” Am I dead? She cannot remember dying. The very act seemed unthinkable to her. She could feel the life running through her veins at this very moment, a sort of buzz that would never die out. 

Perhaps she is a mere memory of what she was previously. But then why would she feel so alive? And why does every one of her senses scream at her to run, that something is catching up to her? She barely has time to think it over before her companion is speaking again. 

“Often, things are not as they appear. Places, people even. There’s something fascinating about you, darling, and you do not even realize it,” He takes a sip of his coffee, and she feels his multicolored eyes pierce into her own. “Usually, people see only what they expect. But you…in your presence I cannot be anything but what I truly am.” 

Silence falls within the coffee shop, only punctuated by the crackling of the fire. As time continues to pass, the minutes start to feel limited. She can feel her throat tightening. Something is off. Her heart pounds in her chest.

“Why me?” she said, fingers tightening around the cup. “Why am I the only one here?” 

“I will not pretend to know how this works,” Death said. “Some wait years to arrive here. You came here instantly. Perhaps you have forgotten who you were. Who you are.” 

“That’s impossible,” she replied. Sensations have started to come back to her, companions to the only images she can recall. “I remember enough.” 

“Do you?” Death asked. She suppressed a shiver as his gaze settled squarely on her. “How does one not recall their oldest companion?” 

The woman stared into the flickering flames behind her companion, uncertain. She remembers the exhilaration and adrenaline of running across an endless span of ice, the wind biting into her exposed skin. The catharsis of being able to feel so alive, feel so free in the universe. She remembers the sudden fear, her stomach dropping and her breathing becoming more shallow, as cracks spiderwebbed across the surface beneath her, with no land in sight. The overwhelming devastation as she realizes Time has caught up to her, and it might spell out her end.

“All I can remember is a land covered in ice. Nothing before that, and nothing after that,” she said. Her companion’s eyes widen, and she sinks back into memory. 

Each deafening crack echoes in her mind. She remembers tumbling into the water, gasping from the sudden shock of cold. Trying to propel herself back up, but weighed down by layers of clothing, time seeming to fly by as she struggles.

She remembers the ice sealing above her head like a seam being stitched back together, as if it had never broken in the first place. Her despair as her fists fruitlessly struck against the ice. Closing her eyes, she sealed her last breath away. She remembers lying dormant in the frozen waters for years, her mind awake but her body frozen in time. Then the ice shattered above her, weak sunlight filtering through the water nearest the surface. She was suspended upright in the water, ice clinging to the skin of her body, glittering in her hair. 

A hand reached down into the depths, and finally, finally grasped her hand. Death pulled her out of the water, disappearing from the coffee shop that he had endlessly waited in for months. Before she could express her surprise, the coffee shop faded to darkness before her eyes. 

Life opened her eyes to see endless blue stretching above her. Her pulse fluttered weakly in her chest, and she breathed in the crisp air. Kaleidoscopic eyes stared down at her, and this time, she could see herself reflected in them. How ironic, she thought, that Death would be the one to save Life. Finally, she had realized her mistake. As long as Death was by her side, Time would never catch up to them again.