This is the story of how I died. But that is not exactly true because at its core every story is about how I died. I have died many times. Thousands, millions, too many to count except I did, I was bored, I counted and then I forgot what the number was and I kept on dying over and over until that number was not correct any more.

I died on highways, I died under trees, I died in gallows, I died at knifepoint gunpoint pencil point and I died in hospitals surrounded by people who loved me but did not know me.

So much human time and thought is devoted to the afterlife, the thought of persisting when your skin has fallen away, bathing in golden light and playing ping-pong with Ghandi, but I am here to tell you that is wrong, that is not the way it goes because the afterlife is me, I am the extent, I am the bus stop at the end of the line and I have been waiting, waiting, waiting, for you to get here, to me, so I could explain all of this to you. Because the body is like a vase, like a teakettle, like cupped hands, it is for holding and not being and my job is to take care of the being in the final seconds, to slip my feet into your shoes and my arms into the sleeves of your coat and let you slip away.

I am everyone, which means I am not a person but an idea, and the thing you see right now is a hologram and a shimmer, it is the thing you want to see before the lights behind your eyes switch off, that is one of the perks of death, of doing what I do. In your last seconds you get what you want and I get what I want which is to give you what you want. I might be your wife, I might be your parakeet, I might be your oncologist, whatever you want baby, and even as I fill your body I hold your hand, and let you slip away slowly while I mind the store, and once you are gone I slide out of your skin, out of your clothing and go back to the bus stop and sit. It’s my dream job. I’m tenured, I have health and life insurance because I ensure lives, I ensure their peaceful ends and I think it is probably time for you to go so I’ll let you do that, stamp your passport and proceed to gate E11, catch your cab, and you will continue on to your next thing which is the part I cannot do for you but that is ok, your are strong and you are ready and it is time now for me to die some more.