[ WP ] You tell Death that you will never tire of living no matter how long you live . It makes you a bet that you will and thus grants you true immortality . You 've just lived through the second death of the universe and show no sign of stopping . Death is baffled .

Once again, the universe comes to an infinitely slow crescendo, stretching itself thinner and thinner. Soon, it will snap like a rubber band and a new era of existence will usher forth in a single cataclysmic burst. But until then, I drift in the void. 
 
 I'm not worried. I'm just waiting for my ride. 
 
 A few more eons pass. 
 
 The last point of light I can still see winks out. I hear my mother say, universes ago, `` Make sure you turn out all the lights when you leave the house, honey.'' 
 
 Okay, Mom. 
 
 Death pulls up, this time on a scooter, of all things. He asks, 
 
 > Ready for round three? 
 
 `` I am if you are!'' I chirp, excitedly. 
 
 I see him roll his eyes underneath his folded cloak, the same as mine, the one that makes him immortal. 
 
 > It does get old eventually, you know. 
 
 I climb onto the back of his scooter and awkwardly wrap my arms around his waist. `` Prove it, old man.'' He sighs, and kicks off against nothing, sending us scooting through the emptiness, his notched scythe precariously perched on the handlebars. 
 
 As we fly off I once again try to count the nicks on his scythe, but it's impossible to keep score. The little lines are like a pointillist painting, nearly impossible to discern because they all blend in together to make a much bigger picture. The scratches from an endless voyage through time and space. The slightest jostle from his bony elbows and I lose my place. 
 
 He breaks the perfect silence. 
 
 > It has been millions of cycles since someone made it this long. 
 
 Deadpan though Death can be, I can tell he's impressed. 
 
 `` I ca n't imagine why. There's so much to see every time!'' I feel almost giddy at the prospect of a whole new universe about to be born, like a present waiting to be unwrapped. I've lived through over two universes now, and have lived so much, even eons of waiting fly by as I relive all the unique experiences I've encountered. 
 
 > Your love of life will be the Death of you, one day. 
 
 `` Hold on,'' I exclaim, `` When we began this bet you told me your spare cloak would make me immortal!'' 
 
 > Yes, even through the rebirth of the universe itself. 
 
 > But eventually you will tire of this life. They all do. 
 > And I will reclaim my cloak and usher your soul out of this realm. 
 
 `` I'm not even close to tapping out yet!'' I say, smirking at his confidence. 
 
 We arrive at where it will all begin again. He turns to me as I get off the scooter. 
 
 > Your enthusiasm still astounds me. 
 
 `` You're just jaded and tired, old man. I could do this a million more times!'' I grin, then wave as the new universe explodes into being, sending me careening away through space to a new unknown destination. The next adventure awaits. 
 
 ***** 
 
 *Jaded? * Death thinks, *Maybe. But not tired. Not yet. Not quite yet. * 
 
 He glances at where the man had been on the back of his scooter. 
 
 *Maybe this one will be the one I bestow my scythe to, when I tire. * 
 
 He looks at the churning universe around him, and scratches a new mark onto his ancient weapon. 
 
 *Maybe this time, when I show up... I'll be riding a couch. * He grins to himself. *Or a mermaid. * 
 
 Death squares his shoulders, and sets about his business.
