[ WP ] '' Death extends his hand , smiling , “ Deal ? ” ''

`` It does n't work that way.'' 
 
 I sat in the small living room of the apartment. The furniture was nice enough. Not fancy, but not junk. It did n't really match, but I did n't expect this kid to have matching furniture. He was still looking for a roommate. I sighed. This really was a sad situation. 
 
 `` Look, I know the doctors should have found it, but they did n't. Your heart failed. You are dead.'' 
 
 He looked at me with those pitiful eyes. He was only 20. Born with a heart defect. But no one had noticed. He had ignored the pains in his chest, ignored the shortness of breath and lethargy. He just figured he was being lazy, and needed to work harder, work out more, eat better. At least the eating better part helped. The rest just increased the stress on his heart. 
 
 `` But... I do n't want to die.'' 
 
 His name was Matt. And I really did feel sorry for him. Maybe it was time. 
 
 `` Well, you ca n't not die. It does n't work that way. However, there may be a loophole,'' I said, smiling to try and console him. 
 
 His face lit up. `` Anything!'' 
 
 `` You see, our job is rough. Boring, tedious, long. But we are needed. One day, one of us had had enough. Imagine dealing with dead people all the time. Its frustrating. So he figured out that he could switch places with someone who was dying. He would take over their life. He could fix up their bodies, and live.'' 
 
 Matt interrupted me. `` Wait a minute, how does that help me?'' 
 
 `` Easy,'' I said. `` Like I said, we are needed. We ca n't just take over someone's life and leave our job position vacant. We take over your life, and you take over ours.'' 
 
 `` But you just told me how terrible of a job it is, why would I want that!'' 
 
 `` Because, Matt, you can do the same thing. Of course, not right away. You wo n't have enough power for it right away. It takes about a century to collect the energy needed. But once you have it, you can take over someone else's life when they are supposed to die, and they take your place.'' I held out my hand in front of me and a cup of tea appeared. It was n't really tea, just a facsimile, but I still enjoyed sipping it, pretending I was alive again. And if Matt agreed, I might very well be able to enjoy some real tea soon. 
 
 Matt scratched his head. `` I do n't know. I still do n't get why you can live my life and I ca n't.'' 
 
 I shrugged. `` I'll be honest, I did n't bother studying up on the metaphysical properties of it. Would n't do me much good once I got a body back. I spent my time studying people and sciences. Let me tell you, the supernatural world has a really good grasp on the sciences. In a century, you could be a genius.'' I did n't bother explaining that he would n't actually be more intelligent. But a century is a century, and you can learn a lot in that time. 
 
 Matt scratched his head some more. I hoped he did n't have a problem with dry scalp. I would need to do a good once over on him if he agreed. `` So, how do we do this then.'' 
 
 `` Again, easy. I've explained the details to you. All we need to do is shake.'' I held out my hand, smiling. `` Do we have a deal?'' 
 
 Matt sighed before finally making up his mind. `` Sure,'' he said as he reached out and gripped my hand.
