[ WP ] You suddenly realize your true purpose in life ... and it 's a duty you do n't want .

He handed the scythe and robe over. I took them reluctantly into my hands and weighed them. They were surprisingly light and I must have made a face because he said, `` What they lack in physical weight they make up for in responsibility.'' 
 
 `` I do n't want it.'' I said. 
 
 `` It's too late for that.'' 
 
 He appeared to be an old man. A mess of white hair, a wintry beard, deep wrinkles and dark spots on his hands. Would I appear the same when I could eventually retire. Would I ever get to retire? 
 
 `` Where are you off to now?'' I asked. 
 
 He smiled and said, `` I'm going to meet my wife somewhere beautiful.'' 
 
 `` Will you tell William I miss him?'' 
 
 `` Of course.'' He walked into the fog up the road and disappeared. 
 
 I remained standing alone on my porch. My body still swung from the noose. Except it no longer felt like me. The lips were blue, the long hair so lifeless. Whoever this woman was in her life time was now a memory. Captured in photographs and in that old diary hidden under her pillow. 
 
 I put the robe on, gripped the scythe in my hands. I looked out into the foggy fields surrounding the house, the long dirt road leading to nowhere. I saw nothing beyond it. Only emptiness. 
 
 Then I felt the pull, my first soul calling for me. It cried out like an injured bird from beyond the fog. I stepped out onto the road and soberly followed the sound. 

