People will tell you that there is a certain bliss to growing old, your body may deteriorate, but your mind grows wiser, and eventually there is a certain comfort in accepting the inevitable. Today people think that we all die in a day, that there are two states of being, there is being alive, and being dead. Somewhere along the road of human history, in telling stories over and over, humans have forgotten that infact different parts of us die at different points in our life. Hungry reapers roam the earth taking parts, only parts of your soul as you age, man, woman, or child, the reapers do not discriminate. You don't remember your encounters with them, but you certainly have had them, how many times depends on how old you are of course. Around the age of ten or eleven the reaper of dreams pays a visit and harvests the part of your soul that lets you have unrealistic desires such as becoming an astronaut or living in a castle. Around the age of nineteen or so, the reaper of individuality visits most of us and takes the part of your soul that provides you with the ability to resist conformity. Whenever in your life, you are betrayed or are distant from a loved one for a long time, and you find that one day you don't care about that person anymore, that is because the reaper of attachment has taken that part of you away, and that's just three of the hundreds.

Frank Abernathy is a man of seventy two, when he was a boy the thought of being an old man did not much bother him. If only he could have foresaw that he would be pushed aside into assisted living, like society's trash. Frank never really was a kind man, infact one might describe him as bitter and uncaring, and as he grew older his pleasantness faded even further. After a life of cheating people out of their money, and drunkenly mistreating his late wife, it's almost no wonder his two children no longer want anything to do with him. His nurse Lisa is a pretty young thing, blue eyes, and blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun everyday, she is thin, and her skin has very few imperfections, the only noticeable one would be the fmall mole beneath her lip, the rest of her body is covered by a long white dress that covers her from shoulder to toe. Watching over elderly citizens may not be the most glamorous job, and it certainly is a thankless job, but Lisa found a certain satisfaction in giving back and helping others, the satisfaction alone made her job worth it. she is kind woman, however she talked to Frank as if he were a child, and this angered him. It had been an eternity since he were a boy and he felt he deserved more respect from her than he received. He may need to have his food liquified and have his blood pressure checked twice a day, but give him half a chance he could clock a man's jaw open handed and still make him bleed. The nurse was a nuisance to him, she tended to do things for him that, despite his age, he was perfectly capable of doing on his own. Nurse Lisa bends over the kitchen counter and picks up a bowl that she had filled with oatmeal, then carries it to Frank, “ here is your lunch Mr. Abernathy”
“as if I couldn't stand up and get it myself” he scoffs. For some reason she felt it necessary to pull up a chair in front of his recliner and watch him eat. He ate his lunch spoonful after spoonful, and as he ate his oatmeal, a small amount escaped his mouth and dribbled down his old dimpled chin. He reached for the napkin on his lap, but Lisa the nurse snached it up first and whiped his face, “You got some on your chin silly” she patronized in a voice that resembled baby talk, Frank clenched his fist, took a deep breath and relaxed his hand, “Lisa” he said “I'd appreciate it if I were alone for the remainder of my lunch” Frank tried not to sound as irritated as he was.
“Ok Mr.Abernathy” she stood up smiling, and patted Frank on the head unknowingly taking away his last shred of dignity, she stopped in the doorway and looked back at him “if you need anything just yell!” Frank was suddenly and inexplicably filled with an epic rage “JUST GO!” he screamed as he threw his spoon at her, it barely missed her head, and left a small splatter of oatmeal on the dark green wall behind her, Lisa turned to look at the splat of lunch on the wall in shock, she flashed Frank a frown and proceeded to leave the room.

The old man placed his lunch on the small table next to the seat he resided in, for he no longer had a spoon, and didn't feel like standing to retrieve it. He leaned back in his chair and looked out his second story window, from there, he has a perfect view of the home’s courtyard. It was littered with wrinkled men and women, some were exuberant, but most had canes or walkers, and a respectable handful had oxygen masks strapped to their faces, but what they all had in common, was a young nurse glued to their side, tending to their every need. “Pitiful” Frank said bitterly “look at them, they are mere shadows of the youthful people they once were” he continued to talk to himself “useless, every last one of them”.

In that very instant, the room grew cold, when frank breathed he found that his breath clung to the air in small puffs of steam. From under the door, a thick greyish-green fog exhaled into the room. The door swung open, and in the doorway stood a tall bone thin man wearing a black cloak, his extremities appeared unproportionately long for his torso, his face, though flesh colored, looked unhealthy and sunken in, almost like his face was simple just a skull with skin over it, it lacked the definition of muscle and fat any normal person's face would possess. Most haunting however, were his eyes, all black except the irises of his eyes which glows a sickening yellow color. “Good afternoon Frank.” the looming stranger spoke in a deep inhuman voice, it sounded like multiple voices trapped in a single throat, and though he spoke loudly and clearly, his voice resembled a whisper. Frank sank deeper into his chair in an effort to get as far away from the thing as possible without having to get up, “Have you come to kill me? Are you going to take me away?” He muttered nervously, the Stranger chuckled a little, his demonic laugh grumbled deeply and sent crawling shivers through Frank's skin, “oh no old man, If you are asking if I am the grim reaper, I can assure you I am not, death is someone entirely different, infact you wont meet him for another seven years if that's any consolance to you.”
“then… who are you?”
“I am a collector of sorts, but you shall refer to me as the reaper of compassion, you no longer use the compassionate part of your soul, so, I have come to claim it.” the reaper gave Frank a large toothy grin, his teeth were sharp and crooked, and his gums were brown and filled with blood, and pus. “part of my soul?” Frank said “But how can I live with only half a soul?”
“Frank my dear boy, you already have less than a whole soul, reapers come for parts of your being once you stop using them.”
“but… I'm still using my compassion” The reaper’s smile turned into a sinister frown filled with intimidation and anger “No Frank” the reaper said sternly “you are not. circumstance has made you cruel old man. You think not of others, and sympathise none with people who suffer from ageing, and you give yourself more worth than them, you've spent much of your life causing pain to others, for these reasons I appear at your doorstep” Frank thought back into recent history, and thought of things he’d said and done recently, he admitted that perhaps he'd been a bit rude lately, but surely is not unkind enough to deserve such a fate, and the reaper could see that Frank felt this way. “look here” the reaper cooed, as he reached into his cloak, and pulled out what looked like a vintage hand held mirror embroidered with carvings of skulls in its silver frame. He held it up to Frank's face. at first all he saw was his reflection, but then his reflection became cloudy and once it cleared he saw instead of his own face, Lisa the nurse, crouched in the ladies room, with her head buried in her knees, she lifted her face to reveal running makeup and and flushed cheeks, she was crying. “look what you do to others old man” Frank looked into the reaper's eyes, he felt regret for what he had done to the poor nurse, but not because of empathy for her, but rather because of how he was about to be punished for his actions. The reaper turned the mirror to look at the image of the crying nurse himself, “poor girl” he shook his head in disapproval, “she has been nothing but good to you.”
“she's been nothing but a nuisance to me!” He bravely snapped “you can not take part of my soul for responding to my irritation towards that woman!”
“what you did to… that woman” the reaper quoted “is not why i've come for your compassion, it was merely the last straw”. For the first time in days, Frank stood up from his corfoded throne, he was drained of any and all fear he once felt towards the reaper. Although the demonic thing towered over the old man, frank looked him directly in his ghoulish eyes. If there is one thing that frank has learned from the long life he has lived thus far, it's that you should always stand up for what is rightfully yours. The reaper was taken back a bit, and was maybe a bit impressed with the old man's bravery, no matter, the reaper knew what he came to do, and wasn't leaving until his intentions were fulfilled. In an instant the demon reached into Frank's chest, frank could not move, he could not breathe, he could feel the reaper gripping his heart, the pain was excruciating yet he could not scream, If Frank had to compare it to anything, he would tell you it resembled the heart attack he had experienced 12 years prior. With his hand still in the old man's chest, the reaper looked at Frank and said “I hope you understand old man, I am only doing my job, it's nothing personal.” Once he finished speaking, he tore out a small yellow orb of glowing light from Frank's chest. Frank gasped his lungs full with fresh air and fell to the ground, then rolled over to face the reaper “there now” he said looking down at Frank “don't you feel better without all that useless clutter inside you?” the reaper held the man's compassion above his face “look at it” the reaper said “it's so small and shriveled, old man you've barely used it.” The reaper looked up and dangled the light over his mouth, as his jaw unhinged to inhuman proportions, the gaping hole in the reaper's face made a sound like wind whistling through the trees. He dropped the soul into his mouth then let out a loud burp that smelled of rot and decay. He looked down at the old man, then smiled. “I hate you” said frank looking up at the thing “no you don't” he said “you don't feel anything at all towards other people, but it's good to pretend if you're going to survive social situations”
“I don't want to live without part of my soul” Frank wheezed while grabbing his chest. The reapers smile turned to a stern stare and he knelt down to meet Frank's face and roughly grabbed his chin looking into his eyes “well old man” he spoke angrily, “if there is anything you will learn in the compassionless life you are about to embark, it's that you don't always get what you want.” In that instant the reaper vanished, and left frank alone on the floor leaving nothing behind but a thin fog and the smell of death and sulfur.