You whisper my name as though it is cursed. You tiptoe around it, desperately searching for other words you can use instead, coming up with nicknames and code words to soften the blow. Anything but uttering my name, so cruel, so unforgiving.
You run from me, as far and as fast as your frail human legs will carry you. Across deserts and oceans, through battlefields and down hospital halls. You don't know why you're running, you don't truly understand. But you run anyways, with everything you've got, until there is no more fight left in you.
You curse at me, full of hatred and bitter loathing. You resent me for leading them away, or for even daring to hold their hand. And you pose all these silly questions: "Why? Why them and not me?". Dear child, it's not that simple. The world does not revolve around you and I pick my battles carefully. Your turn will come, don't worry.
You plead with me. One more year, a month, a day. It doesn't matter where you come from or what you've done, you all ask for the exact same things in the end. For all their pride I've never seen anyone beg with as much passion as humans do. You greedy little things. Don't you see I've already given you as much as I can? There is nothing left to do.
You wonder about me. You try so hard to understand me, to solve my riddle, to see what I see. All those books and debates and countless hours of wasted thoughts. When will you understand that there is no mystery to unravel, no riddle to solve? I was always part of you, always by your side. It is not until you give in that you will turn and see my smile.
You fear me more than almost anything else in the world. This has always surprised me most of all. With all the pain, all the suffering this life has to offer, you choose to fear me? You think of me as your biggest enemy? Let me tell you something you poor misinformed soul; I am a thousand times more merciful than my brother and often the most generous gift you could receive.
And yet, some of you embrace me like an old friend. You do not fall into my arms, crying and screaming like your brothers and sisters, but you jump into them, quiet and content. And your hearts. Your hearts are the most painful thing I've ever seen, so bruised and broken and irreparably shattered. I understand why you welcome me, but I do not want you before your time. Go glue those broken pieces together, for I know you can be whole again.
Why is it that you choose to give me the worst mask to wear? I am not some unimaginable monster under your bed, not some cloaked figure with a scythe. You pick the darkest colors to paint me with, the colors of pain and unforgiveness and despair. Yet am I not the one who saves you from those same horrors of everyday life? Am I not the one who soothes your wounds and dries your tears and gives you peace again?
I just want you to understand, you've got it all upside down. I will never lift a finger to hurt you, just to ease your suffering. I work with you, not against you. I'm your ally, not your foe. I may appear to you as cruel and pitiless, but this is far from the truth. I do only what I must, never more, and I let so, so many of you run away. Miracles? What miracles? All the work of my tireless hand.
I am not ruthless but kind, not bitter but sweet. I mourn your losses as much as you do, and with all I've seen I'm broken by grief beyond repair. As humans you hurt but you move on, you have to hope of finding happiness again. Yet I walk a lonely road, traveling through the millennia with just me, myself, and I. Never a break, never a rest, not so much as a simple thank you. I only get hated and blamed.
But what am I to do? There is no one to replace me, to do my job in my place. So I keep on walking with a heavy heart and numb hands. I long to understand you as much as you yearn to know my inexistent secrets. Maybe we can come to an agreement some day. Until then I'll keep on traveling, waiting for each of you to join me in turn. Do not fear me, beautiful children, I am not as merciless as they make me to be.
I am soft, and I am patient. I am gentle, and I am loving. And in many ways I am more human than you could ever imagine.
For I am Death.