Patience
Just a Minute
April lay in her hospital bed, thinking about her plans for the rest of the day. The doctors and people around her hadn't specifically said any day for her to worry about, just "in the next month or so." She would have appreciated a date to put on the calendar. She'd have put a little X on the day, marking her death next to Mother's Day or something like that.
The only reason she was making plans now was that she had a weird feeling that it was today. She had woken up thinking she probably wouldn't be waking up again. And she had no great plan- no list, no life dream she had made up when she was younger. She had to find something to pass time. She wouldn’t die staring out the window if she could help it.
She took a box of pretty postcards out of the drawer next to her, and began writing the addresses of everyone she knew on them. Her family first, then friends, then neighbours then anyone she could remember the address of, down to her piano teacher and a penpal she had stopped writing to years ago. She barely noticed the time passing, and the sun went down as April was still writing goodbye and thank you messages.
Later, when it was dark and everyone else was probably asleep, there was a knock on the window. April only saw a figure outside, but her mind imagined bony fingers rapping on the glass. She felt the freezing cold breeze as the figure opened the window. It stood there, and she knew well enough who he was and that she had to go with him. But there were stamps left to lick, and she had forgotten to write a postcard to her cousin, and she wasn’t going to leave anything unfinished.
As she sorted out the last of the postcards, the figure watched April as she paid him no attention. Out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw him tap his foot on the ground with impatience. She put the cards in a neat pile on the bedside table and walked carefully out of the bed, not having walked for a while.
“Sorry about that,” she said, and let herself be taken away by the figure. It stayed silent, but if it had asked why she was smiling so much, it would have gotten a simple answer. She hadn’t had to wait for death; Death had had to wait for her.
The only reason she was making plans now was that she had a weird feeling that it was today. She had woken up thinking she probably wouldn't be waking up again. And she had no great plan- no list, no life dream she had made up when she was younger. She had to find something to pass time. She wouldn’t die staring out the window if she could help it.
She took a box of pretty postcards out of the drawer next to her, and began writing the addresses of everyone she knew on them. Her family first, then friends, then neighbours then anyone she could remember the address of, down to her piano teacher and a penpal she had stopped writing to years ago. She barely noticed the time passing, and the sun went down as April was still writing goodbye and thank you messages.
Later, when it was dark and everyone else was probably asleep, there was a knock on the window. April only saw a figure outside, but her mind imagined bony fingers rapping on the glass. She felt the freezing cold breeze as the figure opened the window. It stood there, and she knew well enough who he was and that she had to go with him. But there were stamps left to lick, and she had forgotten to write a postcard to her cousin, and she wasn’t going to leave anything unfinished.
As she sorted out the last of the postcards, the figure watched April as she paid him no attention. Out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw him tap his foot on the ground with impatience. She put the cards in a neat pile on the bedside table and walked carefully out of the bed, not having walked for a while.
“Sorry about that,” she said, and let herself be taken away by the figure. It stayed silent, but if it had asked why she was smiling so much, it would have gotten a simple answer. She hadn’t had to wait for death; Death had had to wait for her.