9

It is finally time. 9 hours ago he had woken in his bed. Now I, the Grim Reaper, finally take his soul. And he has given me a list of fresh souls to take later today…

Morning

His eyes slowly opened to the morning light shining in through his window. Yawning, he slowly lifted the covers and turned to glance at the clock. 9:00 AM.

“Shit,” he whispered. He turned on his back and looked up at the white staccato ceiling. “Late again.”

He rose from the bed and entered his bathroom to prepare for his shower.

Donning his business jacket with the name tag declaring his name to be Alexander Reaper, he made his morning sandwich. Cheese and bacon, his daily breakfast, usually followed by a small glass of water. This was his breakfast.

“Time to go to hell,” Alex said as he dropped his dishes into the sink and started out the door to his Ford Mustang ’08. He sat in the driver’s seat and placed the non-existent keys into the ignition.

Then it hit him: he had no Ford Mustang, nor did he have the keys for it. The car he sat in transformed into a KIA Spectra ’03. He found the keys to this car in his left pocket. He entered them into the ignition and started the engine.

His license plate read 666IZ9.

Traffic

His nine minute drive to work became a one and a half hour wait to go to the exit which was only 1.9 miles away. He was stuck on highway 589, sitting behind a sea of stalled cars.

He honked at several cars, only to be returned with a symphony of beeps and horns from small cars and large trucks. He check his car clock. It read 11:09 AM.

“Goddamn it,” he yelled. “I’m probably gonna get fired.”

Nineteen minutes later he reached his exit.

His exit was number 9.

Arrival

When Alex entered the work building, his boss was already waiting for him.

“Late again, Alex,” she said. She handed him a slip of paper. “Don’t let it happen one more time.”

He took the paper. It was a “LAST NOTICE” slip with many reasons on why he shouldn’t be late again. He scoffed and crunched the paper into his pocket.

Alex made his way to his cubicle and sat down. His friend and coworker, Daniel Harding, laughed.

“What?” Alex smiled.

“That bitch needs to get some,” Daniel replied. “She is way too uptight.”

Alex logged into his computer.

His computer is registered as number 9.

Notes

Alex took the slip out of his pocket and put it on his desk. It seemed…strange. Different. He took it and read it. It looked normal except for that the bottom it had an arrow. He turned it over and read Write the names of 9 people you know. On the bottom it read When you are done, wait nine minutes and go to the bathroom.

It was probably a joke, but he didn’t want to spoil the fun. He wrote the names down.

Daniel Harding

Leyla Castille (Boss)

Kayla Samsung

Sam Frederick

Dave Mender

Jamie River

Kyle Ninestrung

Kevin Forlain

Levi Ronalds

These were all employees at Alex’s work.

His work’s name was 9 Lives Online Poker.

Encounter

After nine minutes he entered the bathroom, staring at the glass. He went to the wall opposite the door and waited there.

Nine minutes later a man dressed in a black suit with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped into the bathroom. He approached Alex.

“Do you have the list?” he asked in a monotonous voice. Alex held it up.

“What do you need it for?” Alex retorted.

“You don’t need to know.”

Alex handed him the slip and exited the bathroom. He returned to the cubicle.

The man left the bathroom nine minutes later.

Lunch

He went to Subway for lunch. Daniel ordered a footlong while Alex ordered a 6 inch. They sat down outside.

“Did you finish the report?” Daniel asked. Alex’s eyes widened quickly.

“Ah, no! I forgot!” he yelled. People around them looked at the ranting man.

“Spent too much time in the bathroom, hunh?”

“I guess. Something weird happened.” Alex said.

“What?”

“There was this guy…”

Feet from them, a man in a black suit with blonde hair was hit by a speeding truck.

They were on 9th Avenue.

Revelation

“What the hell?” Alex shouted when he saw the blonde man get struck by the truck.

“What’s wrong dude?” Daniel asked.

“That guy! The one that got hit by the truck! That’s him?”

“What guy?” Daniel began to think Alex was crazy.

“The guy! The one in the middle of the street! The blonde one!” Alex cried out.

“There is no guy!” Daniel said. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I…nothing.”

“Let’s get out of here. Take the rest of the day off.” Daniel said.

“Okay.” Alex calmly declared. “I’m gonna go home.”

Daniel paid the bill.

It was exactly 9 dollars.

Demise

It was 5:58 PM when Alex came into the driveway. He exited the car and threw the keys at the bush. He retrieved the keys to the front door from under the welcome mat and entered his house.

It had taken him 3-and-a-half hours to get home because of damn traffic.

He entered the kitchen and prepared the oven so he could cook his dinner. He set it on 9 minutes as he threw a Digorno’s pizza into it.

When his alarm clock reached 6:00 PM, it went off. Alex hit the snooze button. His whole house exploded in a ball of fire.

His address was 6669, Nine Street.

Grim

The blonde man with the black suit exited his black Ford Mustang and stared at the rubble.

His license plate number was 666IS9.

10

Revelations and demises are not yet complete. The nine others must be erased. Those nine souls delivered by the 9th messenger himself will feel the wrath of the reaper.

Alex Reaper died on September 9th, 2009. 9/9/09.