Death Coach
Location
It is midnight. The streets of Rohan grow still as the people
in the town turn off their lights and head to bed. The night is
pitch black and the wind whispers softly, blowing the trees
and knocking against the window panes of some cottages.
In one house, a woman named Sara sits by her window
waiting for the doctor to arrive. Her beloved husband Ted
lies in his bed next to her. In the light of a single candle,
she cannot see his haggard face.
She could tell that he was in horrible pain, for even the
medicine the doctor presribed could not help him. Sara
clutched his hand in hers, feeling the coldness that crept
through his body. He is barely breathing now. She knows
he is slipping away fast. Part of her is thankful because she
can't bear to see him in so much pain, but the other part
of her wants to scream out in despair begging him not
to leave her.
Outside the house, Sara hears the soft rumble of wheels
turning and the clip clop of horses' hooves echo through the
darkness. She tears her eyes off Ted and looks out the
window, expecting to see the doctor's coach pulling into the
street. Instead, she sees a dark, black coach with big circular
holes where the windows should be. The seats at the front are
empty, yet she can hear the sound of horses' hooves as the
coach slowly moves down the street.
She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. It was the Death
Coach. Ted had told her about it and how it would be coming
for him that night. Sara said there was no such thing. She did
not want to believe him. But there it was, rolling gradually up to
the house to stop by the front gate. The sight terrifies Sara and
she clutches to her husband's hand even tighter than before.
She did not want to let go.
Ted opens his eyes, smiles faintly and tries to squeeze Sara's
hand back. "Is it here?" he asks, his voice barely to a whisper.
She nods. "I love you," he says to his wife. She leans down
and kisses him, barely feeling his last breath upon her. The grip
on her hand loosened. She straightened up, looking sadly at
Ted's lifeless face through her warm tears.
A movement by the door causes her to look up. She sees her
husband's spirit standing by the door. Ted first gazes at his body
and then smiles at her. He turns, walks out the door and down the
stairs. She moves quickly to the window and flings it open, hoping
to see her husband again. He steps out the front door, knowing
Sara is watching. He waves and she waves back, tears still
racing down her face.
Her husband steps into the coach and closes the door behind
him. The Death Coach rumbles back up the street, turns a corner
and then disappears. "Goodbye my love," Sara calls out softly.
Her husband's pain is over, but hers has just begun. With a heavy,
broken heart, she closes the window and heads down the stairs
to call the doctor and tell him that her dear husband is dead.