The Man Who Asked For More Time

Lou Bookman woke up suddenly startled by a loud knock on his door. It took him some time to collect himself. He had dozed off on the armchair still in his work clothes, white shirt and black trousers, while watching the television with the remote in his left hand and a plastic cup in his right hand that was filled with some cheap liquor not a long while ago but was now empty. Lou hadn’t been actually watching but just surfing through the channels because there was no better thing to do. The room was dimly lit and smelt like it hadn’t been opened since a long time. Even the window on the left wall was closed. The dark night sky was visible through the murky glass pane in the window. The only furniture in the room other than the armchair was a folding bed on one corner and a small wooden cupboard on the opposite one. The bathroom and the kitchen attached to the room were also quite small just like the room. It was clearly a house that wasn’t planned to accommodate any visitors. There was a distant sound of vehicles coming from the streets. The television was still on and some young guy in a suit was talking about the benefits of having a life insurance on it. “…because there is no guarantee of life and misfortune never comes knocking…”

The door was knocked again.

Lou checked the time on the wall clock. It was 11:50. Lou wondered who it could be at such a time.

Lou had to exert some effort in getting up. His 56 years old body was tired and not in a very healthy state. Added to that was the effect of the liquor, cheap, but effective. Between his getting up and reaching the door, it was knocked again, this time louder than before.

“Who the hell is it at this ungodly hour? I swear to God, if you knock again I’m gonna kill you,” Lou grumbled.

He opened the door and found a man standing at the door wearing a white shirt and a grey suit with his hands in his pockets, smiling at him. The man looked like in his forties but had little bit of white hair on the sides.

“What the hell do you want?” Lou asked.

“You are Lou Bookman, aren’t you?” the man asked, his face still holding that smile that was starting to irritate Lou.

“Yeah, I am Lou Bookman. What do you want?”

“Nothing. I am just here to take you with me.”

“Take me? Take me where?”

“Why, of course, the other side!” the man replied.

“What do you mean by the other side?” Lou was baffled. “Who are you? What the hell are you talking about?” he asked.

“Oh! Don’t you understand? I am Death. I have come to take you.” 

Lou just looked at the man for some time. He felt so furious at that moment that he wanted to punch the man in the face. But instead, he composed himself and said in the politest tone he could manage in that rage, “Sir, whoever you are, I would request you to please go away right now. It’s not funny to prank someone at midnight.”

“But Mr. Bookman, I’m not joking. This is a grave matter,” the man said.

“Okay, goodnight,” Lou said as he closed the door on the man’s face. “What a fucking asshole! Trying to be funny at midnight.” 

Lou locked the door and turned around and was nearly shocked to death seeing the man he had just left outside the door sitting on his armchair.

“What the actual fuck!” Lou shouted.

The man just smiled and said in a calm voice, “You know Mr. Bookman, you people really amuse me. You spend your lives always knowing that such a day would come eventually, but you are never ready for it.”

“You… you… are really D… Death?” Lou said as he realized his heart was pounding and his legs were shaking.

“Live in front of you,” Death laughed at his own little joke.

“But I’m not dead. Am I?” Lou said and felt his body with his hands. He was half expecting his hands to pass through his body. He was somewhat relieved to find it still solid.

“Not yet,” Death said.

“What do you mean ‘not yet’?”

“Well, it means that you are not dead as of yet but are going to be in…” Death lifted his arm and checked his wrist watch. “… precisely, seven minutes. Don’t worry. It’ll be painless. You’ll die in your sleep.”

“Seven minutes? That’s it?” Lou rather told himself, than ask Death. “It feels so strange, knowing I am gonna go just like that. And being visited by Death! It’s so… You don’t look like what I expected. But I’m not sure of what I expected, really.”

“Well, what did you expect? A black hood and a scythe? Will you like me better that way? I can go change if you want,” Death said. Lou laughed at that. He was coming to terms with the reality.

“So, where am I going? Heaven or hell?” Lou asked.

“Where do you want to go?” Death asked him back.

“Do we have a choice?” Lou asked with a surprised curiosity.

“Not actually. I just wanted to hear your response. I’ve been doing this since such a long time and I have never really met one single person who wanted to go to hell, even though he knew he deserved it. But you see, Mr. Bookman, heaven and hell are concepts created by man to define his own path that leads to a destination.”

“So, you are saying that there are no heaven or hell?”

“I don’t know. My job is only to lead you to the other side. I don’t know what’s on the other side because I have never been there. There could be heaven, there could be hell, for all I know, there could be a McDonald’s or… there could be nothing,” Death said.

This made Lou shudder. Even going to hell wouldn’t have been so scary as the thought of oblivion was to him. The fear of death overpowered him.

“I don’t want to die,” Lou said. 

“No one does,” Death replied.

“But, you see, I… I have work to do, things to achieve,” Lou said. He decided he wouldn’t go so easy without a fight.

“You are just a salesman Mr. Bookman, not an astrophysicist. You have no major goals, nor are you going to achieve something incredibly significant.”

“But what about my loved ones?” Lou asked. He was running out of excuses.

“You were divorced 15 years ago. Your ex-wife hates you and even your daughter doesn’t talk to you anymore. You have no friends either. No one is going to miss you much, Mr. Bookman. I’m actually really sorry to say that.”

“But I don’t want to go. Mr. Death, can’t you, by any chance, give me some more time, please?” Lou begged. He was at his wit’s end.

“More time? You really want more time?” Death asked.

“Yes, please,” Lou said.

Death stood up and walked around the room for some time. He seemed to ponder over something. Lou looked at Death in anticipation. Finally, Death turned towards Lou and said in a casual tone, “Okay.”

“What! Really?” Lou was surprised. He hadn’t expected this.

“Yeah. You can have more time.”

“But… that’s it?”

“Yeah. You just have to ask.”

“Thank you, Mr. Death. Thank you,” Lou said as he cried tears of joy.

“But, Mr. Bookman, there is one condition,” Death said.

“Anything you say,” Lou said in his joy.

“The time you spend living from now on is borrowed time. You can only have more time by taking the time from other people.”

“What do you mean?” Lou asked wiping his tears.

“Since you are not going to die, but in your place, other people will. That’s the rule. And it’s your job to lead these people, whom you have borrowed time from, to the other side. You see, everyone needs to find a replacement for himself.”

“What? How?” Lou was startled by what he heard.

“Don’t worry. I will show you how. I’ll guide you,” Death said assuring Lou.

“Okay. I don’t understand but… okay,” Lou said.

“You will, soon.”

Suddenly in an instant, Lou found himself not in his dimly lit room, but in a bright one. He could see an old woman on a bed and some people crying around her. Death was standing beside Lou. Lou soon realised he was in a hospital room.

“Her time is up. Go, get her,” Death said to Lou who was still confused but he decided to follow his instructions.

Lou walked up to the old woman. The other people in the room didn’t seem to realise the presence of Lou or Death. Only the old woman, who now stood near her bed, could see Lou walking towards her.

“Come with me,” Lou said to her.

“Just one second,” the woman said. She turned towards the people still crying in the room, looked at them for one last time, then turned towards Lou and said, “I’m ready.”

Lou suddenly realised that he knew all about her, her name, her date of birth, everything about her. But he couldn’t remember Death telling him all that information. It seemed as if Lou knew all that since forever.

Lou walked towards Death and she followed him. In the next moment, Lou found himself along with Death and the old woman in front of a door. It looked like a normal wooden door but Lou couldn’t see anything around it. There was nothing except a bright light everywhere and in between stood that wooden door. 

“Is that the way to the other side?” Lou asked Death. Death nodded. Lou turned towards the old lady and told her to walk through the door. Death just silently observed Lou.

“That was easy,” Lou said after the woman had walked through. “She was quite old. She had a pretty good life.” Death just smiled at him.

Another moment and Lou again found himself transported to a different location. This time on a highway. He could see a young man lying on the road, bleeding. A bike lay nearby at the side of the road totally damaged by some great impact. A car was driving away in a high speed. Death was standing behind Lou. Lou realized what was he here for. He turned towards Death and said, “But he’s so young.”

“Doesn’t matter. His time is up,” Death said firmly.

“But… there could be other people we can take,” Lou said.

“You don’t get to choose who dies, Mr. Bookman. You are not the judge of that.”

“But there are better choices. Old people who have lived their lives, or… or evil people, murderers, rapists…people we can…”

“I don’t think you understand well enough. Your only job is to guide a soul to the other side. It’s not your job to choose who dies and who lives. In an ideal world, no one would have to die. There would be no job for either of us. But, you see, this is not an ideal world, this is not a perfect world, but, this is a world with a balance. Today you take someone young, tomorrow you’ll take someone old. Today you take an innocent, tomorrow you will take a sinner. Death is fair to one and all. It doesn’t differentiate between good or bad, rich or poor, young or old. It’s just and the only thing that makes everyone equal,” Death said.

Lou listened patiently to Death and realized Death was right. He was about to turn towards the young man bleeding on the road when Death said, “I think now you have learnt and understood everything you need. Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Bookman. There is no ‘we’ in this. All these people you take, all these souls, they are your responsibilities. I told you. Everyone needs to find a replacement for himself. You asked for more time. And you shall have it.” Saying this, Death vanished. Lou looked around. He was startled. Death was gone. And then, Lou realized the truth, he realized that he had got what he asked for but not in the way he expected. Lou accepted the truth and turned towards the young man on the road who now stood looking around, confused.

“Are you Robert Parrish?” Lou asked the man.

“Yes. But what happened? Who are you?” the man asked.

“I am Death.”

Author's Note:- This story is inspired from one of my favourite episodes from The Twilight Zone, 'One for the Angels' directed by Robert Parrish and written by Rod Serling.