When I woke up the next morning, it was all at once and I was wide awake. That just didn’t happen, not to me, not to anyone. Being able to think as clearly as if I’d been awake for hours this early in the morning brought back the edge of the day before. I didn’t feel any different, it was like I hadn’t slept at all. I checked the digital clock several times just to make sure I had actually slept. Every time only confirmed that I had.

I didn’t move from the position I’d woken up in, which was the same as I’d fallen asleep in, and felt incredibly weird. I stayed put and waited for the dream to end so that I could wake up and have life be normal again. That never happened. Instead, I was forced out of bed by a sickening, twisting feeling in my stomach.

“Albert,” called a girl’s singsong voice. A girl that looked a little older than me burst into the room. She had long dark curly hair and her face looked so excited. Just at first sight I could tell she was the kind of girl that any guy would instantly consider attractive. Under normal circumstances I would have laughed at the stupidity of the situation, unfortunately circumstances were not normal. Her appearance made me jump, which didn’t bode well with my already agitated stomach.

“I made you breakfast...” Her announcement was cut short as I made a mad dash past her and to the bathroom. I couldn’t tell but I may have knocked her over in my haste.

The second I saw porcelain I hit the floor and lost it. Luckily I’d slid enough to avoid a mess, but I didn’t really care much, I was more preoccupied by the burning in my throat and my watering eyes. Whenever I was sick I did my best to avoid throwing up, even if it meant keeping the sick feeling inside. This, though, was not something I could have avoided and I was very glad it was out of my system.

“Ugh, roast beef...” I groaned over the porcelain.

“I guess you’re not too interested in eating my breakfast then?” The girl asked as she walked into the bathroom. “Even after I spent all morning on it?”

“You,” I fumbled around for something to defend myself with and grabbed the first thing I touched. “Who are you?” She sighed like I should know.

“My name is Hope.” I glared at her.

“That doesn’t answer anything.” I grumbled.

“Death figured you were having problems since you didn’t get anything done yesterday, so he sent me to help with your... er, stress.” I glared at her. I had a little more freedom to contemplate the stupidity of her appearance now. “I’m also his daughter if that changes anything.” My glare faltered, she was a crafty one. If I offended her it was as bad as offending her father. I’d be dead in seconds. I was probably lucky to still be alive.

“I’m sure he was mistaken, I’m fine.” I threw up again. I didn’t have a rebuttal for her glare.

“Now that your stomach’s empty it looks like you have plenty of room for my breakfast, because I’m not eating alone.”

I dropped the plunger I’d grabbed in my defense, almost positive there was nothing left in my stomach, and tentatively followed her to the kitchen. I don’t know how I missed it before, but the apartment was filled with the aroma of bacon that overpowered the more subtle smells of eggs, pancakes, and other foods I usually loved. All of the food was laid out on the small dining room table and covered almost all of it. It would have been one of the most magnificent sights of my life if I hadn’t just thrown up. The lingering taste of stomach acid in my mouth was diminishing my hunger, but I would at least try to eat.

She stopped in front of the table and I waited dumbly behind her.

“Well?” She asked impatiently. “Sit!” I sat down hastily and put a few strips of bacon and a piece of toast on my plate, then added a fried egg to make it look like I was eating more than I really was. I had no intention of offending Death’s daughter. I checked carefully over my shoulder to see her expression, I wanted to know just how much food it would take to make her happy. She was already headed to a seat across the table and filling up a plate as she went.

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“Eh... Hope?” I finally asked.

“Yeah?” Her reply was muffled by a full mouth. She seemed intent to eat whatever I wasn’t going to.

“If, you’re Death’s daughter, then aren’t you... you know... Dead?”

“Why would you ask that?” The food she had been chewing fell out of her mouth as she replied. She didn’t seemed to mind that it looked gross, and I only kind of did. The bigger problem was that I got the feeling that I’d offended her, which was not good. “Do I look dead? Is my skin getting pale? Is my soul showing?” Each question was made with a more exasperated voice. I’d definitely just tripped over a giant hornet’s nest made of female insecurity and whatever it was people like Death and Hope called themselves. It didn’t look like a good mix.

“I was just wondering.” I blurted out. “I mean you’re eating and stuff, and your dad’s Death and isn’t Death... like, dead? I mean he’s creepy and stuff but he looked alive when I saw him. I’m not really even sure if that entire encounter was real though. He locked me in a room without a door...and... and...” I was running out of breath and having a hard time putting it back in.

Hope reached across the table and smacked me across the face. It took me a second to catch my breath after that.

“Are you done?” Hope sighed. She'd calmed down a bit at my hasty cover up.

“Yes,” I said, breathing in deeply. “Thank you for...wh...”

“No problem, I’ve actually always wanted to do that.”

“Speaking of what it is that you do...” I paused, I had a feeling I was about to ask a question I probably didn’t want to hear the answer to. “I know your dad sent you because I was having some trouble, but what are you supposed to do? Or was breakfast it?”

“Well,” Hope started, taking in a deep breath. “When my dad makes contracts he usually likes to keep an eye on the contractee, especially in cases like yours. He wants them to stay focused so things don’t end blo... badly.” I gave her a look, I knew she saw it, but she went on like she hadn’t. “You see, if you don’t complete your end of the contract before it expires or is otherwise canceled, your soul will dissipate and dad can’t collect. I’m just supposed to keep you focused.”

“So your dad, Death, sent you to keep me focused?” I asked, it all sounded so weird. I still had trouble believing I was talking about Death, the actual person, as in the Grim Reaper. After that milestone though, I was having trouble believing the actual premise of Hope’s “assignment”. Sending a girl to keep a guy focused on something other than said girl did not sound logical. In fact, it sounded like the most unlikely thing to occur. Then I remembered who I was: the one guy who would actually be kept focused on my work in the presence of a girl... or somewhere along those lines.

“Well, he didn’t exactly order me to come here.” She seemed hesitant to go further with the idea so I prodded her along with a questioning look. “I kind of... begged.” That confused me, more than anything else that had happened yet. I gave her another, more confused, questioning look.

“Well I didn’t do it for you.” Hope grumbled. “It’s just so boring at home, nothing to do. Everyone is so boring and I haven’t really been around normal people in ages. I thought it’d be a nice change of scenery, so I begged for permission to leave.”

“And Death let you leave if you helped me?”

“Yeah...”

“So... you’re using me.” The words were out before I even realized that I'd been thinking them.

“Yes.” She didn’t seem bothered by how offensive that was. “In the nicest way possible of course.” Her addition wasn’t fixing anything.

“Joke’s on you then, my life is likely doubly as boring as your life.” I laughed dryly. “In fact I don’t doubt that it’s the very epitome of boring. Looks like your dad has a good sense of humor.”

“Not for long though.” Hope hummed. Her smile was mischievous and for a second I could see her standing next to a true Grim Reaper and smiling as he tugged along a chain of bound souls. Her smile stopped my dry laughter immediately.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She just laughed. “That’s not funny.”

“Well, my job here includes a little more than keeping you focused...” She tipped my chin up with the tips of her fingers. They were ice cold. That didn’t exactly register though. She was toying with me.

“I don’t think I’ll like where this is going...”

“Relax Albert, it’s not that bad. What I’m getting at is that it’s my job to help you get inspired. To help you think... help you experience things you wouldn’t be able to given the time limit.” If it were possible to be more terrified than before, I was. The smile she wore had dangerous written all over it. It could also have just been that she was a girl, talking to a girl would have normally frozen me solid. There was something different about her though, I wasn’t just feeling fear, my fear was giving me a clear and simple message to get out while I still could.