3.

It is always a strange thing, and it can be a surreal and disorienting thing to all of a sudden find yourself somewhere that you never have been before. It can also be a strange and even a funny thing sometimes as to how we readily accept the fact that we are in that new place despite the fact that we have no recollection of how it is that we came to be there.

Benjamin walks down a footpath along a wide-open street, a street he does not recognize. There is greenery either side of the street with groupings of trees off in the distance, people are scarce, scattered here and there, and activity in general is a bit on the quiet side. It is warm and bright with a cool breeze flowing. Benjamin does not question anything and that includes the fact that just one minute ago he was not in this place and now he is.

There is nothing in particular to be weary of, well not until the sound of barking returns. Initially the barking sounds like it did before but on closer inspection it is nothing like that previous occasion. A small white poodle like dog is barking on the far side of the street and this dog seems to be paying particular attention to Ben. For the first time, Ben begins to wonder about this place he has come to find himself in.

A car passes in between Benjamin and the dog who is still barking away. He sees a young boy looking out from the back seat of the car while playing with whatever toy it is that he has brought with him. The vehicle picks up speed even though it is coming close to an intersection. Ben sees it all, every split second of it. The car that had passed him is creamed by a much larger vehicle coming from the right-side heading towards the left-side just as that intersection is met.

There is no way that Benjamin is just going to stand right there where he is and do nothing. He quickly makes his way to that accident, if it is an accident that he has witnessed. The car bonnet is crushed, the windscreen is heavily cracked. The door on the driver's side does not open and neither does the passenger side door. A door does open from the back. The boy calls out for his mum who is the vehicle driver. She is initially unconscious but soon comes too.

'It's alright kid; we'll get you and your mum out of here, OK?'

The kid continues to call for his mum. She turns back to see him the best that she can. Her forehead is bleeding, the right side of her body is bleeding, and her legs are trapped with the car being as badly crushed at the front as it is. Benjamin struggles to try and free the mother; smoke begins to appear from the bonnet, still the struggle continues with trying to free the mother.

'Take my son' she manages to say with great difficulty.

There are a number of smells and each of them are strengthening with each passing second. Fuel is leaking and when Ben checks he is able to see this. Time is running out. The engine is burning. Ben is out of options. From within the car, he sees it ... BANG ... he feels it ... the searing heat ... the burning explosion ...

... He awakes to an almost complete darkness, sweating profusely and struggling to catch his own breath. Benjamin Myers is at home in his own bed. Was he dreaming? It felt as real to him as anything he has ever experienced. The smell, the feeling, the intensity, the fear, and even to touch, recent events have brought this on and there is no doubt about that. Ben sits to one side of his bed and refuses to let his mind wander for much more than a moment or two.

Even though a new day is only just beginning, tiredness is getting the better of Benjamin. He feels as if no amount of coffee can kick start his day though it would be something else entirely that would actually kick start his day. Following up on a tip for a story Ben has brought himself to an area of town he has not been to before though maybe in some way he has been there before.

Benjamin walks down a footpath along a wide-open street with plenty of greenery either side of this street. There are groupings of trees off in the distance and people are scarce, scattered here and there, and activity in general is a bit on the quiet side. It is warm and bright with a cool breeze flowing. There is barking on the far side of the street.

This is not a place he would usually come to if he has even been here before but there is something about the place and there is reason for him to have come, perhaps there is more just the one reason.

'A small white poodle' Ben speaks to himself a second or so before that exact dog catches his eye, as if he has experienced this moment before. 'What the hell is going on here?'

Ben begins to question that tip that has brought him to this particular part of town. Soon, a car passes in between Benjamin and the dog that is still barking away. He sees a young boy looking out from the back seat of the car and the boy plays with whatever toy it is that he has brought with him. This is all too familiar.

The vehicle picks up speed even though it is coming close to an intersection. Ben sees it all, every split second of it though he has begun to run to where he needs to be before it happens. The car that had passed him is creamed by a much larger vehicle coming from a right to left side at that intersection.

If indeed what he experienced before was some sort of premonition, even one which may have been purposely given to him, then this time around things have to be different, they need to be different. Benjamin heads straight for the bonnet area of the car and quickly comes to the conclusion that any attempt to prevent fire is futile and attempting to get in through the front of the car also becomes apparently futile.

His next thought is to get the boy out of the car. Ben does this, moving as quickly as he can. Before he can make an attempt to return to the car ... it explodes, the leaking fuel had caught fire. The previous occasion, when premonition or some sort of alternate reality had taken him, the boy did not survive, neither did Ben.

Ben is knocked backward and onto the ground with the force of this occasion's explosion; there is nothing more he can do for the boy's mother. That heat, the flames, the desperation, his mind begins to take him elsewhere. He is in two places at once, on the ground only feet away from a burning car, a burning car which has claimed the life of a mother and he is also standing at home in the company of a visitor who has come for him.

'It is like this' explains the man. 'Everything has an opposite. For every negative there is a positive, for every yang there is a ying, dawn arrives after each night and dust comes to claim life every day. Something has brought you light when the dark was looming. Death darkens, life brightens ... you have a new role if you want it ... your own life will benefit and extend from acceptance ... don't question it ... embrace it.'

Two places return to one. There is a lot more to this moment than being knocked to the ground by an explosion. Benjamin soon catches himself and sits, feeling helpless. He sees the young boy standing at the side of the street with tears flowing down his cheeks. The boy is also gripping tightly that toy he had brought with him. Yeah, he has his life but his mother is gone. Ben gets up and moves right over to that boy and takes him by the hand.

4.

A day passes and Benjamin unwillingly heads to the workplace office building, his place of employment. With all that has been going on and especially with that car accident, Ben does not want to be doing anything in particular. He is greeted as a hero by co-staff members though Ben does not quite see things the way others do. Yeah, a boy is alive because of his actions but the boy's mother is dead.

Ben moves to a window close by his desk and sees something outside that he was hoping not to see again so soon, if anything it is a sight with which he was hoping he would not ever see again but deep down he knew that he wasn't going to get away from it so soon. All this, whatever it is, is not done yet, not by a long shot.

What Ben could see outside and standing on the ground a few stories down from where it is he currently is, is more of a who rather than a what, obviously enough it is safe to say that this who is that tall thin man in dark clothing wearing an unusual trench coat and a dark Fedora.

'Aw crap' Ben speaks to himself just as this tall thin man looks up and right at him.

Ben turns around and as soon as he catches sight of his visitor looking back up at him. The tall thin man soon is inside the building and not all that far away from where Ben stands. Glass panels separate most enclosed areas within this building, so it is clear to see people who are a couple hundred feet away. Quickly glancing back out that window there is no one at all outside within Benjamin's line of vision.

How did this man get up here so quick? How could Ben forget? His visitor literally is death itself. Escape is foremost on Ben's mind. This man, Death, has said before that he was coming for Ben and there is the possibility that the premonition that he had, if that really was what it was and is, was a foretelling of Benjamin's own death.

There is nowhere to run, there is nowhere to hide. Death is physically coming. For a second Ben considers heading out that office window but this thought doesn't last long, it is too high up, his own life has not been extended just so he can take it himself. Jumping to a possible death is something he in no way fancies.

Moving away from the window and towards the far end of the room, Benjamin does not get far for he is soon confronted.

'Leaving so soon? You do realize that you cannot escape death.'

'Aw crap' speaks Ben for a second time in a matter of seconds.

'You should know that you have nothing to fear, not just yet anyway. I am here to finalize our deal, or have you forgot what I said last time we, or rather I, spoke? If you would like to head over to your desk we can get through the details.'

Ben does begin to move towards his desk but does so cautiously, making sure that he is not touched in any way by his companion, only to find his companion already there sitting in Ben's own seat.

'So, I can take it that my recent experience as a whole is down to you.'

'You can say that, but it is not entirely true. You understand that whole ying and yang message, right?'

'Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything. That woman, she died and there was nothing I could have done about it.'

'You were not there to save that woman.'

'Then what is the point?'

'That boy, he is alive and that is down to you.'

'But he has to grow up now without his mother.'

'Better that then not grow up at all. He will be fine. Losing a loved one is always difficult, but life is always worth living. You may think that in my line of business that I am unsympathetic but that cannot be further than the truth. What we have here is an opportunity, an opportunity for you to work as my opposite. When my work interferes with lives that have many more years to run, then you will be there to ensure that what is meant to go on does go on.'

'This is not an easy thing to consider.'

'You are right, it isn't. Think of it this way, you will be a hero even if it may not always feel that you are, and it will also aid you with your day job. There will be plenty of stories for you to write for your newspaper. You can and do hold a light in the palms of your hands. There is no rush for a decision right now, you can take some time to think things over as for now I have places to go and people to see ... by the way your acceptance increases the longevity of your own life. You were next on my list not all so long ago ...'

With that the tall thin man stands, nods then disappears. It is at this point that Benjamin notices something on his desk which is addressed to him. It is a card made by a ten-year-old boy, a card made to thank Ben for all that he has done. No thinking is necessary, a decision has been made. Death may be all around, but life is eternal.