Somewhere in the congested streets of an overpopulated, filthy Indian town, sad and anguished cries fill up the atmosphere. The sun has just woken up from its nightly slumber but that doesn't deter a crowd from gathering in front of an old but well-maintained house. The scene is simply surreal. The dead body of a middle-aged man lies in the courtyard. He may seem to be in a peaceful sleep on first look but the cotton filling his nostrils and the incense burning near his body prove the ultimate truth.

However, his relatives aren't ready to accept this. Some plead to nobody in particular to take the man to a hospital: "His body is still warm. He may still have few breaths left." The saddest cries emanate from an old lady, who is probably the man's mother. She can't quite believe how god can be so unfair to her when she has been so devoted in her prayers. She slaps herself and asks where she went wrong from a god, who probably has turned his deaf ears towards her.

An old man frantically shakes a bamboo fan near the dead body. At first it may seem as an affectionate gesture from a father who is trying to soothe his son's departing soul. Observers think he has obviously gone mad with grief for doing so. But the fanning has a purpose. He is trying to blow away the warmth remaining in his son's body so that it finally becomes cold and his wife can accept that this nightmare is real.

In the middle of all this, we find a child. He is looking everywhere except the dead body. He watches the passers-by go away without throwing a single look towards the mourning house, ignoring the heart-wrenching screams as if death can't touch them or their families. He looks at his cousins whose father left them with an uncertain future. But most of all, he observes his mother who cries out, "Please god, take me but give back my brother." The child wonders what will happen to him if this exchange deal really happens.

The child spots a line of ants winding through the feet of the crowd. He is bored of the proceedings of the funeral and decides to follow the ants. He pushes through people's legs, not caring about the direction in which he is going. After walking for about 5 minutes he finds the ants' target. It's a butterfly lying on the road. The child sits down on his haunches and stares at it. It is beautiful, with heart-shaped wings and a myriad assortment of colors, but dominated by black and orange. However, its wings are fluttering feebly and the butterfly didn't fly away as it saw the child approach. The child doesn't pick it up. He decides it will be more interesting to see what the ants do to it. Soon, the ants arrive. They cut off the wings first and then slowly, part-by-part, cut off the butterfly's abdomen. They carry it away until there's nothing left. The child watches all this with a weird sort of amazement in his eyes.

The child stands up rather suddenly. He feels a little woozy from the head-rush and looks around for a place to sit. He spots a swing set in a little park close by. In these early hours of the day, the park is deserted so the child doesn't bother to go through the gate. Instead, he scrambles through a gap in the hedges which act as walls for the park. He plops down on one of the swings and starts staring off into empty space. Slowly, the tears come.

"Hey there, kid. What are you doing in a deserted park all alone, crying your eyes out?"

The child quickly snuffs out his tears but stays quiet.

"Kid, is everything okay?"

The child now looks up at the new arrival. It is a very peculiar man. Not that he has alien features, one eye missing or anything. But still he is not quite human. He is clad in a coal-black suit with a black shirt, a black tie and black trousers. He has dense, black hair and a goatee. But his most disturbing aspect are his eyes. They seem to be sucking light around their surroundings instead of radiating it. In fact, his whole body emits a dark aura and light seems to vanish from the area into which he moves. He has a timeless face. He could be 25 or 50 years old, both at the same time.

Suddenly, the child realizes that he has been staring at the man for an inappropriate amount of time. He looks down and replies, "I am not supposed to talk to strangers. Especially weird ones." He adds rather cheekily.

"By hell, I am no stranger kid. In fact, I am one of the oldest being in this universe. I am the Death Reaper", declares the Reaper in a self-important way. His jovial manner doesn't suit his dark demeanor.

"The Death Reaper, hmm..." the child wonders. "What does a Death Reaper do?"

The Reaper is aghast at the little child's ignorance. "I guide souls to the Purgatory", answers the Reaper again with a touch of pomp. The child falls silent. The Reaper ventures to break it.

"So child, why were you crying?"

"My uncle died today. And, uh ..."

The Reaper interrupts. "Ah, speak no more child. I understand your pain more than anyone else." So, he starts his long speech on life and death, reincarnation etc. He pours out all his wisdom gathered during eons of his life.

Eventually, the child's patience grows thin and he scowls at the Reaper. "I was not crying because my uncle died, you stupid old fool. I was crying because I didn't feel anything after seeing my dead uncle. I don't feel loss like my cousins. I don't feel grief like my grandmother. I am not anguished like my mother. In fact, I wonder what all the fuss is about". The child's eyes go wide suddenly, as if in realization. "I am ... I am a monster." The child cries hysterically and starts running towards the gap in the hedge, probably to go home to the comfort of his mother.

The Reaper is stunned. He has an amused expression. He darts forward to block the child. He makes it before the child reaches the gap (which is a rather quick movement compared to a human). "Sorry child, I can't let you go back there."

"Why?" asks the child with streaming eyes. He spots a gap between the Reaper's legs and crawls under him and through the hedge. What he sees in front of him, he can't comprehend.

Hismangled body lies on the spot where the dying butterfly had been taken apart.