To Kill a Mockingbird

"It's time," my death leader said to me, "I know you may be nervous now, but you must have patience and faith. Good luck and I hope everything goes as planned."

That was the last thing he said to me before I was ordered to go on earth to find a man, dead, of course, and bring him back with me. Did I mention that this was my first time, and I was insanely nervous? I had been training for this trip for two years, and now the time had finally come.

"Thank you, sir. I will try my best to do everything I was informed." I replied, in a shaky voice.

I was now on my way to Brooklyn, California. He was scheduled to pass away in a car accident at about noon. All I had to do was stand around and wait for the perfect moment to approach him and let him now that he must come with me. The hard part would be getting him to understand that he was dead, and that he must leave Earth. I did not know exactly what I was going to say, but I knew it must be done.

I was standing on the bridge, when I knew the time had come. His car had been speeding by in my direction, screeching off onto the side of the road, where he had been left to die.

"Halloooo," I called over to him, but he did not seem to notice.

I realized that his spirit had now left his body, but it seemed that his mind still believed he was alive.

What I s going on? Does he honestly think he is still alive? "Hallloooo, hallloooooo," I called out again. He looked in my direction with a troubled expression on his face, and began to drive off.

What do I do? This was my first time on the job and I was already letting him get away! I had to chase after him. Maybe if he sees me, he will realize who I am and what I am here for. But that is impossible! How could he know who I am if he does not even realize that he is dead? This was beginning to seem as though it may end up being the worst first experience ever...

He seemed to imagine himself pulling into a deserted gas station, and I knew that this could finally be my chance. "Hello sir," he said to a man working there. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, have you seen any hitchhikers around here lately? I know it seems like a crazy thing to ask, I am just very curious..." Was he talking about me? Did he really think I was a hitchhiker?! He must be CRAZY!

Again, he was running away from me. This is it. I was never going to catch him and he is going to be on earth forever. I will get fired, and later known as the death angel that could not even catch a dead person. I decided to chase after him again, calling "halllloooo!" all the way. I began to really think about what I should do next. It is not his fault that he thinks he is still alive, so maybe I should do something in his human life to realize that he has already left it...

I made a quick trip back to his hometown, where I decide to call his mother and tell her about her son's death.

"Hello, Mrs. Adams. I have some unfortunate news to tell you," I spoke clearly into the phone. "Your oldest son, Ronald Adams, recently got into a car accident on the Brooklyn Bridge, and passed away, I am