Day 9—Death and Nana Marie

It spoke to Nana Marie in a language she did not recognize. Some people said it was Armenian. Others said Assyrian. He had no wings, like they suspected. The entity was tall, and you could never see its face. The tone of its voice was lower, but sometimes a light tenor, sounding like a human woman. The efforts to keep it away had been nullified. The cigarettes and red meat suddenly weren’t working anymore. The time had come.

“Why are you not time instead?” Nana Marie asked. The being kept speaking that strange language so she said “Ok, fine” and started hesitantly speaking the Italian she remembered. The being laughed, and continued on in the same fashion. Then it started to sound like the being was speaking West African patois. “What is going on?” said Nana Marie. “What is going on!!!” shouted Nana Marie. Death spat out its gibberish. Nana Marie imitated its language. Death grabbed Nana Marie and growled into her ear “I AM TAKING AWAY ALL YOUR CIGARETTES.” Well now the game was on. Nana Marie picked up one of her antique wooden chairs in utter fury. “DON’T TELL A GODDAMN ITALIAN  GREAT-GRANDMOTHER YOU ARE TAKING AWAY HER CIGARETTES!!!!!!!” She swung with inhuman strength and hit the side of its body. She kicked; she punched. She shook her angry fist in its face.

She grabbed it by the collarbone: “Nobody tells Nana Marie when it’s her time. NOBODY. Now you gonna bounce out of here like a basketball or am I gonna call the cops on you? Or maybe choke you until you pass out, first?” Its tone had certainly changed to frantic and it stumbled to its feet. She grabbed a kitchen knife: “You gonna leave or am I GONNA CALL THE COPS ON YOU??” She finally raised her voice once more. The entity was certainly confused at this point. It didn’t seem to want to speak any additional English or any other language she could have possibly comprehended. Politely, slowly, the entity sidestepped out of her threshold and closed the front door to her apartment gingerly.


Nana Marie took up a fresh pack of cigarettes. “That’ll teach them. If there’s anything the church was wrong about, it was death.”

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