By Your Command
He came bearing flowers, to cover the stench. I was in the middle of writing a story at the kitchen table, and he startled me with his presence. To be fair, I think he would have startled me no matter what.
"It is time," he said.
"Can I make just one more cup of tea? I love it so much."
"There is no time, and you don't get to choose."
"But I'm not ready," I complained.
"No one ever is," he responded.
"Where are you taking me?" I queried, my heart pounding in my ears.
"Nowhere, and everywhere."
"I don't understand."
"Your elements will fertilize the soil of this planet. When your sun finally goes nova and destroys this world with it, those elements will return to the stars and form new worlds. You are neither the beginning nor the ending, but part of the process."
"But where will I go?"
"Nowhere, and everywhere," he responded again cryptically. "It is not for you to know. Now come."
He reached out his hand, and I felt an enormous compulsion to take it. I had barely time to register the coldness of his fingers before the world went completely silent and black.