“Not going out for a roll in the grass this morning, Mimi?” Ever stood at the door, on his way out. Hearing that her person was talking to her, she scampered over from her food bowl to him.

  ^Nope, too cold,^ a sort of half-bark and a whine. ^And it rained overnight, so the grass is all wet. No thank you.^

  “OK,” Ever said. He crouched, extending his arms towards the ground. Mimi jumped up and Ever hugged her close, giving her a peck on the top of her head. “I’ll be back tonight. See you then.”

  ^Bye!^ A happy bark and a wag of the tail.

  —--

  When did you start kissing dogs? Death asked.

  *Hello Mentor.* Ever greeted. He made space for a mother as she pushed a pram past, a gurgling baby nestled amongst scarlet, hand-crocheted blankets. *I don’t know, I just felt like it, I guess.*

  Doesn’t Mimi smell?

  *A little bit, but I don't mind.*

  Death was quiet for several minutes while Ever walked the familiar path to work.

  Winter has started.

  *I know.*

  Do you know what that means?

  *That it’s cold?*

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Here have a gold star, Death scoffed. It means that your vacation is halfway done.

  Ever stopped; now it was his turn to be silent. He looked around at the last few houses on the street before he came out onto the main road. A few of them had circular, shrub-like ornaments hanging from the front doors, as well as happy figures crafted from white spheres in the front yard.

  *That was quick.*

  Mmm. In six more months, you’ll be back down here and you’ll take over from me full-time.

  Now that he had passed the busiest of the traffic, Ever took the opportunity to reflect. He felt a lot more comfortable with reapings and was particularly proud of the ones in the last few months. Those faded into the background while the people who had been in his life stepped forward: Logan, his boss, Taylor, the first person he ever met and Zoe, his special person. Together, they had been teaching him what it meant to be human. Would they miss him when he left? Would they remember him?

  *Am I ready, Mentor?* Ever asked.

  You’re progressing well, Death said. You’ve had some more challenging reapings recently. I’ve been impressed with how you’ve thought through them.

  *Will it get harder?*

  It wouldn’t be fun if it stayed this easy now, would it?

  Ever opened the door to Pagoto’s; Death checked out of his mind.

  “Morn…” Ever stopped. That’s strange… there’s something missing.

  “Oh hey, Ever.” Logan greeted, waving jerkily, then gesturing. “I removed it. The bell.” He looked up. Sure enough, there were some holes in the door frame where the bell had been unscrewed.

  “Why did you get rid of it?”

  Logan shifted the weight between his feet. “Tayzer’s left.”

  Ever closed the door, the ghost of the door bell wailing silently.

  “Ever, there’s no easy way of saying this, so I’m just going to come out and say it.”

  Ever regarded his boss, arms by his side.

  “Today will be your last day working here.”