*Usually you would take me directly to them.*

  I’m not always going to do that. Did I have a mentor? Sometimes I would spend days looking for a soul.

  *I don’t want to take days.* How much time had passed? Ever had lost track. He was good with hours in a day but still struggled with anything longer.

  Guess you’ve got to think of a way to find him then. With that, he withdrew from Ever’s mind.

  Ever summoned the scythe, floated around and swiped at some of the taller grass. Interestingly, this seemed to tug something translucent out that swished in the direction the scythe was going, before merging back into the grass. Hmm, so plants had souls too?

  He started floating up around, not quite sure where to go. Mount Kragg extended as far as he could see, across and up. Wait - up! Someone like Peter who was a free climber might have felt even freer in death. Granted, it wasn’t the same as being able to feel the ridges in his fingers, but he didn’t have to worry anymore about falling. Maybe that would have meant he could climb to the top even faster.

  Ever floated up, higher and higher. He willed himself to go faster, watching the mountain gradually blur as he kept going. Eventually he got to a point where the mountain did start narrowing. Maybe he’s on his way up. Ever started moving across while still moving up, circling the mountain. He scanned, but there wasn’t any sign of a human - dead or alive.

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  He looked down; from this height, the tops of the trees looked soft. Ever stopped moving, flew away from the mountain - then impulsively turned into his human form.

  “Aaaaaaargh!”

  He plummeted, his stomach in his throat. The world was a blur of rock, light and trees.

  He shifted back to soul form, his descent losing all momentum and the thrill of the fall dissipating straight away. He listened for Death’s rebuke, but none came. OK, no more fun and games. Ever went back against the side of the mountain and pushed as fast as he could up again. He put his hands to his side and legs together, feeling that it made him a bit faster.

  Minutes later, the dying light of the setting sun greeted him. From here, he could see a cluster of buildings in the distance - but only just. He raised his ghostly hand and imagined he was a Titan, holding the city of Melbourne between his thumb and index finger. To think that in that little space he lived his human life scooping ice cream, eating croissants and trying to learn as much as he could about these beings whose souls it was his responsibility to shepherd.

  He looked around once more. There were no souls to reap up here. There weren’t even any birds, which were so loud and plentiful in the park he arrived on Earth at.

  Up here, he was alone.