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‘On its own, a soul will soon decay,’ said Garovel. ‘Within a day, it will become a confused mass of semi-consciousness. Within two, it will become a prison of raw agony.’

‘Oh.’

‘Ferrying souls is a task we take upon ourselves not because a higher power has ordained us to, but just because it’s the right thing to do.’

‘I see.’

‘And besides, what the fuck else are we gonna do with our time? It’s a good way to relieve boredom.’

‘Wow, Garovel...’

‘Hey, it’s true.’

The sun drew up higher in the sky as Hector sped across the landscape. The journey was quiet for a while longer until Garovel initiated the next topic.

‘I’m sorry this trip turned out so chaotic,’ the reaper said. ‘I certainly didn’t mean for you to be gone so long. I’m not sure how we should explain your absence to your parents and your school.’

Hector hesitated. ‘I’m... not so sure my parents will notice...’

‘Oh, come on. It’s been two weeks. How could they have not noticed?’

For a while, he merely listened to the motorcycle and the wind roaring together. ‘When I was younger, uh... my parents both struggled to find work. They’d often have to take jobs in separate cities--I guess because the bills were piling up or something. They were always trying to readjust things so that they could both get a job in the same place. So, ah... we ended up moving around a lot. And there was this one time... when I was about ten... and, um... ah... b-basically, they, uh... they left me behind.’

Silence drew out, and Garovel waited for Hector to continue.

‘I spent, like, almost a month in foster care, I think... and then the police found me. My parents thought they’d lost me somewhere in the new city. They didn’t, uh... they didn’t realize I was missing until like a week after the move...’