Hurry, Sarah!

She didn’t do well, under pressure. Not well at all. She did recall how some friends from college used to say that they enjoyed pressure. That the sense of emergency oddly made them think clearer. As if time slowed down in their heads, even coming to a short halt for some of them.

She wished she was more like them, at this very moment. Staring at the piece of paper on the wooden table, she tried to figure a way to outsmart the silhouette bent over her shoulder. There had to be a way out of this. She just had to find the twist.

Don’t kid yourself, young lady. No one likes everyone they know. I need one name, and one name only…

Her fingers tapped on the table, nervously. Of course she didn’t love everyone. There were neighbours, co-workers that really got on her nerves. And that lady at the grocery store, around the corner of her street, she was quite the nasty kind. But none of them deserved this. None of them, period.

The blue sand kept running, and she suddenly felt a cold grip on her arm.

Write.it.down… Sarah! NOW!

How and why Death itself had chosen her remained a mystery, but the deal was far from complicated. She only had to provide the name of a person who would die upon her request. If she refused to play along, she wouldn’t see tomorrow.

She didn’t want to die. Not anytime soon, but she just couldn’t kill either.

Sarah had to think fast, her time was running out.

Choose Sarah, now!

Grinning, she picked up the pen and wrote in a haste. The last grain fell, sealing the deal. With only three letters.

You.

Just like it had appeared to her, Death had vanished away.

Via Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge