And when Death came, he was neither fearsome nor terrifying. He looked almost, well, normal. He said the scythe in his hands was more so that others would recognize him than anything else, that once they'd figured that out, he could let it go. True to his word, the weapon disappeared when he stopped touching it.

He offered his hand. "If I had my way," he said, "I would only take those who are ready. The thing is, people have stopped ever being ready, frightened even of change smaller than death. Because that's all death is, really: the change from what you are now into what you will be." He smiled. "Given that, maybe we'd do better celebrating it. So, come dance with me. Come dance."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Experimenting with crosshatching. Tried to keep it all from becoming too dark, shading-wise. Overall happy with the result.