In the beginning, there were only Adam, Eve, and God. And that was good. God allowed humans to reproduce as they pleased, and that was also good. But over time, there were more and more people. Too many for God alone to care for them and give each one equal attention. Therefore, he divided his power among his subordinates, creating Happiness and Sorrow, Love and Betrayal, Health and Illness. And also Life and Death. This is the story of them.
"Doctor, we've been trying to have a child for five years," continued the woman named Ewelina. "My husband and I have undergone all the fertility surgeries. We are healthy, and yet..." the woman, unsure what to do with her hands, kept smoothing the folds in her flowered skirt.
"Yes. We are both healthy," began her husband, Andrzej. "Why can't we still have children? No one can explain it to us."
The old doctor listened silently to his patients, sometimes nodding intelligently. He saw several such couples every day, and this one was starting to bore him. So when the couple finished speaking, he delivered a standard speech on infertility, using plastic models of genitalia from his desk to illustrate his point.
As Andrzej and Ewelina returned home, the sun shone brightly in the sky, and clouds lazily drifted across the blue water. The green trees rustled with dancing leaves.
The doctor's long and convoluted discourse, which they had heard many times from other doctors, did nothing to lift their spirits.
They had a large apartment. Just the right size for welcoming a new life, a little human being. They had bought it with him in mind five years ago. Now, the absence of children's cries or laughter in those large rooms only filled this quiet oasis of solitude with sadness.
Before bed, they made love as usual. It was late, so they did it calmly and silently, without hope for change. And when hope forgets a person, someone else entirely remembers them...
Frank had only briefly left his desk. After all, there was never much to do here. He always just pressed that green button. Nothing more. He went to see a friend who worked just downstairs, where they dealt with Other Matters. When he returned, he saw them immediately.
"What the hell is this unborn doing here?" he asked himself. "Get out of here," and pressed the eternal green button.
The luminous, pale greenish form of the infant dissolved like a snuffed candle flame, before entering the woman's body. When Frank began this work, he loved watching these misty figures. They seemed so beautiful to him then. But when someone spends too much time doing the same thing, they stop seeing beauty and begin to see only monotony. That's why he didn't notice something strange about this unborn. Something that indicated that the soul Frank had just sent to Earth wasn't human at all.
In the large, empty hall, there was only a huge throne on which lay the towering figure of a young man, and another man kneeling before it, his head bowed low. The white wings on his back were spread in a gesture of homage.
"Lord, your son has come to Earth as you commanded," said the kneeling angel, whose beauty was rivaled only by the angel Gabriel.
"Good," said the figure lying on the throne. "I hope he will have good parents." There was a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yes, I'm sure they are good people."
The man on the throne motioned for the angel to stand. There was a moment of silence, which the figures used to exchange glances.
"Won't they notice?
" "I don't think so. That old Frank doesn't pay attention to what he's doing at all." The angel folded his wings, losing a few snow-white feathers in the process.
"Hmm... What are his parents' names?
" "Andrzej and Ewelina *****. They've been trying unsuccessfully for several years to have a child. They'll take care of him as best they can.
" "Yes," the man's voice trembled. "As best as they can.
" "But how is that possible?" Ewelina was happier than ever. Despite the passing days, she still couldn't believe what had happened. The doctors she visited only smiled and shrugged. Only when the pregnancy became obvious did she believe she was having a child.
Death sometimes visited Frank. After all, their occupations had a lot in common. Usually, Death dropped by for no reason, to share a cup of tea and talk about the dilemmas he'd developed in his job. This time, however, he'd come on business.
"Frank, I have a problem, we need to talk," he said as soon as he opened the door and stepped inside.
"What's the matter?
" "Something's bothering me. You see, I recently found a strange hourglass in my house.
" "And?" Frank didn't see anything alarming about it yet.
"It's empty," Death said in a tone that explained everything. Frank had a slightly less hazy idea of what had happened. "What's more, it's unsigned."
Even though death wasn't his thing, Frank knew there were no empty hourglasses. Or at least there shouldn't be. He'd never encountered such a phenomenon before, but looking at Death, he guessed he must know something about it.
"As you know, there are no unnecessary hourglasses," Death began. "Each hourglass corresponds to one life, the sand flows through, and so on… you know that. If there's no sand, there's no life, and if there's no signature, it means someone doesn't exist. So we have an hourglass of a nonexistent person and no life. An unnecessary hourglass." Death looked at Frank to see if he understood everything. "But getting back to the point, we know there are NO UNNECESSARY HOURGLASSES." Death emphasized each syllable precisely. "So the question is, who does this hourglass belong to?
" "I have no idea," Frank replied.
"And I do. Only two beings can possess such an hourglass. Only two. And only if they're on Earth. One of those beings was already there, now we've apparently sent the other one there…"
Frank's mouth dropped open, his eyes frozen in astonishment, which quickly turned to fear. Death just nodded.
"Show me the records of the last unborn. We have to find him before it's too late.
" "I'm so happy," Andrzej boasted to his colleagues. "Ewelina is already in the hospital, and we're expecting the birth together. It could be anytime. I'm just waiting for the phone call. I want to be with her when it begins.
" "I have it!" cried Death, sitting in front of the green computer screen. "Andrzej and Ewelina *****. They got a child they should never have received. It's definitely them.
" "How can you be so sure? What if we point to the wrong soul?" Frank was seething with uncertainty.
"I'm sure. See for yourself, it says they can't have children."
Frank approached the monitor, his face turning green from its glare. He wanted to read it with his own eyes.
"But they're not infertile, they should be able to have children.
" "I think...
" "Push! Push!" Andrzej shouted as Ewelina squeezed his hand with all her might. A whole team of nurses was bustling around them, and a doctor, hidden between the woman's legs, was delivering the baby.
"You can already see the head, it'll be out soon. Just a little longer!" the doctor shouted.
"It's sad. They waited so many years for them." Death stood right next to Andrzej, unnoticed by anyone. Frank was with him.
"I feel sorry for them. They would have been good parents.
" Death looked at Frank knowingly, and Frank at him.
"Without a doubt."
The doctor's face paled, and his hands stiffened. The nurses suddenly froze, unable to understand what was happening to him. But a moment later, everything became clear when the doctor spoke in a despondent, sepulchral voice.
"It... it... is dead..."
The entire room was filled with the woman's frantic sobbing and the man's desperate scream.
"You know, Frank, I didn't tell those upstairs," Death said. "You could lose more than just your job over this, do you understand?" Frank nodded. "They'd be furious if they found out we'd sent the Antichrist to Earth..."
Andrzej and Ewelina built their son a beautiful tombstone. Of white marble, it depicted a naked boy with beautiful golden curls, with tiny wings on his back, reaching for a flying swallow. They came to pray to him every week. They often cried and were always sad.
They would surely be happy to see him now, running around the huge hall, playing with his father. Small, innocent, with golden curls, chasing a nimble swallow.
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