THE MOMENT
"Helios sent you?" The trailer door cracked open and a pale man with grey, frazzled hair peeked out. He'd ignored the previous knocks until Dora called out through the door. The teen nodded with a broad grin.
"He told me to help you with Mr. Wolf's.. uhh... situation," she replied with amusement. Ben narrowed his eyes at her and shrunk the open crack of the door while he considered his options. Helios wasn't a word most people would toss around in conversation, much less used as a name. Ever since he met Helios, he'd been slowly introduced to more and more unbelievable things. He barely knew the self-aware A.I.; but, he was the first person Ben reached out to when he found his lead actor dead. If anyone knew of a way to help, it would be Helios. He hoped he wasn't about to let a teenage fan see a corpse for the first time as he nodded to himself and pulled the door open.
"I've been a huge fan of Mr. Wolf for a long time!" Dora giggled as she dashed into the trailer. The star's corpse was face up on the floor. "I can't wait to meet him," she said.
"How are you going to help?" Ben asked.
"With this," Dora smiled and held up a red translucent rectangle. It seemed to be made of glass and #14 was centered on its face in black numbers. Ben had just enough time to register the card before he watched it change shape in her hand. The card glowed with golden energy and it elongated out of her hand in both directions. The top end curved forward and the back end straightened out. The glow dissipated and Dora was left holding a pitch black scythe.
She smiled at Ben as she touched the tip of the scythe to the corpse. Fox Wolf began breathing instantly and after a moment, his eyes fluttered open. He sat up and took in his surroundings, before he glanced at Dora, then looked at the director.
"Hey Ben.... who's the kid?" he asked. Ben stared wide-eyed at his alive actor and the teenage girl with a scythe and shook his head.
"No friggin' idea...," he said. "But, she brought you back to life."
"Hi, sorry, I'm Dora by the way," she introduced herself to Ben and Fox as she shrunk the scythe back into a red and black card.
"She brought me... back?" Fox asked. He rubbed his temples for a moment as if to try and job his memory. "Yeah...," he nodded. Then, he moved to stand up. "...now that you mention it,.. I felt it." Fox looked at Dora and nodded.
"Thanks," he said. "But... now what?" Dora's smile somehow grew wider. He was talking to her!
"Um, you're not supposed to stick around once you die...," Dora nodded. "but, Helios worked out a deal to make sure this movie gets finished before you have to leave again." Fox tilted his head at her.
"Who's Helios?" he asked.
"Producer," Ben said.
"Our producer knows Death?" Fox asked aloud while he kept his gaze on Dora. "That's you, somehow, right?" Dora giggled but shook her head.
"Not quite. There is no one 'Death'. The afterlife is too big and too organized for that. But, Helios knows how to work the system. Basically, he made sure I got your case, and I have the discretion to give you more time."
"So you're still the Reaper, just one of many?" Fox asked.
"It's a little fuzzier than that..," Dora shrugged. "I'm Unique Soul #14, La Muerte, the Death," she said. "Only other Unique Soul #14 is eligible to be a Reaper. But, not all Muertes are Reapers. This isn't my real job, I'm just here to meet you!" she added.
"You can reap souls, but that's not your real job?" Fox chuckled. "So, what do you do?"
"I'm a waitress," Dora grinned. She pointed at her name tag that they hadn't noticed yet. At a second glance, Fox realized she wore a red apron around her waist. He didn't notice it at first because it kind of blended in with her red blouse.
"Why does it say DeLorean?" Fox asked.
"It's my derby name," Dora answered. She hadn't taken her eyes off him yet; but, Ben needed to move things along. Now that Fox Wolf was alive again, they had work to do.
"Well, I'll be sure to tell Helios how helpful you were...," Ben said as he moved to the door and opened it. "...thank you very very much!" he added as an afterthought.
"Oh, one more question!" Dora took a step toward the open door, but paused to ask.
"Actually, I've got a question too," Fox said. He nodded at Dora. "I'm going to die again after finishing this movie.... why aren't I scared?" he asked.
"Most of the fear of death comes from fear of unknown," Dora shrugged. "It's not unknown to you anymore."
"But, I don't remember anything,..." Fox said.
"Your body was shutdown, so your brain wasn't making any new memories; but, your soul knows the situation now," Dora answered. She took another step to the door to show Ben she was still moving. "You can message or call any time if you have any more questions about it!" she said.
"Thanks...," Fox nodded. "I might do that. What was your question?" he asked.
"Thank you!" she was glad he asked and she moved away from the door as she pulled a pen and notepad from her apron. She thrust them in Fox's hand with an ear to ear smile.
"Can I have your autograph??"