text: (WP) In My Time of Dying There has to be balance in everything. When Mara was human, she’d had but an inkling of how the world truly worked. But then she’d died too soon, murdered for protecting innocent bystanders. She’d been taken to The Pale, the place in-between, and a mysterious woman had asked her if she wanted to spend her afterlife doing something worthwhile. No one would know her name, after the fact, but it didn’t matter. “I’ve been watching you, Mara.” The woman had said, her dark eyes unreadable. There was something stern in her tone, something that made Mara squirm. “And let me just say that you’re not the first to waste your time on the mortal plane.” There were flashes of things that Mara barely remembered; small sins were always forgotten. But there was the time that she had stolen from her parents, all to buy alcohol for a party she was too old to be attending. The time she’d ditched her brother after his basketball practice to go on a date with her boyfriend, leaving him to walk home. But the first thing she remembered, really remembered, was fighting with her parents right before she’d left for the gas station. If she’d known she would’ve ended up cold and dead on the floor, she wouldn’t have gone to the gas station. “You gave your life in order to protect others, the day you died.” The woman’s voice softened, and Mara blinked at her; everything was all blurry, and when she touched her face, her fingers came away wet. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried, on the mortal plane and this one. “Who are you? And what do you want with me?” Mara finally asked, wincing when she heard her voice crack. “I have had many names throughout the years, so many that I can barely remember my true one.” The woman chuckled, and the sound was sad. “But you can call me Mama.” Mara thought she heard the slightest hint of a syrupy Southern accent in Mama’s voice, but she merely nodded. “The real reason you’re here, Mara, is because I have been looking for a successor for a long time. And I think that you would be perfect for the job.” Mara blinked, staring at the other woman. “Here in The Pale, I am charged with maintaining balance, not just in this realm, but many others as well.” Mama murmured, and though she looked but a few years older than Mara, her eyes held multitudes, and were so sad that Mara felt like weeping again. “But I’m afraid I’ve grown old. And tired.” A chair appeared out of thin air, and the older woman sat down in it. “Are you saying you brought me here to take over for you?” Mara asked, her heart fluttering; she could feel her pulse everywhere, and sweat began to form in her palms. “In a matter of speaking.