Rewind (redubbed)

An old man sat in his armchair, watching the same black and white film as he had done every evening for years on end. His eyes fell heavy and his head slumped down as he had drifted off to sleep.

“Wake up!” bellowed a deep voice in the distance, “The time has come,” it says again. The old man awoke from his sleep to see a slender, shadowy outline lurking in the corner of the room. He picked up his timeworn glasses, that seemed to have dropped from his face, and placed them back on the bridge of his nose to reveal a towering, black-cloaked figure, looming over him. The figure breathed, “I am Hendrik, and your time has come.”

“You? You are Death?” questioned the old man. The figure shifted his cloak to reveal a glimpse of his scythe to the old man, as if answering his question.

“Yes. I apologize, but your time has come. You must come with me!” Hendrik moved towards the old man, who had pushed himself back in his chair and was gripping the arms. The old man inhaled and composed himself in his chair before asking,

“Do I. Do I not get one, final wish before I… leave this world?” his fear proving difficult to hide, Hendrik noticed and softened his voice,

“You may have one request. Anything within my power.”

“Anything I want?” probed the old man, shocked at such an offer. The hooded of cloak rustled as Hendrik nodded. The old man hesitated. “Please, show me my life as it was?”

“Very well,” Hendrik replied with a cold breath. The old man’s TV slowly faded to black and an old projector-reel styled movie began to play, flicking through a count down from five. The old man looked up at Hendrik with confusion, then gestured to another armchair next to him,

“Please. Sit with me?” Hendrik settled into the chair, and they proceeded to stare into the TV screen, watching the old man’s life pass by in rewind.

The film begins at an outdated hospital, where the old man was sat next to a hospital bed. An old woman, his wife, lay weakly next to him, holding his hand. She hinted to him to lean closer, and as he did she lifted herself slightly to whispered in his ear. As she lay back down, the room fell silent. Only the faint sound of a machine flat lining could be heard.

As the echo of the flat line disappeared, the scene flicked to a different room in the hospital. Only this time, death was not upon them, but a new life. The old man and woman were there, looking fit and well. They walked into a pristine room, pulled back the blue curtain nearest too them and saw another young lady. She looked up from her arms, where her beautiful baby boy was being cradled in a knitted blanket and her face was beaming. The old man smiled back at the TV screen in remembrance of the moment and turned to Hendrik excitedly, “That was the day our daughter delivered her first child. Our grandson!”

The movie then jumped back further, to a warm midsummer day. A church adorned with flowers. Filled to the brim with the familiar faces of friends and family members. A young man stood anxiously at the altar. Waiting. As music began in the background, he watched as his blushing bride strode down the aisle on her father’s arm. The old man kept staring into the TV screen. His hands were trembling and a tear had formed in the corner of his eye. Yet the biggest smile was plastered across his face.

Soon after, the screen faded to a cold winter night from long ago. A young teenage couple stood outside a cinema, one that had not then been open long. The old man chuckled to himself, but as he did a tear trickled down his cheek. Hendrik looked over at him,

“You laugh, but you are crying?” he asked with concern, the old man looked back to Hendrik and smiled.

“This was our first date,” He turned back to the screen, where the young boy had approached the ticket booth.

“Two tickets for The Curse of Frankenstein, please,” The boy exchanged money for tickets with the man in the ticket booth and took his girl into the cinema to find their seats. As the movie rolled on, the girl got scared she grabbed the boy’s arm and buried her face in him. When she looked up briefly to see if the scary part had ended, their eyes met. They leaned into one another, and shared their first kiss.

The screen faded to black and words appeared. They read: ‘From that day forward, their lives together had truly begun.’ Later on, end credits rolled. The old man wiped away the tears he had shed, and he turned to Hendrik,

“I thought you were going to show me my whole life?” sorrow was obvious in his voice, Hendrik arose from his seat,

“I did. From that day forwards, the rest of your life had begun. I may be Death, but I know more about life than anyone who lived. Come, take my hand.” The old man took the hand of Death and was lead towards a bright light where his door used to be. Hendrik paused for a moment and asked, “One last thing. Your wife, when she whispered in your ear before she passed away, what did she say to you?”

The old man smiled to himself, looked up at Hendrik and uttered, “She said to me, do you remember when we went to see that movie? I wasn’t really scared of it. I just knew you wouldn’t be the one to make the first move.” Another tear rolled down his cheek.

He looked down at his hand, there was a tattered old ticket that read: 'One admission to The Curs of Frankenstein.' It was torn and faded. Henrik looked off into the distance, as the light moved towards them. The old man looked up. For a moment, he was puzzled by the figure moving towards them, until it held out a matching worn ticket. He looked up to see the familiar face; One he had longed to see, but never forgotten. His wife smiled at him and his face lit up. Tears gathered in his eyes. Death looked at them, then walked towards it. Hand in hand, the old man and his wife followed on in Death’s footsteps.