[Out of Thyme]

"It wouldn't kill me to be friendly...," Alex paused outside his apartment and changed his mind. He planned to run to the grocery store; but, he spotted a different opportunity as soon as he stepped out. His new, attractive, next-door neighbor stood just outside her door saying goodbye to a teenage boy.

"Good luck, Turbo," she waved at the teen and her voice drew Alex's attention. The teen disappeared around the corner and the woman with a brown ponytail stepped back into her home to close the door. Alex moved quickly and knocked on the door before it was closed all the way. She paused and peeked out through the crack.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Hi, my name's Alex, I live right next door," he introduced himself and pointed down the hall.

"I know," she nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I need some more thyme; do you have any extra?"

"What?" she looked surprised. "How did you...," she lifted her wrist to glance at her watch; then, she shook her head and opened the door wider to invite him in. Her apartment was the exact same as his, including the tight foyer with a 5' square of wood laminate. "I guess that's not important. Okay, how much do you need? Hours? Days?.. Weeks might be pushing it..., but I guess as a favor to a neighbor I can look the other way for a little bit."

"What?" It was Alex's turn to be surprised. He chuckled nervously, hoping that she was just teasing him. The alternative was that she was insane. "I mean the herb, THhhhhhhhhhYME," he stressed the 'th' sound so that it sounded like 'thigh-mm'."

"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHhhhh," her tan complexion flushed beet red as she giggled nervously. "Hahaha...," she said.

"OF COURSE! I knew that! The herb, thyme, for cooking. I knew that," she giggled. Then, she shook her head and shrugged.

"Sorry, I don't have any of that," she opened the door again. "Good luck, I'll see you soon," she said. "I really hope you enjoy whatever it is you're making."

"Eh, at this point I might just order pizza," Alex shrugged. After her whirlwind... prank? He didn't know what to make of her behavior; but, it took some energy out of him. "I don't really feel like killing another 20 minutes going to the store."

"Oh, no, you don't have that kind of time," the woman said.

"Yeah, I'm getting pretty hungry already," Alex agreed. "What's your name?" He stepped closer to the open door just so she would see he was on his way out.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Elsa," she introduced herself.

"Well, Elsa, would you care to join me for some pizza?"

"Uhhh...," Elsa glanced at her wristwatch again. Then, she sighed. "... sure. Why not?" she said. "I guess I can give you that much time."

"Ah! I get it! Thyme!" Alex laughed but Elsa only tilted her head at him.

"What?" she asked. Alex stopped laughing when he realized she wasn't.

"You weren't making a joke...?" he asked. "...because I asked for thyme..."

"No," Elsa shook her head. "Okay, I think we need to clear something up or dinner is going to be kind of awkward," she said. "And, I'm afraid it's bad news."

"Oh..okay..," Alex turned serious for a moment; but, he wondered what bad news she could possibly have. She was a stranger that only moved into the building less than a month ago.

"When you came to ask for the herb, thyme, I thought you meant time. And, I only thought that because I deal with time frequently. When I'm working, it's not unusual for someone to ask me for more time...," Elsa said. She reached her hand forward and wrapped her hand around nothing in mid-air. It was as if she gripped a vertical door handle; then, in an instant, she was holding a long, thin black pole with a curved black blade extending out of the top end. "... I'm a reaper," she said. A ghostly black cloak floated around Elsa for a moment; then, she released the scythe. It disappeared along with her cloak. Alex was stunned; it took him several seconds to have a thought at all. Elsa knew it was a lot of information and she stood patiently while he processed what he saw.

"You're..... Death!??" Alex felt like he needed that additional confirmation. Elsa nodded and shrugged.

"I'm a reaper; it's too big a job for a single 'Death'," she explained. Something about the way things happened encouraged Alex to believe her. Thinking back on the interaction, it sounded like a genuine misunderstanding that only someone who dealt with time could make. If she was lying, he was willing to feel like a fool later. But, for now, he might have access to the secrets of the universe. And, he was going to have dinner with her! He chuckled with nervous giddiness.

"Boy, I'm glad I stopped by here for thyme instead of going to the store...," he said. Elsa nodded and gave him a pleasant, but slightly sad smile that he didn't notice.

"Yeah, I'm glad too," Elsa said. "At least this way, you have time to eat; and, you won't be alone for your last meal."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1776 in a row. (Story #331 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.