The dark waters lapped near her feet; her grandmother spoke of it, Vaitaraṇî, the river that  dead souls had to cross on their journey to the abode of death. Well, it must mean she was dead. She looked down, she could no longer see her body, but could still feel it, maybe she would dissipate once she crossed the river. Yet  why could she move no further?

"Because your soul is still tethered to your body, till you give up that one last breath, I cannot escort you across."

The voice sounded in her head but she whirled as though she still had her body, and in the misty swirling darkness she saw him; tall, broad-shouldered, with a kind expression and without a buffalo accompanying him. 'So the artists on Earth had got the description of Yama wrong,'  she thought, though she wondered why the God of Death and Justice had personally come to collect her soul.

"Sometimes, I take a personal interest, especially when a beautiful soul commits a grave travesty."

Shyama bristled, "Spare me the kindness, I am not beautiful, I am..."

"...fat, dark-skinned and short. But that is how your body appears. It is how some people in your have life labelled you. Is that who you are? And there are many who do not define you by those features. "

Shyama was quiet, the dead silence unnerving. However, she could not help ponder on what she had heard, while it was true that many did mock her, there were times when she had been liked and appreciated. Her family always sang praises of her cooking and her father was proud that his daughter had studied hard and was the first girl in their family to have a job. Her brother adored her; she wondered how he was.

As though her thoughts were heard, the darkness dimmed and she heard her brother shout, "Akka would never commit suicide, Inspector, not my sister. She is a strong woman and even though she was hurt with all the teasing and tired with our other sister's wedding, she would not have jumped. Why do you not believe me, I startled her and she stumbled down. Can you not see her fighting? It has been a week and she has still not given up..."

"He will never believe you jumped."

Shyama crumbled, unable to believe what she had seen. Her family, worried and distraught, keeping vigil in the hospital, where her broken body was hooked to machines.

"Every soul is sent with a fistful, each of joy and sorrow. If you think you have had only sorrow, then maybe the future is only joy. The choice is yours, when will you take that one last breath? Now or..."

Time stood still. The waves lapped behind her. She made up her mind and stepped towards Yama, away from the shore and...

...woke up to painful light. Yet, deep within, hope unfurled; she would live out her life, with love and laughter.

Word count - 500

Submission for round eight (the final round) of the the Reading List Marathon, where we had to write a short story in less than or equal to 500 words, with a title borrowed from one of the books added to WattpadShortStory's reading list - 'Strugglers.' The same had to feature one of the following themes:

▶ Humour

▶ Mystery

▶ Spiritual

▶ Action

Update - This was place second 😊