Apothecary of Curiosities

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)><em>It isn't easy being the Grim Reaper.</em></strong></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>For millennia Death watched over the fleeting lives of mortals claiming their souls as is her duty. Each year the story was the same. Humans wasted the gifts they were given allowing the precious sands of time to slip through their grasp. But who did they blame? Not themselves of course but the horseman who came to collect her due.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Such an existence grew tiresome for the creature. Bored of humanity's antics the reaper opened a quiet apothecary and began peddling her curious wares. Her little shop became an escape from their ire a distraction to pass the decades.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Over time the mortals let down their guards but the horseman never did. Now and then she changed the rules of the game reminding humans of one very important thing...</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Death is inevitable. There is no escape. For in the end there is no way out of the graves they've dug for themselves. When the tides turn no plea or bargain will change their fates.</span></p><p></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)><u>Author's Note:</u></strong><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>This compilation of short stories contains five previously published tales in the </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Apothecary of Curiosities</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> series as well as an exclusive bonus story not available anywhere else: Death's Nell Kiss of Death Deadly Delicacies Everything Dies Death Waits For No One (Exclusive) and Death Warmed Over. Each has its own content warnings. To view them please visit the author's website www.samanthamoran.net.</span></p>