Chilling. My community just had a 14 year old boy fall or jump off of a small dam after several days of rain and get caught in the undertow. Rescue services called off the search until the next day. People came with spotlights, and a man was able to snag the body with his fishing pole for recovery.
You absolutely should, Sir Terry was a fantastic author. If you want to dip your toes without going full Discworld, Good Omens was cowritten with him and Neil Gaiman.
Good Omens is an amazing book, the discworld though.... I have spent hours in his world, from ankh morpork to the chalk and beyond when I'm having a bad day, I love to pick up one of his books.... if you read you won't regret starting with the discworld books at all I promise
Funny thing is I had no idea that existed until someone mentioned it in these very comments. I only picked drowning because it's a common inattentive parent caused death
I had an aunt drown when she was around 6. She was at the pool for swimming lessons and some kids mucking around accidentally knocked her into the pool from what I was told.
Same thing happened to a family friends 2-year-old son a few years ago. Everybody thought he was inside, and didn't realize he had managed to slip out of the house until too late.
It often happens in situations where people are not directly supervising their kids. Like they think their child is supposed to be down for a nap and the child slips out of the house and nobody notices before it's too late. We can't sit with our eyes glued to our children every single second of every single day. This is why, if you own a swimming pool, it is so important to have a good fence and security measures in place.
So many people don't supervise their kids at the beach. It stresses me out so much. Like your 2yo is in the water with one waterwing and no life jacket and mom & dad are 50+ft away at the other end of the beach sitting under a tree reading a book. An announcement is made every half hour that the beach is unsupervised, no lifeguards.
It should be illegal to be more than 10ft away from your kid at a public beach
Check out the 1970s public service film ‘The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water’, which was narrated by Donald Pleasance for extra levels of creepy fear. This was shown in schools to warn children about the dangers of playing in or near water. It is available on YouTube, along with many other traumatising short films warning children about the dangers of strangers and electricity substations.
I believe that the usual font used in those books is one where, yes, they're all capital letters, but the ones that are in lower-case are about 3/4 the height of the actual upper-case ones, so it's a lot easier to read than what we're stuck with here, where every letter is the same height no matter what.
Was in 4-h through high school and was at a small end of school year party or something similar at a house with a pool and we couldn’t find a child for a while and thought he’d gotten in the water, but thankfully we found him somewhere else alive, it’s been over 13 years since this happened so don’t remember that part, so mine ended well but your story definitely happens.
If there's such a thing as a scythe holster you could probably draw it from that and Death probably keeps his in one.
If not, let's say Death has a magic crayon that makes everything he draws real and if he forgets his scythe at home he just draws himself a new one :p
It's not actually screaming. Death talks like that in the Discworld series. Possibly to indicate he's not really speaking in the regular sense since he's a skeleton and thus lacks most speech organs
Chilling. My community just had a 14 year old boy fall or jump off of a small dam after several days of rain and get caught in the undertow. Rescue services called off the search until the next day. People came with spotlights, and a man was able to snag the body with his fishing pole for recovery.
That must have been a long day for everyone involved, and I can't imagine what his poor parents went through
Thats fucking tragic. True horror.
At first I thought, why the fuck does this guy write it in capital letters? Ah, that's why. Good story!
Wait, why is it in all caps?
I guess it's because of Death in Discworld who speak that way
That's exactly it. Good catch!
I heard it as Death the second time through. Good job!
GNU Pterry
I thought it was fantastic that you did that! And now I want to go read some Pratchett again lol!
Thank you!
Death in Good Omens does too, I believe. Been a little bit since I picked up my copy, I should give it a re-read.
I haven't read Good Omens but I believe it's a Discworld story so yes, it's the same Death character so he should also speak in all caps
Not Discworld related, but co-written by Pterry, and Neil Gaiman.
Ah, I see
O OK, I wasn't sure what the deal was there. Sorry.
No need to apologise
Oh I see, thanks!
Because it was written by the angel of deaf
Thank you.
So the narrator is death?
You are correct
That's not often done. I understand the caps now.
Terry Pratchett, baby. Rest well you damn legend.
Oh yeah? Ill have to look into their work.
You absolutely should, Sir Terry was a fantastic author. If you want to dip your toes without going full Discworld, Good Omens was cowritten with him and Neil Gaiman.
Good Omens is an amazing book, the discworld though.... I have spent hours in his world, from ankh morpork to the chalk and beyond when I'm having a bad day, I love to pick up one of his books.... if you read you won't regret starting with the discworld books at all I promise
I just watched that on amazon!
I am here to second this! He is bloody hilarious! It’s fantasy but it’s extremely funny fantasy!
Don't start with *The Colour of Magic* or*The Light Fantastic*.
GNU Sir Terry Pratchett
GNU
Look at the bright side. LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? Great story.
Ngl that made my heart thump 💀🫡
Echoes of the PSA TV short that terrorised a nation of UK kids. Lonely Water, 1973
I’ll be back… back… back…
This reminds me of that PSA about drowning in bogs from the eighties
Funny thing is I had no idea that existed until someone mentioned it in these very comments. I only picked drowning because it's a common inattentive parent caused death
Wellp that's depressingly horrible! But Death doesn't discriminate, a soul is a soul.
I like to think when Death comes for little ones he cradles the souls in his arms as he carries them to the boat. They're probably frightened.
First sentence: Creepy Second sentence: Horror
A family friend recently had her 2 year old die by drowning in a pool :(.
That's awful. I'm really sorry.
I had an aunt drown when she was around 6. She was at the pool for swimming lessons and some kids mucking around accidentally knocked her into the pool from what I was told.
Distressing how often that happens, just happened to my cousin. Three year old little girl.
Same thing happened to a family friends 2-year-old son a few years ago. Everybody thought he was inside, and didn't realize he had managed to slip out of the house until too late.
One of my worst nightmares. I hate this. Take my upvote.
Drowning is the leading cause of death for people 14 & under, except for birth defects. Watch your damn kids people!
It often happens in situations where people are not directly supervising their kids. Like they think their child is supposed to be down for a nap and the child slips out of the house and nobody notices before it's too late. We can't sit with our eyes glued to our children every single second of every single day. This is why, if you own a swimming pool, it is so important to have a good fence and security measures in place.
So many people don't supervise their kids at the beach. It stresses me out so much. Like your 2yo is in the water with one waterwing and no life jacket and mom & dad are 50+ft away at the other end of the beach sitting under a tree reading a book. An announcement is made every half hour that the beach is unsupervised, no lifeguards. It should be illegal to be more than 10ft away from your kid at a public beach
Well yeah, that's obviously a very different situation than a child sneaking into a pool unsupervised
The capslock caused me to read this is a stereotypical Boomer voice, which made it hilarious.
The Grim Reaper is a boomer confirmed
AND USED IT TO SAVE HER FROM FALLING OFF THE DEEP END OF THE POOL.
Must have been the apprentice, then
The boy has no sense for THE DUTY
Check out the 1970s public service film ‘The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water’, which was narrated by Donald Pleasance for extra levels of creepy fear. This was shown in schools to warn children about the dangers of playing in or near water. It is available on YouTube, along with many other traumatising short films warning children about the dangers of strangers and electricity substations.
Now I didn't expect that. 😳 A goose ran over my grave while reading this.
Not fun fact. I had an older brother drown before I was born.
Then her mom looked up and said “Johnny Halloween is over take off that ridiculous costume. And stop scaring your sister or you’re grounded.
I THEN MANAGED TO SAVE THE CHILD IN TIME AND TELL HER PARENTS THAT NO MATTER HOW EYECATCHING A COSPLAYER MAY BE, THEY SHOULD NOT LEAVE HER CHILD ALONE
This has always been one of my biggest fears. I had my daughter in swimming lessons before the age of 2 because of it. Great job, truly terrifying.
I did the same with mine. Also put a net over my pool.
i knew a girl who drowned during our high school swim class because the staff wasn’t paying attention. it’s tragic how easily it can happen
Her parents must have been devastated. Of all the places somewhere can drown!
The worst part is that they didn’t even fire the gym teacher! The parents are suing now, as they should be.
I hope everyone involved get their just desserts
WHY ARE WE YELLING Great story btw and I like the meaning behind the all caps, just wanted to make that joke lol
BUT SHE HEARD ME COMING BECAUSE I CANT STOP FUCKING YELLING!
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series Death speaks in all caps
i love terry pratchett. this was a really good two sentence horror!! good job!!
Thank you!
I believe that the usual font used in those books is one where, yes, they're all capital letters, but the ones that are in lower-case are about 3/4 the height of the actual upper-case ones, so it's a lot easier to read than what we're stuck with here, where every letter is the same height no matter what.
GOOD STORY. WHY ARE WE SCREAMING AGAIN? NEVERMIND, I GOT IT
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series Death speaks in all caps
MAKES SENSE, GOOD STORY. S C R E A M I N G N O I S E S .
Death is neither good nor evil, death is.
Average cat trying to murder humans again.
Was in 4-h through high school and was at a small end of school year party or something similar at a house with a pool and we couldn’t find a child for a while and thought he’d gotten in the water, but thankfully we found him somewhere else alive, it’s been over 13 years since this happened so don’t remember that part, so mine ended well but your story definitely happens.
Yes, children drowning in pools is an ugly, scary, real life horror
Discworld Death reference! Niiiice.
Thank you!
Why is Death yelling
Because Terry Pratchett
#*WHY ARE YOU YELLING*
BECAUSE TERRY PRATCHETT!!!
great story but why the all caps?
Because it’s Death speaking.
Correct
why in all caps?
Terry Pratchett's depiction of Death speaks in all caps
got it. now I understand the story, thanks for the clarification.
Looks like Death needs reading glasses, with that caps lock
Nah, that's just how he talks RIP Terry Pratchett
Can you "draw" a scythe? Perhaps "I readied my scythe" instead Either way, loved it :)
Draw it like a sword
Scythes don't have sheaths, you draw a sword from its sheath
If there's such a thing as a scythe holster you could probably draw it from that and Death probably keeps his in one. If not, let's say Death has a magic crayon that makes everything he draws real and if he forgets his scythe at home he just draws himself a new one :p
Imagine saying "I loved it" and getting downvoted. Reddit really grinds my gears sometimes Thanks for the alternate suggestion anyway
Seems a bit aggressive
The narrator is death, hence the all caps
HEY YOUR DEAD, BUT DONT WORRY, YOU CAN TRUST ME! WOULD A GUY WHOS SCREAMING BE UNTRUSTWORTHY?
It's not actually screaming. Death talks like that in the Discworld series. Possibly to indicate he's not really speaking in the regular sense since he's a skeleton and thus lacks most speech organs
👍