Don't fear the reaper

I was contemplating the death of a dear old friend, who told me shortly before he passed on that he could hear the angel of death, in whom he firmly believed, approaching. Discussing this with a friend in South Africa, she came up with a beautiful, sad story, which makes you believe phenomena do occur in the face of death. 

“You know this disease Gaby, AIDS? I knew this guy, he was seriously ill at the time, legs swollen, like elephant legs, he could hardly walk, this guy he worked at the police station and I used to be on the same bus with him, we would talk and I would tease him a bit, you just don’t behave differently to an ill person do you?, so I would say when we get off the bus, hey, can’t you move a bit faster, you lazy man, you know, he was walking as if on eggs so slow, putting his feet on the ground in this peculiar way, and then one day I saw him and he looked really bad and hungry, as if he had not been eating for some time, and I asked him did you eat at all my dear and he says no, his wife had not been giving him any food, he was really poor that guy, so I say let me buy you a sandwich, just across the street, you look like you really need it, and he says fine, and then we were crossing the street Gaby, you know at a place you can’t really cross and you have to be quick so you won’t get hit by a car, I had gone before him and was looking back to see if he would make it, and he hesitated at first but then he started running Gaby, I could not believe my eyes, this guy with his poor legs running fast as an antelope and then he would stop at my side and start laughing, laughing hard and he says I will not live in that place anymore, you know he lived in a very poor place, so I ask him did you win the lottery, turning rich overnight, but he just laughs and says I will not live there anymore…so I buy him a sandwich and he eats and the next day he is not on the bus, nor the day after, so I go to his place and ask about him and they say he is really very ill, you cannot visit him and the next day I go again and he passed away… he knew, didn’t he..”