My 5 year old keeps asking about death

I have a 5 year old son who is currently learning about science in school this term. At first he would come home asking all these interesting questions about where oxygen comes from and how it gets into our lungs etc. Brilliant! He’s taking a real interest, right? Recently, he’s been asking real, dark questions with a genuine interest. The first time was about a month ago. We were in the car driving home listening to music when he comes out with ‘mummy, what happens if you die while I’m still a kid? Where do I go? Who will look after me?’ And I had no idea what to say. I was shocked and kind of stuttered. A few days later we were sitting in KFC eating away when he asked ‘mummy, what happens if all the adults die and it’s just me that’s alive?’ And again, shocked and stuttered. What do you say to that? Why is he thinking of these questions? How do I talk to him about death? Last week I had just woken him up to get ready for school and he asked ‘mummy, what happens if you die in the house? Do I unlock the door and walk to granny’s house? Which way should I walk?’ When he first started asking these questions I thought it was just genuine interest but now I’m not so sure. What’s going on in his little mind for him to start asking about death? Any advice on how to reply to these kind of questions is appreciated and has anyone else had these or similar questions from their kids? How do you approach these situations? via /r/Parenting http://bit.ly/2V8pGMx