Black

The roads are dark here. The pavement that greys and ages with time is charcoal black and new. It is like a river of dark tar quicksand that aches to be inhaled. In the distance there is a faceless stranger. Do I know him? Why is he there? And why haven’t our paths crossed soon. “Come yonder!” Said a voice behind me.

Death looked scary. There was nothing there but bones, and he was just like death in those Mexican lottery cards. His face looked like a sugar skull, and for a minute I wanted to lick it and see if death was sweet. “come, you can cross here.”  Suddenly, beneath the tar a boat appeared. It was small boat made of the brownest wood. It looked like it had been cut down recently, and wasn’t smoothed because the ridges were still.

“Where are we going?” I asked, full knowing where, but hoping for a different answer.

“You’re going home” Said death.

As I we walked towards the boat, I said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure thing.” Said death in a tone that signaled we were old friends. “Who is that over there?” I asked in reference to the faceless person that now stood there. “He is just the lost, the hope, the regret. He is all that you ever wanted, but you never got to meet. I guess it could be hard over there, that place where you lived. I think you crossed paths a couple of times, and I was rooting for both  of you, really, but I guess fate’s intervention wasn’t strong enough that time around. That happens a lot with fate, her trying to balance everyone’s life and all.”

“You mean, I was supposed to end up with him!?” I asked, shocked. The faceless man sat down on the sidewalk, and both his legs disappearing into the tar water. He was swinging his feet, almost gleely, as if he was on the edge of a pool waiting to jump in.

“Let’s go now”

I boarded the boat, and it began moving on it’s own. Surprisingly, there was no turbulence that are usually caused by real waves. The water was as dead as the place. With no resistance, the boat moved at a steady and swift speed. “What is this water,” I asked as I put my hand on it. There was no temperature to it, and as I lifted my hands I saw the thick, black, liquid fall from my fingers. “That’s the river of darkness”

“that’s not very original” I said, surprised I still had my sarcastic humor intact.

“Well, what else would you call it?” Asked death amused.

“Why is it here?”

“It keeps the living from crossing over. It drowns them until the awake. No one is usually here to meet them, and in desperation they try to swim across to where we are going, except that the river of darkness takes a hold of them and fills their hearts with panic. Apparently, it gives their hearts enough of a bolt that it wakes them.”

“What if I jump. Will I awake?”

“No. You will just stay there, forever. For some reason , it knows. It always knows. And, if you sink low enough, there will be nothing there for you , nothing but complete darkness. It makes a man go insane!”

“Ok, I wont jump.”

“Good. Now come we’ve arrived!”

The bright portal was there to meet me, and the faceless man was there turned at my direction.

“Hey, what does it mean when they are faceless like that?”

“I don’t really know. But from what I’ve seen I think it means they are still waiting for you over at that other place where you come from. He never got to meet you either, and I think he is still searching. I think he feels something now. I think he might be scared or nervous or something. Who knows? But today his life changed completely.”

“Can I meet him here?”

“That I cannot say. “

We stepped into the portal.