When I found myself falling, I couldn’t remember a thing. All I knew was the darkness around me, sucking away the light in front of me, presumibly where I was falling from, and the wind that rushed past me, giving me a sense of direction. I was falling down, and that light was disappearing faster than I thought possible.
When I hit…
the water I suddenly woke up from my stupor. I fell for a long time, but after much struggling I managed to correct my downwards motion. My lungs were already on fire, they felt tiny, full of water. I pushed upwards, swimming hard, but I had no idea how far I had to go.
When I did hit the surface, I still couldn’t breath. I coughed, then choked, trying to cry at the pain of water forced up and air fighting down. It was several pain filled minutes while I tried to catch my breath, and my lungs and throat felt like they were covered in acid. I floated on my back, and slowly, after what seemed like hours, I could breath again.
I shivered. Where was I? I couldn’t see anything, and I wasn’t even completely sure I was in water; it had had a funny taste to it. The air was cold, the water (if that was what it was) was cold, and I was hungry and tired. “Help…” I feebly managed to croak.
A soft light slowly came into view out of the corner of my eye, and I lifted my head to see what it was. A lamp, suported high off the water by a staff in the hands of an old, robed man riding a long, gondola-like boat gently cruised towards me. “Welcome home,” he said as the boat slowed, pulling up beside me.
I righted myself to tread water. “Who are you?” I asked.
“I am the Harborer of Souls, and it is my duty to save you from this ocean. Come climb aboard and we will be on our way.”
“Where will we be going?” I swam forward to rest my hands on the side of his boat, but I was hesitant to climb in.
“You called for help, did you not? Heed my words and I will take you to paradise.” He offered me one gnarled hand to help me aboard.
I hesitated a moment longer, but his silver eyes watching me almost curiously somehow calmed my fears. I accepted his hand and with strength I did not expect in his form he pulled me out of the water and into the boat. As I sat down on the bench in front of him and wraped the blanket he offered me around my sholders, I looked about at the brightening sky. The darkness faded quickly, and in minutes my world of pitch displayed itself to be no more than a receding lake of bright day. I watched in wonder as the shore literally raced up to the boat, and soon all that was left of the alleged ocean was a small pond, just big enough and deep enough for the gondola to spin around in circles in. The Harborer stood up and again offered me a hand. I accepted it, and he helped me out of the boat, but did not leave himself. “There you will find food and accomodations,” he told me, guesturing to a large cabin-like structure that looked very comforting and cozy. “Go, they are expecting you.” I looked back, only to find a great oak tree shading me from the growing heat of the day.
