Tap tap... tap. These taps are more heasitant. The taps of a man resigned to a fate that he himself is not ready for.
"I...," he swallows, looking back, "Is there any other way?"
"You told me that your time had come," I say simply.
"Yes... yes... quite right. How long... how long until my end comes for me?"
"The end? You think this is the end? This is merely the beginning. I am the keeper of the gate. You shall do your due beneath the waves, and then you shall soar across the sky. Then you return to the earth. Do you not know the ways of the world?"
Emboldened by my words, he steps forward, leaning on that cane of his. This time there is no tap as he decends. Soon he is swallowed up in the blackness. Far, far below into the depths that men of the earth never see.
Just as the guard does not stand within the city walls, so shall I never know those depths I keep.
Now let me tell you something. I don't know how long I've been pulling for. I don't know how many men and women I've seen walk down into that midnight abyss. Thousands? Millions? I rub my temples, once, twice. I wouldn't know. Only heard those numbers from others. Can't count past twelve.
By @tommievelez
