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Slowly the boat whispered its way through the sinister black river, leaving murmurs of infinite yet mortal ripples. The stillness around seemed unreal and deathly. Scared and bewildered, I was accompanied by the sole being whose presence alone meant eternal solidarity, eternal waiting.
Cheron, the owner of the boat hardly looked at me. He was a man of a handsome silhouette. His posture upright, his head high. He wore a black robe made from the finest silk. It cascaded down till my feet where it fused out of vision. From where I saw all that was visible was one of his eyes which blazed fiercely yet handsomely. His work although seemed monotonous, but his appearance conveyed his loyalty and efficiency to it.
My fear slowly drained yet anticipation overpowered. I finally asked him, "How long will this take?"
He did not move a muscle. His head erect in the direction of his destination. My expectation of being answered slowly died as we two strangers yet unwillingly linked beings made our silent journey to Erebus, Mount of Death.
After five minutes, or what seemed to be so the answer to my question had unfolded. In the distant horizon of this solid black river, a giant mass of ebony had erupted. It slowly grew as we advanced towards my eternal abode. Erebus, surprisingly had light emanating from all of its sides. A beautiful and attractive light which caressed the rocky mountain, forming a sacred frill around it. It seemed like the fresh morning light of the dawning sun, yet seemed too unreachable.
We came nearer and nearer until we were completely overshadowed by the frowning mass of the dark Mount Erebus. The blackness itself conveyed death. Nothing could be seen or felt. The only thing human was the sound of the convoluting churns of the velvet ripples.
Alas, we reached. The boat stopped as if it never had moved. Cheron had surely become good at his duty. Then he finally looked at me. His eyes with fire dancing in them were fixed on me, surveying me. Then he said gravely as if rehearsed, "May God bless you."
My feet touched the glassy ground of Mount Erebus. The rocks were slippery and conical, yet I passed them with ease, as it was destined to be so. I went to a dry area and looked back at Cheron. He had already departed.
All I could see now was Erebus ahead of me and a handsome silhouette of Cheron in a boat sailing behind me. Sailing towards a temporary world; a world of life and light. But it was no use regretting or pondering over this. I was where I was destined to be. I could never return to the place I called home sometime ago. Time? Time itself was a joke for me now, an elusive and artificial identity.
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ali.asghar
I don't write for a cause; I write for meaning.
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