The scene before us is a massacre.
Dark splatters from wall to wall. Not of blood, but chocolate.
Wrappers strewn about, ripped to shreds.
In the centre of the massacre lies a dog, whimpering.
Mister Sunshine kneels beside the dog.
“They say nothing can extinguish a light that shines from within.”
“That even when there’s nothing else to hold onto, the human spirit will cling to life.”
“When given a choice, who would ever choose death?”
“Our light must shine, Sunbeams, because life isn’t simply a game that is played until it’s over. There’s more to live for.”
He reaches forth, stroking the dog’s coat slowly. A smile forms on his face.
“Rex, you greedy little mongrel you. You’ve gotten into all the Valentine’s Day chocolate for the Sunshine Club! Don’t you know that chocolate is deadly for dogs?”
“Why? If you know that it’s going to kill you, would you eat it all anyway?”
“Why choose death, when there is so much to live for, Rexxy boy?”
“Choose life! Let your sun shine!”
The Dog’s eyes begin to fade. Sunshine holds his head up.
“Some choices are final. Once you sit on that Ferryman’s boat, the journey is one way.”
The dog, blinks and looks up at Sunshine with disapproving eyes…
“That’s right, he’s a Valkyrie now. Who would willingly choose to be the Valkyrie of death? One who chooses, like death is a sick lottery.”
“Gravedigger does. He’d rather exist for an eternity serving death than truly live for a fleeting moment. An eternity of shackled power, where no matter what you achieve for death, you’re nobody in life.”
The Dog coughs, wheezing. Sunshine shushes him gently.
“You have a choice, Rexxy boy. Choose to live each moment as if it’s your last, then death has no power over you.”
“I’d rather go out in a blaze of sunshine. When I’ve smiled my last smile and sung my last ditty, I will know that I truly lived – not just existed.”
Sunshine picks up a heart-shaped block of chocolate from the floor and thrusts it into the Dog’s mouth.
“Choose to eat the chocolate, Rex. Enjoy your life, right up to the last moment. Go out with a smile on your face. Be your own master of death.”
“The consequences for a dog eating this much chocolate are simple…”
Rex closes his eyes again.
“Sleep my friend…”
Sunshine looks up, smiling.
“Choices have consequences, Gravedigger, my Sunbeam.”
“You take what you think is yours to take. A wife, a boat… an eternity of servitude. It’s all empty. Nothing can come close to the feeling of truly living. The heart beating in your chest knowing that every moment may be your last.”
“You will never feel that, and it leaves you empty… Without a light to shine.”
He stands, the lifeless body of the dog at his feet. A tear rolls down his cheek.
“The sun will continue to shine in Arcadia as long as people choose to live life, and the Ferryman’s boat is rowed by an imposter who wants to merely exist forever.”