[edgtf_dropcaps type=”normal” color=”” background_color=””]T[/edgtf_dropcaps]he water is deep, dark and treacherous.. yet somehow calm. The pitch black around them enhances the sound of water splashing the sides of their boat, caressing it. It’s a symphony of gentle splashes.
Teddy O’Toole awakens, his face no longer destroyed by bullet Drewitt put beneath his chin.
“Where am I?”
His voice trembles.
Tombstone sits opposite, methodically rowing with two oars, one in each hand.
“Your life has been taken, Theodore. This is your journey to the afterlife.”
“But how?”
“Whenever a person pulls a trigger once, dependant on where they aimed and where they struck, they expect more often than not that it’ll be enough. They expect finality. They expect an end.”
Teddy looks on forlorn and disheartened.
“For you, it was your end.”
“But for Drewitt, it was not. When you pulled that trigger and shot Drewitt in the head, you thought that one way or another, it would be all you needed.”
“I don’t understand. I don’t want to die! There must be some sort of arrangement or deal that we can strike?”
Tombstone slowly shakes his head.
“I am simply the Ferryman, tasked with sending you on your way. You cannot bargain with me, Theodore. I do not make the decisions. Neither do you, but you did.”
“You chose to take Drewitt’s life, knowing that should the root of ambrosia work, he would resurrect and gain immortality. This is a power no man should possess, yet you wielded it insignificantly.. casually, even.”
“And now I must clean up the mess you’ve made.”
As they row along the river, Teddy becomes increasingly panicked by his final destination. There’s no sorrow, no apologies and no shame. Just terror.
“Please…”
“Drewitt should’ve been sat in your seat. That very spot should’ve been warmed by his soul, not yours. Don’t you understand? Your meddling has placed you on his arduous journey. Drewitt is hot when he should be cold. He exists outside the realms of life and death because of your actions. This is a mistake that needs to be corrected.”
Teddy becomes excited by the prospect, misunderstanding that he may yet be saved.
“He can take my place?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“It now falls upon my shoulders to correct the anomoly you’ve created. What’s dead should stay dead, but since you could not do that, I will have to be the one to do it in your stead.”
“After all, when one bullet is not enough, some use a double tap.”
“You fired the first shot, Theodore.”
“It did not work.”
“Sometimes the end requires one more shot, aimed precise and true.”
“Now I’m the double tap.”
“And Drewitt shouldn’t fear the end.
“The end is where we meet.”
“And I will send him on his way.”
Teddy O’Toole sobs and cries as Tombstone continues his rowing across the river, ferrying him to wherever his final destination may be.
There’s no more conversation, just the knowledge that for Teddy O’Toole, his journey has come to an end.
This is the Ferrying of Theodore O’Toole, may his soul reach true its destination.
Fin.