The New Death and others (19 page)

"No. There's a list of conditions here, but
no."

"I am tempted, O demon. You may tell me where
to find this sage."

The demon smiled.

"Very well, O Judas."

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Local
News

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Police announced an arrest
today related to a string of burglaries that have plagued the
area.

Local resident Time stands accused of the
theft of the hair of several local men.

Friends and acquaintances were quick to
defend Time.

"He helped me get over a terrible breakup,"
Marissa Richardson, 28, told reporters.

"I am shocked to hear of the charges against
Time. I have enjoyed working with him in the past, and remain
optimistic that I will continue to reap the benefit of his patience
and thoroughness in the future," said colleague Death in a
statement.

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untitled

I punched somebody in Liverpool.

They called me a lout and a stupid fool.

I shot someone in Afghanistan.

They said, "Good job. Well done that
man."

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Charon

Based on the story of the same name by Lord
Dunsany.

In the caverns of the dead

where the living cannot tread

lay the still and stagnant water called the
Styx.

Deeper than all human arts

colder than a jackal's heart

and as dirty and as foul as politics.

Silent, callous, unafraid

ancient Charon rowed the shades

that were once the souls of living mortal
folk.

Though they pleaded and they bribed

Charon did as was prescribed

and for eon after eon never spoke.

If they blessed or cursed his name

Charon rowed them just the same.

It was naught to him if he was loved or
hated.

Once they reached the farther shore

Charon thought of them no more

and he knew no more than they of what
awaited.

For a time the wailing ghosts

grew into a teeming host.

There were thousands where there might have
once been ten.

But he had no call to care.

Shades have no more weight than air.

Charon rowed across the Styx and back
again.

For a time he knew excess

then the dead grew less and less

less than in the days of Solomon or
Saul.

For a time he dimly knew

they had never been so few

and at last, he found no waiting shades at
all.

After decades in the dark

Charon saw the vital spark

of a single shade that shivered on the
bank

so he took her, as of old

to the unknown dark and cold

and the shade held out her hand and offered
thanks.

Down the centuries and miles

none had ever made him smile

though he saw the best and worst of every
caste.

Yet he grinned as wide as Death

then he sobbed till out of breath

when the pallid phantom said, "I was the
last."

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Useable under a Creative Commons Attribution
Non-Commercial License

see
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0

The font used on the cover is IM Fell Pro.
The Fell Types are digitally reproduced by Igino Marini. See
http://www.iginomarini.com

Contact me via my blog:

http://www.apolitical.info/teleleli

Please let me know if you find an error in
this ebook, and I'll fix it.

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