Page 90 of Atlas of Unknowable Things

Instinctively I start moving toward the sea of darkness, toward a legion of wavering trees and a ceaseless howling wind.I walk with certainty, and any fear that lingers in my chest is dissolving.

Just before I reach the tree line, I hear something coming through. A rustling of leaves, a body in motion. Soon I can make out a figure. Tall and brawny, a smile and a burgundy knit cap.

“Charles?” I whisper.

“Bugbear,” he says with a smile.

He walks toward me, and as he closes his eyes, I see that his lids still hold the ferryman’s coins. “I told you we’d meet here again,” he says. “In the dark. Amongst the trees.”

He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight, the familiar scent of him enveloping me, the breath of forgiveness. “It’s time to go,” he whispers.

“But the others.” I try to turn around but find that I can’t. There is only one way to go now.

“They’ll be fine. At least for now. And we will keep watch. It doesn’t end just because it ends.”

I look up at him through the prism of my tears, and I believe him.

He slips his hand into mine, and together, finally home, we step into the void.