as I fell unceremoniously backward
onto the ground.
I looked up to see the ferryman’s face,
his dark eyes blazing with fury,
his hand still clenched around my wrist.
But before I could answer
his voice rose again.
‘No Godling has ever drank from that river
and lived to tell the tale!’
A Ferocious Rage Emerged
I wrenched myself free of his grasp
and glared at Charon
with burning hot fire in my body.
I wanted to scream
And scream
And scream.
‘They know where my mother is!
None of you are helping me!
They want to help me!’
Charon sighed. ‘They do not, child.
The spirits lie. That is what they do.
Did no one tell you this?’
I stared at him as though
he had three heads.
‘What is a lie?’
Charon rubbed his forehead
and then sat down on the riverbed,
patting the ground to show
he wanted me to sit
down next to him.
