feels a mourning so deep they cry out.
But the river’s water is addictive
and they cannot stop drinking it.’
I Shuddered
What a cruel way to spend eternity.
Sending yourself into suffering
over and over again,
without recognizing the damage.
‘But why do they do this?’
I asked Styx, shivering
as a translucent soul walked
all the way through me.
Styx put her hand forward
and the souls around us
disappeared as we crossed
the bridge together.
‘They spent a life causing others
misery and because misery
is all their soul remembers,
despair is where they return.’
‘Styx,’ I said softly
as we reached Hades on the other side,
‘does nectar not do the same thing
to us and our bodies?’
I remember my mother and I
starving, sick, bare-boned
and scarcely able to ensure
our immortal bodies kept moving.
Styx looked down at me,
her expression unreadable.
