Ferryman Gregg - Line Up

There is a land where the dead convene to ‘live’ out the rest of their days, but to get there they must first cross the place in between. The landscape here is barren and flat with reds and yellows as far as the eye can see. Snaking through the middle of this land the river gives the only passage through. The Styx lies in a region of the universe between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

If one were to look at the clouds near the entrance one would notice a very opulent and tacky sign that reads, “Welcome to Hades!” Below this sign there is a rocky outcrop with a long series of stairs that lead to a velvet rope by the rivers edge. And if one were to look really closely they would see that the stairs and the pathway was queued fully up with souls of all types and sizes.

“I want some candy!” One of the souls bursts out looking longingly at a random candy machine along the path. The candy bar machine is in a small cove with two other machines, one selling Charon Soda and the other selling Hades Hot Fries.

“Yeah, so do I, but they always rip you off in these situations. I bet it costs a lot of dough for just a simple candy bar.” Another soul replied back also staring at the vending machines nearby.

“Nun’t un, says right here: ‘One Coin’.” A third soul piped in and pointed to the sign with his tail like tendril.

“What should I get?” The first soul asked after slithering up to the machine and using one of his arm-nubs to put a coin into the machine.

“It’s all bad for you anyways, so what does it matter?” The second soul replied.

“I guess I could try this one,” the first soul said as he used his tail to push a button. A candy bar floated out of the machine and into the souls left nub. He looks at it and starts gnawing on it.

“So… How is it?” The third soul questioned.

“Eh… So-so…” The first soul replied in muffled tones.

“Heh, figures.” The third soul said knowingly, “Which candy bar did you pick?”

“Yeah it kind of does. I’m not sure, I think it was a Cerberus Choco-Lotto.”

“Wow with a name like that you’d think it would taste amazing.” A random soul added into the conversation.

“Yeah, pretty much how advertising works, the crappier the product the better the name.”

“So uh, that candy bar cost one coin, eh?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?” the soul replied nearly done with his candy bar.

“Um, isn’t that how much it costs to get across this river?”

“Yeah and?” The soul finished the sweet at this point.

“How many coins did you bring with you?”

“Oh,” the soul finally realized the folly of his choice, “um, I guess I’ll have to try and figure something out at the dock.” Worried about all the terrible ways this could end up for him.

-V-