Slow Boat

The two friends climbed aboard the small wooden boat that waited for them at the waters edge. As the two men seated the figure at the front of the boat pushed away from the bank with the large pole he held in his hands. The two men gave each other a worried look, at the end of the pole was a very large blade. From what the friends could tell it looked a very sharp blade.

The boat began floating down the river slowly and silently. The figure at the front looked out across the water silently. The younger of the two men scratched his head and looked at his friend. The other man just shrugged. Who knew what the figure could see ahead of them, it was too dark for either of his passengers.
The night was dark and cloudy, no stars nor the moon could be seen in the dark sky. The figure at the front of the boat sighed and gave a push against the river bed to move the boat on a little faster. The older man coughed, it echoed through the stillness of the night, ‘Where are we going?’, he asked the figure up front.
‘Nowhere.’, replied the figure in a bored whisper.
‘We must be going somewhere.’, added the second man.
‘We are.’, was the bored reply, followed by a sigh and then, ‘We are going Nowhere.’. There seemed a finality in the figures voice, both men sat in silence not daring to speak again.  Neither of them knew why they had got onto the boat, they did not know where it was going or who the figure steering the boat silently along the river was.  They both had their suspicions and neither of them liked what they suspected.  The journey continued slowly along the river, the figure steering and pushing the boat along silently. After what seemed a harder a deeper push the figure sighed again. The young man coughed, ‘If we are going nowhere, how come it’s taking us so long?’, he asked.
‘It is a long journey to nowhere.’, replied the figure.
‘So how long?’, asked the older man in an annoyed voice.
The figure looked back, there seemed to be a dark glint in his eyes, ‘The journey takes no time at all, we are at our destination in a single moment.’
‘It doesn’t seem like a single moment, it feels like hours.’
The figure looked directly into the old mans eyes and smiled, a wide white smile that stood out in the surrounding darkness, ‘To you this journey will seem like forever.’
‘It better not be much longer, my missus will be wondering where I am.’, the young man blurted out.
‘Sorry!’, said the figure as he looked back across the water, ‘Sorry, but she will never see you again.’, the figure sighed and the continued, ‘You are lucky you have company, many people make this journey alone.’
‘Are we dead?’, asked the old man in a quiet voice.
‘No. Not dead.’, the figure scratched the top of his head with the blade of his scythe as he looked out across the water, ‘Your bodies are dead, but your soul is still living. It is on its final journey now.’
‘So does this journey have an end?’
‘No. Not really. But not all is as quiet this. You may even enjoy some of it.’
The young man sat tapping his hand on the side of his face, he then scratched the top of his head and asked the figure in a curious voice, ‘How did I die?’
‘That I do not know. I am just here to escort you along the river to Nowhere.’
‘Will we ever reach there?’, the old man asked.
‘Some do, but not every one.’, the figure turned around and sat down in the boat, putting the scythe across his knees, ‘The river is peaceful, usually enough for most people. Nowhere is nothing and is really the end. Do not wish for it, wish that the river goes slowly and may pass through some windows for you.’
‘Windows?’, both men asked.
‘Windows in time. To show you some of the past and the future.’
‘What about the present?’
‘Every moment is the present, you will just recognize them as moments of the past or the future.’
‘Can we choose where these windows take us?’
‘No.’
‘Can we stay as long as we wish?’
‘No.’
‘Do we have any choice in what happens now?’
The figure opened his mouth to speak and then shut it. He then sat and thought about the question the young man had asked him, ‘You have asked a question I do not really know the answer to.  That one we will just have to see about.’
The figure shifted his scythe so it sat across one shoulder and between his knees. He smiled at his two passengers then passed the some gum. ‘You may want this, sitting and waiting is a little monotonous. Chewing a little helps to pass the time.’
The two men took the gum and began to chew. The figure rose from his seat and started to push them down the river a little faster again. He looked out across the river and sighed as they continued their journey.