Sweet Dreams | Dream Of The Endless

13 | That's All There Is

As the three immortal beings walked up the stairs, they found an older man playing the violin. Just as they entered the room, he started coughing, stopping the music.

"No. Don't stop, please," Death asked, as she approached him.

Morpheus and Atia stopped in the doorway. The man looked between the three, with a worried frown.

"Uh, sorry for the noise," he apologised.

"It's not noise. It's Schubert," Atia smiled softly. "Please, keep going."

"I can't. He never finished it," he said with a chuckle. "All we have is a fragment. Oh, forgive me, I... I am Harry."

Death's smile turned a little sadder, as she approached the man and knelt down by him.

"I know who you are, Harry. Do you know who I am?" she asked.

For a moment, he looked at her in silence, before a look of realisation crossed his face. His smile vanished and he shook his head.

"No. Not yet. Please."

"It's time."

She waited patiently until he finally accepted and nodded.

Atia smiled gently. The man seemed nice. She knew that wherever he was going, he won't suffer, because the life after death wasn't as bad as everyone thought.

Truth to be told, it was nice. She visited Death in the Sunless lands a few times. He could be happy there, as her mother, sister and her sister's descendants are.

"Can I just... There's something I have to say. If that's all right," Harry asked.

"Of course," Death nodded.

Putting away the violin, the man started praying in Hebrew.

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is One," he finished, then smiled.

Death offered him his hand and with her help, Harry stood up. Then, he chuckled.

"I'm glad I said the Shema. My old man always said it would guarantee you a place in Heaven," he pointed a finger upwards, then shrugged. "If you believe in Heaven. Hmm?"

A smallest of smiles crept up on Dream's face as he watched. Atia also had one, slightly bigger.

They watched as Harry turned around and glanced down on his, now, lifeless body, still sitting in the chair.

"I look so old. So empty," he sighed, then turned around to face Death. "So I'm dead. Now what?"

"Now's when you find out, Harry."

With a gentle smile, she nodded at him to follow her. Both Atia and Morpheus left the room, to let Death finish her job there in peace.

They heard the wings flapping and felt a gush of wind on their back, but they didn't turn. Instead, they looked around the room they found themselves in. It was small, plain bedroom with a few small decorations around to make it cozier.

They spotted a photo just next to them and took a closer look. In the picture, they saw four young men, all holding violins. Atia guessed they were Harry and his friends when they were young.

"You ready?" Death asked, pulling the two from their thoughts.

*****

Next, Death led them down the path towards the side of the river, where many people swam or sunbathed.

As they were walking down the wooden bridge, Death started up the conversation once again.