The Boatman

Traipsing along the shores of the Holy Ocean one overcast day, I had come to meet the Boatman-He who had promised me safe voyage across the Endless Sea.

As I looked to the Great Beyond, a wraith of mist hovering over the susurrating waters obscured my vision.

"Surely the Boatman will come find me when he is ready" I surmised.

As I continued to walk, far off in the distance, the corroded remains of a sandcastle marred the

otherwise undisturbed landscape.

"Must be from the last one who waited for the Boatman," I thought.

To pass the days, I too began building a sandcastle by the Infinite Sea. No sooner than I finished my castle did the vehement waves of the sea, racing to the shore, engulf my beautiful creation, leaving behind no trace of my labor. Infuriated, I resolved to build another castle, larger and more spectacular than the first.

As the finishing touches were laid on this second edifice, before I could even marvel at my work, another wave, taller and more ferocious than the first shattered my sandcastle once more.

Enraged, I set out to build the most magnificent sandcastle ever seen, which too was met with the same fate.

Years passed. This toxic cycle continued; each castle, more breathtaking than the last, met in might by an unrelenting wave of Fate.

I lost myself. My hairs grayed and my energy waned, but I would not be outdone. As I used the last ounce of strength I had to gather more sand, to my utter dismay I uncovered a human skeleton.

It was the last man who had walked these shores. The man whose eroding sandcastle I had stumbled upon years earlier. He too had been caught in the futile pursuit of false triumph.

Terrified and confused, I began to run. Remembering my original purpose, I ran frantically into the Ocean, beseeching the Boatman to show Himself to me. From nowhere, a misty light appeared through the fog, which I ran towards. It was the Boatman.

Relieved, I clambered into His craft, and was greeted by the Boatman. Clasping His hands, I cried, "Dear Boatman, I have been waiting all these years to cross the Infinite Ocean, why did you only now come?"

For an instant, His eyes met mine. There was a grizzled sadness in them. As He broke my gaze and turned to face the Ocean of Light He said, "My child, I was ready at a moment's notice, but all you wanted was to build sandcastles..."

As the boat started to glide gently away from the shore, a stray tear began to trickle down my now wrinkled visage.