96. A Strange Meeting
A Strange Meeting
As a child I ached for company,
but now that I was older,
I yearned for it even more.
I wanted to talk to someone
who knew their purpose,
someone perhaps my own age.
When the yearning grew too loud
and during the days that Charon,
Pallas and Styx were nowhere to be seen,
I would walk with my lantern
to a safe distance
from where Cerberus stood.
He growled and barked
but the noise of another being
that breathed in this place where
nothing seemed to breathe
gave the restlessness in me
a little bit of peace.
I would sit for hours,
until he got tired of his barking
and lay down, one pair of six eyes
watching me suspiciously.
It happened on a day like this.
I was sitting with my lantern,
Cerberus straining against his chain,
all three heads barking at me,
when a voice spoke to me from the dark.
‘If you want to be friends with him
you need to give him treats.’
I frowned, turning my light
in the direction of the voice.
That was when I saw him.
A boy with shorn hair
and an angular face, dressed
in long robes. But it was his eyes that sang.
They were so tired and yet so kind.
He held a staff in one hand
and in his other hand,
three red, red cuts of raw meat.
Unlike his reaction with me
Cerberus whined in the direction
of this visitor, his huge tail thumping.
The boy stepped forward
and gently placed the meat
before each head.
The three-headed dog
devoured them hungrily.
And then the boy reached forward
and touched one of Cerberus’ heads.
‘Hello, little one,’ he whispered,
‘It has been some time.’
‘Little one?’ I exclaimed,
‘He is three times the size of a lion!’
The boy chuckled at this.
‘All dogs are little ones to me.
I see them all from birth to death.’
He looked at me.
‘Would you like to try being friends
with him now? He should be docile.’
I nodded and stood up.
The dog’s closest head turned to me
and a soft growl escaped his throat.
But when I showed him my hand,
he snuffled it softly
and, swallowing hard,
I reached out and touched his nose.
Cerberus whined and thumped
his tail even harder.
And I smiled. ‘So this is how
we become friends.
I shall remember the treats
from now on.’
I turned to thank the boy
but to my surprise, he was gone.