#vss365 The ferryman warned that the river took a #toll from every passenger. A merchant paid a silver coin. A soldier gave up his sword. A widow surrendered her wedding ring. When my turn came, I showed him my empty hands. He pointed to the boy. “You brought exact change.”

Dark fantasy illustration of a misty river crossing. A hooded traveller raises an empty hand toward a gaunt, green-eyed ferryman aboard an ancient black ferry. Behind him stand a merchant, soldier and widow. The grinning ferryman points toward a lone, frightened boy on the riverbank.