Life is afraid of Death, Death is afraid of Fear, and Fear is Unafraid

I sit inside a boat.  The boat creaks and groans with each wave that hits it.  I look at the river I'm on.  It is glowing unnaturally, and it looks like molten silver.  I look around, seeing nothing else but darkness.  The boat travels on.

I've been traveling for thousands of years, or maybe a few seconds.  A chill runs down my spine.  I realise that I hear whispering.  It is faint, but it is there.  I again look around, hoping to see something.

The faint whisper stops.  I shiver again.  I search the darkness and make out a distant shoreline.  I see blurred dots moving around.  I will the boat to get closer.  I look on the other side of the boat.  There, I see another shore.

Gradually, the shoreline closes in so the river is much thinner.  I see wigwams made out of bones.  Sad little huts, with no windows and no inhabitants.  Or so I thought.

I jump as I hear loud moans and groans.  I whirl around, searching for the source.  Ghostly figures appear out of the huts.  They aren't creepy, they just look like shimmering forms of real humans.  I recognize no one.

They stop groaning and look at me.  My shivers disappear and I'm filled with an odd warmth.  They don't seem scary at all.  I look forward, tearing my eyes away from the shore.  I jump, though not nearly as scared as I used to be.

Standing in front of me is a woman.  Her form changes, reflecting the women I thought most beautiful.  My first thought is 'This is Aphrodite.'  I quickly shake that notion from my head.  I'm dead, and Aphrodite isn't real.

This woman is on the front of the boat, and I start to stand from the bench I'm sitting on.  She advances, shaking her head softly, and fixes me with a look I hadn't seen for a while: attraction.  She is wearing a beautiful golden dress, and my eyes water when I look directly at it.

I can't take my eyes from her face, her features, and her dress.  She again starts forward, and my eyes follow her.  She sits down next to me on the bench, and I can't stop staring.  I have an urge to do something impressive, maybe sing to her or demonstrate physical strength.  I don't feel like that would be enough.

As if she could read my mind, she says "There is no need."  Then she adds, almost as an afterthought, "What is your name?"  I realise my throat is parched.  I gag for a few seconds, then finally choke out my answer.  She laughs, a joyful, warm sound.  I feel as though I swallowed a warm cinnamon roll, or as though I stepped in the hot tub.  It is the greatest sound I have heard while on this boat.

She asks me more questions.  I can't answer.  I feel something wet hit my arm.  I immediately close my mouth, and she laughs again.  As though from nowhere she pulls out a crystal goblet, and pushes it gently into my hand.  I drink, and drink, and drink.  I drain it in a few gulps.  It tastes like horchata, like chocolate shakes, like Kool-Aid, like Crystal Lite, like all my favorite drinks.

She laughs a third time, and I think she must be crazy.  No human ever laughed at me like that.  She puts her hand on my face.  Warmth spreads throughout my body yet again.  Her hand is like the softest fur.  She gently turns my head to face her.  She has somehow gotten more beautiful since I last looked.

She scoots closer, and I lean back slightly, not sure what she's doing.  She asks what my death felt like, what fears I had, and what I liked most about life.  I told her that so far, death was more wicked than my life, if this was death.  Her eyes twinkled.

She scooted closer, once again.  Her hand was still on my cheek, but I felt her other hand gently grasp mine.  She scoots very close, and I can count all of her long, dark eyelashes.  Her eyes change color slightly, and she is almost nose to nose with me.  She leans the last bit and her lips brush up against mine.

Feathers.  Fur.  Anything soft, I swear her lips were softer.  Her eyes were closed, mine open.  I could smell each sweet smell emanating from her.  She was the human form of sweet, of soft.  I closed my eyes, and slipped away.

I wake up, and see silver directly above me.  I realise I'm drowning.  I can't breathe.  I can't understand whether I was dying while in the boat or whether that was real.  I couldn't remember anything but the lady.  I couldn't remember anything more.  I screamed with the last breath I had, realizing nightmares had come true.