In the back of the speedboat, Janus just sat back and breathed slowly. He was content to simply let the cool breezes flow soothingly against the skin of his face as they resumed their trip back along the lake. The night sky was predominately clear, bestowing him with a beautiful view of the stars in the vast firmament above.
His mind, given the peace of the moment, and with such a tremendous vista of the heavens filling his eyes, wandered again towards thoughts of his father. He wondered whether somewhere, somehow, his father was even now watching over him. As was his new habit in such moments, Janus looked for any sign; in the stars, or on the gentle currents of air, or even on the few spare wisps of clouds that were drifting along in the sky.
The hardest part about death, he had surmised, apart from the abrupt and stark separation, was the state of the unknown, perhaps the worst element of it all by far. Janus knew that the separation would have been easier to bear with the comfort of knowing that his father still existed, and had reached a good destination.
Having been through the sorrows of deaths more than once before, he knew that the most sharply biting pains would eventually fade. Yet he also knew fully well that the hopes and worries would not, and nor would the sorrows.
Janus knew that life would go on, but with him there would be yet another scar on his spirit, and another weight on a heart grown far heavier over his brief years. Even worse, this newest scar was the largest that he had ever incurred.
Suddenly, as the darkness swarmed around him, he found that he needed the refuge of his mind.
He leaned his head back farther and closed his eyes, wondering what it would be like to have the surety of a healing end to life’s journey. Imagination took root, sprouted, and flowered.
In his mind, he envisioned a shining road, leading to a gateway as resplendent as the sun itself. Beyond that gate would be realms where death had no name or claim, where all scars would be fully erased, and where the burdens would be lifted and tossed away in their entirety.
Janus imagined walking towards that radiant entrance, and what he might first see. In his mind’s eye, he saw the outlines of many figures waiting for him before the gates, with one in the forefront of the gathering. In his inner vision, their details were obscured at first by the blinding light, but his heart knew who they were. He could feel the surging joy within him with each step that drew him closer to them, an electrifying thrill that infused the powerful emotions swirling within him.
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he beheld the face of his father, with an expression carefree and sparkling with life. Janus could feel the arms of his father wrapping around him in a welcoming embrace, even as he heard a chorus of human voices, as well as exuberant, excited barks, mixed with high pitched, chirruping sounds, all brimming with a boundless joy.
Such a glorious moment would only be the mere dawning of an eternal day, as he continued towards that gate with his heart rising and the jubilant throng of souls walking and padding along at his side. He knew that he could laugh, seeing familiar, beloved four-legged forms bounding along the edge of the pathway to the gate, imbued with the fullness of health and vitality.
His gaze would then focus in on the figure walking at his side, regarding that single face before he could even take in the endless, awesome beauty of the horizons spreading out to infinity beyond the great gates.
That moment would be the beginning of a reunion that would never be broken or tarnished by death or disease ever again; the beginning of a glorious and wonderful time that would never, ever end.
His heart ached thunderously with the burning desire for the realization of that luminous image, even as a few tears welled up in his eyes and began to trickle down his cheeks.
He wished that he could just know with reassurance that something like the vision in his mind could be real; that at the end of all things, his beloved family would all be there. For if a deity did love creation, and loved Janus, then his family was truly the expression, and face, of that love. With all of life’s sorrows and struggles, it seemed like such a small comfort to ask for.
But, he was undeniably trapped in the physical world, bereft of knowing what was or was not out there beyond the senses. There was no gateway or conduit to other worlds, no matter how hard he wished that it could be otherwise.
Janus would simply have to pick himself up, bandage his soul’s wounds that he knew would not heal in this lifetime, and trudge forward even if each ensuing step was harder to take. Only the passage of time itself would aid him.
“Man, that’s pretty odd… came in quick, it looks like,” Kent remarked, sharply breaking through the ambient noises of the boat’s engine and the breezes wafting across them. “I know I haven’t had that many beers.”
“Real weird,” Derek murmured. “There was nothing when we came down the lake.”
Janus could sense the absolute surprise reflected in the vocal tone of the others. He sighed and opened his eyes, to see what had so suddenly gripped their attentions. With the back of his right hand, we wiped the thin trails of wetness from his face.
The shoreline on both sides of the lake was still visible, but the headlights on the boat now formed solid beams. They could barely cut through the outskirts of a vapor that hovered over the water, rising up as a vast wall of fog about a hundred feet before them.
Janus shared the great puzzlement of the others. They had passed right through the area such a short time before. There had not been any fog or mist in the area whatsoever.
Janus took a deep breath, and his first impression was that something far beyond normal was occurring. He battened the thought back down, knowing fully well that it was just a rising fog caused by water and temperature shifts. It had just emerged much faster than he had thought that a fog could.
“What do you think caused it?” Janus asked them.
Kent shook his head. “I can’t figure it out. Fog just doesn’t form like this. Not this fast, at least. I don’t know, maybe someone channeled a bunch of hot water into the lake or something, like their entire hot tub spilled over or something. Must be an amazing party going on nearby.”
He laughed nervously, and Janus could see the anxiety in Kent’s eyes.
“It would sure have to be a lot of hot water,” Derek added, his eyes fixated upon the thick vapors looming ahead of them. “Pretty big hot tub.”
“Maybe it is the mists of time, and we are going to end up on the shores of some ancient land,” Kent remarked. “Then we can be like barbarian invaders and pillage and plunder. Let’s stake our claims… I get the wenches and beer, you guys can have the rest!”
“Creative, Kent, but probably not gonna happen,” Derek said, a flicker of deep concern manifesting in his face.
Derek cut down the speed of the engine, until the boat was going at a slow crawl. The fog soon enveloped them entirely, shearing off any extended vision to any side of the boat.
“Lovely, just lovely,” Kent remarked sourly. “We’ll have to take it very slow, and very carefully.”
“Maybe we should just stop,” Derek suggested.
Janus concurred with Derek, as they were now unable to see more than a few feet ahead of them.
“We take it real slow, if we keep going. And we keep talking and listening, because if there are any other boats in this, they need to know we’re here,” Kent said, his lightheartedness dissipating rapidly, and his mood sobering up quickly.
Janus knew that the last thing that Kent wanted to do was to wreck Mr. McNeeley’s boat. Each passing second invited that possibility.
“Keep talking. Keep it slow. Keep listening,” Kent repeated again.
Janus did not argue with him, as his eyes strained to look through the shrouding fog.