Passage

Clutching the white rock in his pocket he stood, staring at the gates. There was no sense of urgency, no need to make haste. He would either succeed at his task eventually, or not at all, and in that case nothing would change. The world would continue as it was – as children were being raised to believe it always had been.

As he was about to set off again, he spotted a large animal swiftly hopping towards him in the distance. He couldn’t tell what it was from afar, but even as it drew closer he was no more able to determine its nature. The creature was jumping on two legs like a kangaroo, but looked more like an oversized chicken, leaving black feathers in its trail.

He braced himself, knowing there was no point in running, as the strange creature approached swiftly. Looking around he saw nothing nearby that could serve as a worthy form of defence – the branches on rotten tree trunks seemingly desperate to disintegrate at the first merciful tug. Still, he waited.

The creature halted several feet in front of him with a single last hop in spite of its speed. Up close he perceived that while it adhered to all the bodily features of a very voluptuous chicken, its head was far more akin to that of an old-looking owl. And it spoke.

“I have good news and bad news,” it said, speaking with a hoarse voice in a dull tone. “The bad news is that you will never get to see your children. The good news is that eventually you will no longer care.”

It paused, presumably to give him time to ponder these tidings, but it soon continued with a definite sense of urgency, eager to waste no more time than necessary.

“You have something that belongs to us. Show it to me.”

Still clutching the white rock he slowly moved his hand out of his pocket, and as he held it out in front of him, the sun briefly caught the stone’s surface. At the same moment, something inside the creature’s dull black eyes flared up for an instant.

“You wish to proceed then?” it said, waiting for him to answer. He nodded.

“Very well.” No sooner did the creature speak the words then it moved its beak towards the rock and swallowed it whole in a single gulp. Instantly it took a couple of steps backwards and sat down in the sand.

“I must ask you to be patient,” it said with a voice even more hoarse than before. “This is going to take a while.”