(2)

"But your light was gone," I say as I flip the final card, this depicted a crow with crimson eyes staring straight at Matthew and standing on an old rickety sign with an arrow on it, "the old sign you saw was that way to get back onto your path. But the crow swooped in at the last minute. And you stared it in the eyes."

"Ok? But what does that mean?" Matthew asked in confusion.

"It's snowing outside. As it was snowing when you fell asleep."

Matthew stared sadly into my eyes, slowly coming to the realization.

"N-no, it can't be," Matthew said stumbling out of his chair, "this can't be the truth!"

"Your body was too weak to fight the cold, you went peacefully in your sleep."

I phase through the bar and slowly leaned down to him helping him up. He began to bawl as he hugged me.

"If I could, I would have tried to save every lost soul I met in this tavern," I said as I sat him back down at the bar and collected my cards, but sadly, I only show their paths, from where they began, where they walked, to where they must continue to. That is the comfort I try to give the lost."

It was silent for a while, another custom my patrons made to respect those who have made it to the end of their paths. Then Matthew spoke once more with a much calmer voice.

If I am dead, I would like to know your name. I would like to remember the person who was able to comfort me in this dark time."

I paused for a moment. I never had a name for people to call me by. But the longer I thought about it, I was given many names, but one stuck out to me. Since the name references travelers, I figured it would be a fitting name for me.

"You may call me... Meili."

"Alright then, I thank you, Meili." Matthew said with a warm smile, possibly the warmest it's been in a long time.

In the corner of the tavern, a large lizard being stood and spoke in a booming voice.

"Well, now that we know his path. Let's send him off the right way!"

The rest of the tavern cheered and began to resume their tunes and dancing, with a few of the patrons pulling Matthew into the crowd. I felt a little better for each soul I send to die knowing that they won't be sent off in a whimper of pity, but a cheer of good fortune and joy. And when Matthew was finally sent on his way through the doors, the snow had cleared. And a beautiful meadow under the warm blanket of the sun was in place of the gloomy fog-covered path. I watched as Matthew walked away as the door closed behind him.

To the ones that worry about going the wrong way in life, that lost their lives too early, that are just beginning to walk their path, it doesn't matter how lost you are. I will be here, keeping a seat open at my bar, so you can tell me about your travels.

The Crossways. A strange place, among all the realms, connects them. Many different creatures come through the Crossways, all from different walks of life, but they all have the same story of how they got to the Crossways. As they walked their life's path, they got lost on the way, and sometimes they made it to the end of their path. No matter how they make it to the Crossways, they will always make it to my tavern.

In the doorway, a bell rang, and the thunder outside boomed. There was a man, a human, old and shaggy, poorly dressed in soggy clothes, and his eyes showed his exhaustion.

"Welcome to the Travelers table wanderer," I say behind the bar preparing a drink, "what'll it be?"

The man was stunned at his surroundings, as most humans would be. All around him, filling the tables and dancing to the tunes, were various sentient species from the many realms the Crossways connect to. The man finally moved from the doorway and approached the bar, trying his best to stay away from the many beings in his path. He stopped and sat on the stool in front of me, one I always keep open for new arrivals.

"U-uhh, I'll just have some water, thanks," the man said in his hoarse voice, a dry cough came from him.

"Very well," I say as his glass grew and the water was poured in by a floating pitcher, "so, what's your story stranger."

The Tavern grew quiet as the various patrons paid attention, as is customary in my tavern.

"My story?" the man said as he looked around, "alright, my name is Mathew, I'm 46 years old as of last night. I was born in a small town in Nevada. And as of recently, I've been homeless."

A small murmur came from the patrons.

"How so?" I ask.

"I got fired from my old job and then I couldn't afford to live at home anymore so I was kicked out. With nobody to turn to, I lived on the streets and parks of the city for two months now."

A Tribarch, a tentacle being from a realm beyond humans, patted Matthew on the back.

"So tell me, do you know how you made your way here?" I asked taking his now empty glass and refilling it.

"Sort of, I remember last night, I was very hungry since I didn't have anything to eat for a few days and it was cold out that night. Feeling helpless and lost, I realized that I was spending my birthday sleeping on a bench. I felt pity for myself and slowly drifted to sleep. When I woke up, I was here."

"Where here exactly?" I asked, grabbing my deck of cards and looking out the window to the rain, now a snowstorm.

"Well, when I woke up, I was on a hill under a tree, surrounded by fog."

"What did the tree look like?" I say as I place a card face down on the bar.

"It was lush and had some low-hanging fruit on it, I ate a few of them."

"What did the fruit taste like?" I say as I tap the card twice.

"Oddly enough, it tasted like a bowl of tomato basil soup, but not just any kind, it was like the last meal I had before I ran out of money."

"Anything else?" I say as I rotate the card 180 degrees.

"When I finished eating the fruit, I looked around and saw a path down the hill and into the fog."

"What did this path look like?" I say as I place another card face down.

"At first, the path was straight and looked like a brick road. But then, as I went further into the path, it became more jagged, broken, but easier to see the path since the fog cleared."

"What happened when you finally made it to the end of the path?" I say as I drag my finger across the card.

"There was this light post, tall and black, and a dim light."

"What did you see after that?" I say as I turn the card 360 degrees.

"Walking past the lamp post, I saw a rickety wooden sign, that had some of the letters gone but it said 'Travelers table' with an arrow under it."

"What happened after that?" I say as I place my final card.

"A crow flew over me and landed on the sign."

A much larger murmur went across the tavern when he mentioned the crow, there was even a slight gasp.

"What did the crow do when it landed?" I say as I tap the part of the card closest to Matthew once.

"The crow locked eyes with me with its crimson pupils and flew off."

I drew a heavy sigh as I rotated the card 360 degrees twice.

"You truly fell quite far, my friend," I say as I flip the first card over, showing the lush tree bearing low fruit atop a hill surrounded by fog, "waking up on that hill meant that you came from a decent life at the start. The fog was thick, showing that you were blissful at the start. The lush tree that bore low-hanging fruit represents the opportunities you had at the start, and how easy it was to get them. The fruit tasted like the last comfort you had before the bliss began to fade."

I flipped the second card, it depicted a brick road that was straight and sturdy, but eventually, the road became uneven and jagged, leading all the way to a dimly lit light post.

"At the start, you knew that your life was clear and easy with the fog of ignorance still covering the rest of the path. When you finally make it past the fog, you finally saw that the rest of your life was slowly crumbling and getting worse. Making it to the end of your path you saw a light at the end of it, but it was too dim to make a difference, this light was that feeling of pity for yourself and the realization of moving forward with your life."

My throat clogged a little, I always hated doing this part.

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