Bitter Passage

by Colin Mills

Stake your claim. The boldest lies always receive the least scrutiny.”

Robinson whispered in tones barely audible. “I think the Arctic is like an abyss,” he said. “A man ventures into it, and it draws more of his kind in his wake. The Passage is no great undertaking, no path to salvation. Purgatory is not a place of purifying fire; it is a place of ice and cold, a kingdom of wind and bones and monsters and dead things.”

That is when I understood—beauty’s temporary nature is what makes it exquisite. We desire it so, for we know it will not last.”

“The Arctic has an ocean, but not one a ship can sail across. It has a sun that burns the skin and the eyes but offers no warmth. It has wild beasts that will eat a man but provide precious little food. It has so many dead men but so few graves.”