"Ohhhh, cat got his tongue, eh?" The ferryman stared at the man with hollow eyes. "That's too bad. Stuff like that can be useful out here."
The kid's question wasn't so unreasonable, and he got bonus point for actually asking instead of regarding him with outright hostility. Sheesh, some people didn't have any manners.
"I guess I could," he answered with a low chuckle, "since I have a boat and everything. Not much else for me to do down here, you know. The spiders are poor sports, so they're awful at charades."
Looking at the boy with an eternal grin, he continued. "This ain't a charity, though, so I'm gonna want something in return. Nothing too steep. Gold or money doesn't mean much to a dead guy like me. More than anything, I want to experience what it's like to live again. So I'll accept someone's sense of hearing, sense of sight, sense of smell, sense of touch, or maybe even their voice."
Leaning against his paddle, the ferryman gave a brief shrug. "Since I'm such a nice guy, let me tell you something -- your sense of smell is practically a freebie. But you can only use that once, got it?"
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The kid's question wasn't so unreasonable, and he got bonus point for actually asking instead of regarding him with outright hostility. Sheesh, some people didn't have any manners.
"I guess I could," he answered with a low chuckle, "since I have a boat and everything. Not much else for me to do down here, you know. The spiders are poor sports, so they're awful at charades."
Looking at the boy with an eternal grin, he continued. "This ain't a charity, though, so I'm gonna want something in return. Nothing too steep. Gold or money doesn't mean much to a dead guy like me. More than anything, I want to experience what it's like to live again. So I'll accept someone's sense of hearing, sense of sight, sense of smell, sense of touch, or maybe even their voice."
Leaning against his paddle, the ferryman gave a brief shrug. "Since I'm such a nice guy, let me tell you something -- your sense of smell is practically a freebie. But you can only use that once, got it?"